This section of the film discusses
more how race has historically developed into what we see today. Again there is
this mention that Race is a category that comes with a set list of values,
moral, and etc., but there is no biological difference between individuals due
to Race. The markers of race like skin tone are what create these social
meanings and are the generalization most people have about certain races.
It
mentions also that during the immigrant rush, those who came to America had to
adapt and fit into a racial category that they may have never used before
entering the U.S. When the first Immigrants arrived, there were the groups who had
to endure the hardest labor, and also lived in the slums; this gave an image of
immigrants socially being at the bottom. They were worked for lower wages so
companies wanted them, but at the same time these same companies feared
immigrants. Later this idea was seen as natural biology, if you were born in
that group you earned that type of lifestyle for better or worse.
With
the immigrants they were also separate categories for Whites, separating
Europeans into smaller groups ranking them in a hierarchy system. Some groups
like Jews, were not viewed as fully white but still here placed higher than non-Europeans
like, Asians, African Americans and Mexicans.
One
Idea that I never realized was that this idea of “The Melting Pot” was actually
used in a way to allow these other European immigrants to mold together to
become known as the ‘White American’. This melting pot actually never included
those from non-European descent. So how come people try not to correct this
meaning that seems like a common view about America being a melting pot?
Now
for those who were not Europeans, the court decided who could be classified as
white. Certain groups of immigrants tried to petition the court to be declared
white. Takao Ozawa, a Japanese immigrant tried this, in his petition he
mentioned that race should not matter in becoming American; instead it should
be based on Beliefs. Unfortunately Ozawa
was denied his petition and mainly because the court claimed science showed him
as not being White. Bhagat Singh Thind in
1923 petitioned that Indians where included in the Caucasian classification, he
even had scientific backing but the court reasoned that science was not actual
proof. Here is where we saw that the court changed their views for Ozawa, who they
used science to consider him not white but for Thind science was denied. When
both cases where denied many rights were taken from both Japanese and Indians.
The
video also mentioned that the original Social Security denied farm workers and
labor workers who most were non-whites. Mexicans and Blacks, who were still
working for lower wages. Also in 1930 the Federal Housing Administration was
created allowed people to get loans to own homes. New communities began
developing and here is where we see the development of these suburbias and that
became a new component of the American Dream. Black G.I. who returned from WWII
returned back hoping for the same opportunity for housing from the FHA, but
most were denied. In fact the FHA warned that 1 or 2 non-white families in
suburbias could lower the property value of homes. Less than 2% of these mortgages
went to non-whites.
Instead
most non-whites remained in their original homes but a claim of urban renewal
was going to fix these neighborhoods but most were taken down but never reconstructed
nor renovated. Black busting, was a scheme used when housing in suburbia areas
became more accessible to non-whites. Black busting was used by retailers to
play the fear in whites to sell their homes for less than their values because
of the increase of non-whites in their neighborhoods and most people did. This
is what caused an economic problem for the housing retailing business since
most whites sold their homes and moved into other areas away. Even know certain
homes in certain surburbia areas will have a higher selling cost than those with
more racially diverse neighborhoods.
Finally
colorblindness is not the same as equality. Those who try to ignore color as
being an issue or try to claim it doesn't exist is just a naive way of thinking
about this. Inequality of opportunity may have been improved over the years but
there is still this economic and social inequality that has been here since
generations. So the only way to stop this idea of race being a huge factor in
our lives is to try to get past it, instead of seeing it in this color blind attitude.
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