Challenging Our Understanding of Race with Dr. Karen Gaffney

Challenging our Understandings of Race Dr. Karen Gaffney English Department Raritan Valley Community College Branchburg, NJ Blog: dividednolonger.com Email: Karen.Gaffney@raritanval.edu Twitter: @dividednolonger Pronouns: she/her/hers

Where I begin There is a massive gap between what scholars who study race and racism take for granted and what public (especially white public) knows As a white anti-racism educator, one contribution I can make is to help bridge the gap

Todays plan I ll highlight 3 key myths that people, especially white people, are often taught that obscure reality of racism Then activity and Q&A Please hold questions for now I m only providing a brief intro to some of the concepts that my book discusses in much greater depth, with resources This Powerpoint is available on my blog dividednolonger.com

Step 1: Chip Away at the False Ideology that Race is Biological Ideology = myth or belief people are unknowingly indoctrinated into believing Power Damaging and false ideology blocks the view of the Racism Machine

Reality Myth #1: Human races are biologically different There are no inherent or biological or genetic differences between groups we call races because race is a social construct (a human invention). Josiah Nott, Types of Mankind, 1854 Human DNA is about 99.9% identical throughout the world No scientific, biological, or genetic way to separate humans into races Washington Post, 2016 Researchers at the University of Virginia quizzed white medical students and residents to see how many believed inaccurate and at times "fantastical" differences about the two races -- for example, that blacks have less sensitive nerve endings than whites or that black people's blood coagulates more quickly. They found that fully half thought at least one of the false statements presented was possibly, probably or definitely true.

An excerpt from . . . Race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait or even one gene distinguishes all the members of one so-called race from all the members of another so-called race. Human subspecies don t exist. Unlike many animals, modern humans simply haven t been around long enough or populations isolated enough to evolve into separate subspecies or races. Despite surface appearances, we are among the most similar of all species. Skin color really is only skin deep. Most traits are inherited independently from one another. . . . Knowing one trait, like skin color, doesn t necessarily tell you anything else about a person s other traits. Most variation is within, not between, "races.". . . That means two random Koreans may be as genetically different as a Korean and an Italian.

Step 2: See the Racism Machine If we chip away at the false ideology that race is biological and recognize the reality that race is a human invention, then the Racism Machine is more visible. We ask: Who built it? When? Why? How?

Reality Myth #2: Race has always existed. Whiteness has always existed. Race is an invention, a relatively recent human invention. One location: Colonial Virginia, 1600s The line between servant and slave was ambiguous People didn t identify as black or white (nationality, language, religion) Skin color was not a dividing line Elite wealthy landowners vs. labor Bacon s Rebellion (1676) Race was invented to protect the elite and divide and conquer the masses through the creation of a racial hierarchy

An excerpt from . . . Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide people according to physical distinctions, but according to religion, status, gender, class, even language. . . Slavery predates race. Throughout much of human history, societies have enslaved others, often as a result of conquest or war, even debt, but not because of physical characteristics or a belief in natural inferiority. Due to a unique set of historical circumstances, ours was the first slave system where all the slaves shared similar physical characteristics.

Step 2: See the Racism Machine, continued This invention of race included a racial hierarchy of white supremacy: people identified as white were given unearned advantages, including freedom from slavery and access to stolen indigenous land Racial hierarchy positioned black people at the bottom and black slaves were identified as chattel (property) with no rights In this hierarchy, indigenous peoples, Asian Americans, and Latinx people occupy various intermediary positions depending on the moment

Step 3: Examine the Racism Machine s Powerful Mechanisms Ideology of white supremacy was built into the creation of this nation and normalized through every system (law, housing, finance, education, media, etc.) Patriarchy and capitalism upheld these ideologies Mechanisms of laws and government policies carried out these ideologies: slavery, citizenship for whites only, Indian Removal, Manifest Destiny, Chinese Exclusion, Jim Crow segregation, convict leasing, immigration restrictions, bans on interracial marriage, and more

Today Myth #3: Racism occurred in the past, but that problem has been resolved Reality Systemic racism is a serious problem in the US today. Slavery is over. Mass incarceration, police violence, pollution, maternal and infant mortality, inadequate school resources, poverty, over-surveillance, under- representation, etc. disproportionately impact people of color today. The civil rights movement ended racism. We elected a black President, so racism must be over.

Step 4: Analyze the Racism Machines Recalibration after the Civil Rights Movement Backlash against civil rights movement intersected with backlash against social justice movements for women and LGBTQ people. Divide and conquer strategies included: model minority stereotype of Asian Americans (if there s a good minority there must be a bad minority ) African Americans stereotyped as: welfare queens (myth of welfare fraud leads to cuts to social services) dangerous criminals (leads to mass incarceration; I feared for my life ; I m calling the cops ) Latinx people stereotyped as illegal and not American Muslims stereotyped as terrorists Rise in anti-Semitism Myth of voter fraud leads to voting restrictions All of these divide and conquer strategies are fueled by white fear of becoming the minority (Census)

Step 5: Take Apart the Racism Machine Recognize how people, especially white people, have been manipulated to believe pervasive false racial ideologies that are in the very air we breathe Confront the reality of the Racism Machine, how race was invented to divide and conquer, how our nation and institutions developed around that fundamental racial ideology Become undivided and unconquered Center the voices, experiences, and leadership of those who are marginalized - only when the most marginalized are free are we all free

Small Group Discussion & Report Back Myth #2: Race has always existed. Whiteness has always existed. Myth #3: Racism occurred in the past, but that problem has been resolved Myth #1: Human races are biologically different In small groups, pick one of these myths Briefly discuss: How do you see that myth operating in your personal or professional life? What is one action that could be taken to lessen the power of that myth in your personal or professional life? Report back 1. 2. 3.

Thank you Thanks to the Blawenburg Reformed Church Check out my book: Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox (for sale here, $22 cash or check) My blog dividednolonger.com has this Powerpoint and many resources Email me Karen.Gaffney@raritanval.edu Follow me on Twitter: @dividednolonger