SOCI 142gm Lecture Notes - Lecture 37: White Privilege, Mexican Spanish, Mexican Americans
Rodriguez and Cordero-Guzman, Lipsitz, Saito Chapt 2
Explain and discuss the view of race as a biological category versus a social construction. Explain the social construction of
racial categories, and how these categories have social, political, and economic consequences. Define whiteness. Explain the
view of racism and inequality as the result of structural discrimination versus the result of individual prejudice and actions.
Discuss the development of Atlantic Square – and the themes of restaurants and architecture - in terms of whiteness.
● Explain and discuss the view of race as a biological category v. a social construction
○ Biological category:
■ white race defined by absence of non-white blood physical appearance
○ Social construction:
■ living in segregation depending on what gender, race, and class you are
● Explain the social construction of racial categories, and how these categories have social, political and economic
consequences
○ social construct of race
■ there is no gene that explains that a person is white or African American
■ people choose to differentiate a different colored person by their race rather than seeing everyone as
equal
■ social construction of race is the idea that people categorize people into different races depending on
their skin color, facial features, hair color, etc.
○ this is the first time that people thought that race is divided by only biologically
○ but it is also divided socially, politically, and economically
○ Economic, social and political consequences
■ determining your race is crucial because you can benefit from the different resources that is you racial
group
■ Europeans see each of their countries as different races (Italian, Greek, etc.)
■ whites have more privileges than other races
● Define whiteness
○ whiteness is everywhere in American culture, but it is very hard to see
○ white power secures its dominance by seeming not to be anything in particular
○ whiteness never has to speak its name, never has to acknowledge its role as an organizing principle in social and
cultural relations
● Explain the view of racism and inequality as the result of structural discrimination versus the result of individual
prejudice and actions
○ legacies of previous constructed racialism left by federal, state, and local policies non-white
○ gave different racial groups unequal access to citizenship and property
○ cultural practices such as racial advertising, Hollywood films, minstrel show promoted racism by uniting
diverse European Americans into one community
○ liberal individualism is not completely color blind since structural discrimination creates individual prejudice
and actions
● Discuss the development of Atlantic Square and the themes of restaurants and architecture in terms of whiteness
○ Development of Atlantic Square in Monterey Park shows how ethnicity and history rooted in local Asian, Latin
American, and European sources were expressed, contrasted and manipulated
○ demonstrates white privilege, racial hierarchies and how the emergence of white ethnicity was strongly rooted
in the transformation of the political and economic structure
○ Walter and Alba found focus on systemic racial hierarchy and privilege contrasts with the symbolic symbolic
conception of white ethnicity, when whites were the majority population and remained the dominant political
and economical force
■ What decides a good restaurant?
● doesn’t matter the quality of food, it matters what kind of food that white people want
● white people don’t want real a real Chinese restaurant in their town
■ What is the real meaning of a place to feel at home?
● Asian food cannot be appealed
● majority of the population is white and Latino near Monterey Park
■ Whites waned Mediterranean style building since Spanish appearances look cheap, bad
● Also this all demonstrated how whiteness is experienced and expressed in the culture and
language of everyday life when the defense and reassertion of whiteness becomes explicit,
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challenged by the growing demographic and economic presence of Chinese immigrants
● Placing Race in Context by Rodriguez and Cordero-Guzman
○ Puerto Ricans coming into NYC Airport Experiment
● did a survey how they come to terms with their own race
● they have a diverse way of understanding themselves
● race is not just biological, it’s also cultural and psychically constructive
● contrasting approach to race
○ biological
○ social construction
● Puerto Rican men and women flying to Puerto Rico were randomly selected to be asked these
open ended questions:
○ How would you describe yourself racially?
○ What do you consider yourself to be: White, Black, or other?
○ How do you think North Americans perceive you?
● Results:
○ very few used White or black when answering the first question
○ perceptual dissonance
■ where individuals saw themselves racially in a way that was different from how
they were seen by the interviewers or from how they thought they would be
seen by North Americans
○ Seen as black
■ increased double the amount from 5.9% to 11.9%
● increased double from closed-ended questions to North American
Identification (how others would see them)
○ Seen as white
■ SID 38.8% → NAM 30.6%
● Conclusion:
○ Race Identity of Puerto Ricans is based on factors like class, education, language and
birthplace
○ the longer time they spend in the US, the more likely they see themselves as white
○ Race in USA vs. Latin America
■ USA
● Race is generally seen as biological
● One will always be a part of the race in which they were born into b/c it’s in their blood
○ this idea doesn’t support the assumption that race changes from country to country
■ Latin America
● based on socio-economic status
○ social class, personality, education, cultural modes of behavior
● a classification dependent on time and context
● culture can be changed
○ biology is permanent
○ allows for the possibility of assimilation
○ Investment in Whiteness
■ Constructions of suburbs and highways
■ explain in terms of white privilege
■ socio-historical matter = important
○ Restaurants:
■ how people view race
■ how these cultural matters were supported
● Reasserting Whiteness: Racial Privilege and the Transformation of History and Architecture by Saito
○ Rebuilding of Atlantic Square shopping mall in Monterey Park
■ city subsidies for white developers
■ business opportunities for Chinese immigrants
■ immigrant believed that the city wanted White companies/development rather than Asian ones
○ Atlantic Square Redevelopment
■ residents wanted to be involved with the redevelopment:
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● Citizens for Atlantic Square Restoration
■ CARE became heavily involved in the process of developing plans for the new center
● public hearings, meetings, notified other residents about the agenda
■ Asian immigrants were absent at the public debates
● some people blamed the problems on Chinese immigrants (graffiti and unrented stores)
○ White And Latinos of Monterey Park
■ white and latinos established the legitimacy of their views by invoking their many years of residence in
the city in the public hearings
● immigrants couldn’t
○ Whitening history and Architecture
■ residents wanted the style of the new shopping center to represent the history
● Mexican → spanish → Mediterranean
○ SC was once a part of Mexico
● City council approved Mediterranean
■ Good Restaurants
● there are too many Chinese restaurants so they thought good restaurants were those that
were non-Chinese even if those restaurants were McDonalds or some low-quality food
○ White culture and whiteness
■ Nativists concluded that these Chinese immigrants didn’t really want to become part of America, rather
they wanted to create a Hong Kong in the West
■ double-standard is applied to immigrants from Asia and Latin America when compared to the
Europeans
■ Fast-food places found a new home in the shopping center
● Possessive Investment in Whiteness by Lipsitz
○ whiteness in American Culture
○ oppression to minorities
○ American economic and political life gave different racial groups unequal access to property and citizenship
■ Racism has not always been the same in America
● shaped by political and cultural struggles over power
● changes over time
○ Contemporary Racism
■ assumed race-neutral liberal social democratic reform of the past decades
● urban renewal
○ destroyed more housing than it created
● federally funded highways
○ meant to connect urban communities but rather it destroyed housing and displaced the
poor
■ Created a cycle of population loss led to decreased political power
● made minority neighborhoods more vulnerable to urban renewal and construction plans
○ Housing Discrimination
■ white people were able to take advantage of Federal Housing Administration policies and were given
increased equities on their homes v. minorities were not allowed
● led to white people having more access to housing
● loans were only given to white people
● high income black people were denied more loans than low income white people
● federal government has the power to privately discriminate through loan policies
○ Policy making
■ policies are race-neutral but they still hurt minorities
● i.e. failure to raise minimum wage for 10 years
○ Causes for Black Economic Decline
■ deindustrialization
● not investing in cities, factories, and schools
○ ruined the industrial infrastructure that used to provide high-wage jobs and chances
for upward mobility to black workers
■ attacks on government spending for public housing, health, education and transportation
■ Lack of antidiscrimination laws
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Document Summary
Explain and discuss the view of race as a biological category versus a social construction. Explain the social construction of racial categories, and how these categories have social, political, and economic consequences. Explain the view of racism and inequality as the result of structural discrimination versus the result of individual prejudice and actions. Discuss the development of atlantic square and the themes of restaurants and architecture - in terms of whiteness. Explain and discuss the view of race as a biological category v. a social construction. White race defined by absence of non-white blood physical appearance. Social construction: living in segregation depending on what gender, race, and class you are. Explain the social construction of racial categories, and how these categories have social, political and economic consequences social construct of race there is no gene that explains that a person is white or african american. But it is also divided socially, politically, and economically.
