Reference no: EM133744943

Assignment:

For this discussion, please view the documentary Race the Power of an Illusion Part 2: The Story We Tell and respond to the discussion questions.

RACE-The Power of an Illusion is a provocative three-hour series that questions the very idea of race as biology. Scientists tell us that believing in biological races is no more sound than believing the sun revolves around the earth. So if race is a biological myth, where did the idea come from? And why should it matter today?

RACE-The Power of an Illusion provides an eye-opening discussion tool to help people examine their beliefs about race, privilege, policy, and justice.

Episode II - "The Story We Tell" uncovers the roots of the race concept, including the 19th-century science that legitimated it and the hold it has gained over our minds. It's an eye-opening tale of how America's need to defend slavery in the face of a radical new belief in freedom and equality led to a full-blown ideology of white supremacy. Noting the experience of Cherokee Indians, the U.S. war against Mexico and annexation of the Philippines, the film shows how definitions of race excluded from humanity not only Black people, but anyone who stood in the way of American expansion. The program traces the transformation of tentative suspicions about difference into a "common-sense" wisdom that people used to explain everything from individual behavior to the fate of whole societies, an idea of race that persists to this day.

1. What is the significance of the episode's title, "The Story We Tell"?

2. What function has that story played in the U.S.?

3. What are the stories about race that you tell?

4. What are the stories you have heard?

5. Did the film change the way you think about those stories? If so, how?

6. In the film, historian James Horton points out that colonial white Americans invented the story that "there's something different about 'those' people" in order to rationalize believing in the contradictory ideas of equality and slavery at the same time. Likewise, historian Reginald Horsman shows how the explanation continued to be used to resolve other dilemmas: "This successful republic is not destroying Indians just for the love of it, they're not enslaving Blacks because they are selfish, they're not overrunning Mexican lands because they are avaricious. This is part of some great inevitability... of the way races are constituted." What stories of difference are used to mask or cover up oppression today? Why does society promote/perpetuate these kinds of stories?

PART 2

Diversity statements have become an integral part of the materials submitted as part of an application for employment, scholarships, and academic programs. They are just as important as the resume, cover letter and writing sample. In addition, it is important to reflect on and be able to clearly articulate what your ideas are toward diversity and racial justice as a member of a diverse, yet racially stratified society. What is your role in ensuring diversity, equity, and justice in society?

A diversity statement is a brief personal essay that explains how your knowledge, attitudes, skills, and experiences contribute to diversity, equity, and racial justice in the workplace (or academic settings) and in society in general. It allows the applicant the opportunity to explain to a search committee the distinct qualities and commitment they can bring to the table in this regard.

Instructions

Please respond to the following questions:

1. What is your philosophy and vision for embracing diversity and contributing to racial justice in your own personal life as well as society in general? Include discussion of your vision operating at multiple levels (individual, interpersonal/institutional).
2. How does your experience and your multiple and intersecting social positionalities (race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation etc.) relate to this vision?
3. How will you hold yourself and others accountable and continue to grow in this regard?