Family Questions for the Final Exam

Below are the questions I chose from the family questions submitted before the deadline. Since no bonus points are involved, I am not going to designate which family submitted what. Of course, remember these questions will be on the final exam.

1. Before Tatum delivered her speech at a workplace, a man announced a meeting for an organization of people of color. After the speech a woman asked Tatum how she would feel if there was an announcement for a meeting of white people. What was Tatum's response to this question? (1)

Answer: She said it would be a "good idea."

2. I posted on the blog a passage from Frank Wu's book, Yellow, which compared affirmative action to what? (1)

Answer: a vaccine

3. What did I add to Dr. Better's definition of "social institution" which further underscores the significance of institutions in our lives? (2)

Answer: That institutions are also organized systems of objects through which human ends are achieved, which highlights the importance of objects/the material realm. I contended further that institutions are the real actors in modern society which we as individuals participate in.

4. What analogy does Better make in relation to institutional racism that is comparable to Tatum's smog analogy? (1)

Answer: a 2000-pound elephant in the room that no one wants to address.



That's it. See you Tuesday afternoon, 2-5PM.

Reminders & Final Family Activity

Reminders: I will be handing back Essay III, as well as the Interview paper for many of you who were not there last Tuesday. For those who saw "Tulia" and chose to do the extra credit response, that is due tomorrow (tues. 12/2). Also tomorrow, we will get into Institutional Racism. I plan to cover the portions I gave as a reading assignment (pp. 1-89 & pp. 125-133) during the final two classes this week.

FINAL FAMILY ACTIVITY: This final activity will involve making up questions for the final exam. I want each family to make up 4 SHORT ANSWER questions (and answers) from material we have covered since the midterm exam (basically, beginning with Chapter 4 in Dr. Tatum's book). These questions (and answers) can be submitted to me via email NO LATER THAN NOON FRIDAY. I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY AFTER THAT DEADLINE, because I need to decide which questions to include and then post them on the blog over the weekend so you can study them for the final exam. I will give you some time tomorrow to confer with your family members. This activity is worth 3 points, and you must participate in order to earn the 3 activity points.

Next Tuesday

As I announced in class yesterday, we'll take time out to see a video that I also plan to show in my criminology class on an episode in the war on drugs that clearly has racial overtones. In fact, as I noted, I believe the documentary has more relevance for this class than my criminology class. It is entitled "Tulia," after the small town in the Texas panhandle where it took place. You may earn 3 extra credit points by seeing it and writing a one-page response in which I want you to discuss at least one aspect of the film which has relevance for anything we've covered in this class. If you decide to do this, it will be due on our first class after the break.

Also, let me take this opportunity to remind you that ESSAY III is due Next Tuesday (or before, if you are planning to leave early for the Thanksgiving break). Please DO NOT LEAVE TOWN BEFORE TURNING IN THIS ASSIGNMENT, because you will lose many points if you turn it after the break. Finally, you should start reading Institutional Racism (Preface thru p. 89 & pp. 125-133). We will cover that in some fashion after the break.

Amendments to Institutional Racism & ESSAY III

In my description of ESSAY III, I singled out Chapter 2 of Institutional Racism as most relevant to the topic. Actually, she begins to draw that distinction between individual and institutional racism in Chapter 1. In fact the Chapter 1 discussion may be even more helpful. Also, as I noted yesterday, I want you to also read (in addition to pp. 1-89) Case Study: A Perfect Storm: The Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (pp. 125-133). It is an excellent example of what she calls the "web of institutional racism."

See you tomorrow, when I will try to wrap up Dr. Tatum's book.

Institutional Racism & ESSAY III

As I have been mentioning in class, I do plan to cover at least some of Institutional Racism before the end of the semester, and I have also come up with an essay topic in connection with this book. First, I want you to read through Chapter 4 (or p. 89), which will be all we will try to cover in this book. Our first opportunity to talk about it in class will come on the class period before Thanksgiving Break (Tues. 11/25). Below is a description of our third (and last) out-of-class essay. I will not be handing out a hard copy of this, so refer to this blog post for a description of this assignment.

___________________________

Sociology 240
Essay III
11/17/08

A. A key to understanding Shirley Better's argument in Institutional Racism is the distinction she makes between INDIVIDUAL and INSTITUTIONAL racism. In this final essay, I want you to discuss this difference (which she brings out in Chapter 2) and give an example of it. Finally, I want you to generally address the question of why it is so important that we be concerned with institutional racism.

B. Your essay should be roughly 3 pages. Please indicate the page number(s) of any passage(s) from the book which you quote in your essay.

C. This is due on or before TUESDAY, NOV. 25TH, which is our last class before Thanksgiving Break.

_____________________

Finally, let me remind you again that your Interview papers are due tomorrow (Tues. 11/18) and that all of you will be expected to give a BRIEF presentation highlighting some of the things you found.

Passage From Killing the White Man's Indian by Fergus Bordewich

I quoted the following passage in connection with Dr. Tatum's observation about the importance of preserving and strengthening Indian identity. This appears in Chapter 8 of Killing the White Man's Indian, which is very appropriately entitled: "The Hollowness of a Person Needs to be Filled."

"Like most junior colleges, Little Big Horn offers two-year degrees in conventional subjects such as business administration, data processing, mathematics, psychology, science, nursing, industrial arts, home economics, and "office systems." Uniquely, however, it also requires that students, nearly all of whom are members of the Crow Tribe, take courses in Crow language, oral literature, tribal history, "Indian Identity," Indian philosophy and law, and "American Indian political science," among others. The college's mission statement promises:

1. To develop Crow and American Indian adults in paraprofessional and professional areas that reflect Crow Indian reservation personnel needs and career development.
2. To assist Crow and American Indian adult academic and personal development, for self-empowerment, workplace preparation or transfer to a senior institution; centering on respect for Crow and American Indian scholarship and bilingual capacities, across the disciplines.
3. To build the Crow Indian family, community and tribe, through understanding and knowledge pertinent to local issues, promoting and participating in community building activities.
4. To actively strive for Crow Indian cultural preservation and protection, vitalizing Crow Indian scholarship across all disciplines; to recognize that tribal tradition separates Crow and American Indians from mainstream American society; to appreciate culture and tradition as the foundation of strength and wellbeing for the Crow and American Indian community; and to strengthen the unique, self-governing Crow Tribe of Indians.

"The jargon belies a shift of tectonic proportions that is taking place in the way that education is increasingly shaping Indians' sense of place in American society. The vast federal system of Indian education that Theodore Roosevelt once ferociously termed "a colossal, pulverizing engine" was designed explicitly to destroy tribal loyalty and to force Indians into mainstream American life. Increasingly, Indian educators such as Little Big Horn's president, Janine Pease-Windy Boy, perceive education as a tool capable of reviving tribal identity and of simultaneously molding a new kind of Indian able to make his way in the modern world. They also bluntly challenge the traditional American belief that one of the primary duties of education in the United States is to assimilate every child to a common history and sense of place in the larger national culture." (pp. 273-274)

___________________________

Don't forget that Tuesday (11/18) will be devoted to hearing from each of you regarding your interviews, and remember you need to prepare what you plan to say because each of you will only have 5-10 minutes. The paper is also due on that day. Next week I will also post a final out-of-class essay in connection with Shirley Better's book, Institutional Racism. I should have that posted by Monday. Finally, check out the extra credit opportunities listed in the previous post.

Results of Secret Ballot & EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES

The results of the secret ballot on the Teaching Tolerance exercise are as follows:
RED - 6
YELLOW - 4
BLACK - 2 So, the Red family earns 2 bonus points for this exercise.

______________________________________

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES:

There are actually TWO upcoming programs that are pertinent to this class, so you may earn 3 extra credit points for each program by attending EITHER ONE or BOTH and posting a couple paragraph reflection as a comment on this blog post. These programs are:

I. Diversity Matters: Race and Politics (an open discussion) Anna Todd Wofford Center, Thursday (11/13) at 7PM. Free Food. Contact Sammie Clowney for further info.

II. "Plugged-In" on Affirmative Action, Tuesday (11/18) from 11-12 in Olin 114. Contact Millicent Lann for further info.

Reminders & Passage from Yellow

Remember when we get back together again next Tuesday, 11/11, your essay on the Leonard Pitts commentary will be due and I also want to hear from each family regarding the Teaching Tolerance exercise. Below is part of the passage I read in class yesterday regarding affirmative action. The analogy with being vaccinated against disease is, I believe, the best of the two Frank Wu offers ---

"Analogies may augment the arguments for affirmative action. Affirmative action may be likened to inoculation against contagious disease. We vaccinate ourselves by accepting tiny dosages of the very causes of the illness. The shot alerts our bodies to the problems and stimulates us to build up antibodies as a preventative measure. Similarly, affirmative action relies on race, which is admittedly hazardous. However, it does so with a prescribed amount of the toxin. Thus, it prepares our society for racism and helps to develop interracial relationships as a protective measure. It is well established that contact among people of different racial backgrounds on equal terms, as with students in a classroom, is the single best means of eliminating racial prejudice." (pp. 170-171)

See you next Tuesday, 11/11.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY

As you may have seen on flyers posted around campus, there is going to be a screening of a documentary called, "The Black List," which chronicles the lives of a number of prominent African Americans. The documentary filmmakers will also be on hand to discuss their film and respond to questions. This all takes place on Monday, Nov. 3rd at 7PM in the Hub-Bub Showroom (149 S. Daniel Morgan Ave. about a block west from city hall, perhaps a mile from the Wofford campus). You may earn 5 extra credit points by attending and posting a two or three paragraph reaction to what you saw as a comment on this blog post.

New Family Activity

In the context of the very last section of Dr. Tatum's book, "Continuing the Conversation" (pp. 207-219), where she brings her analysis to bear most directly on the college community, I want each family to review several issues of "Teaching Tolerance" (a publication of the Southern Poverty Law Center) and select ONE article from them that your family believes best exemplifies Dr. Tatum's approach to dealing with racial diversity and which you could argue might even work on this campus. At the conclusion of our treatment of Dr. Tatum's book (which I anticipate will be by TUESDAY, NOV. 11TH), each family will present in class a one-page defense of the article you selected. By some means (perhaps secret ballot), we will select a winner, and that family will earn 2 bonus points for this exercise.

This activity counts 8 points.

I will hand out 4 issues of "Teaching Tolerance" to each family tomorrow (Thurs. 10/23). THESE ARE MY PERSONAL COPIES, AND I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU HANDLE THEM WITH CARE AND RETURN THEM AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS EXERCISE IN GOOD SHAPE.

See you tomorrow....

Midterm Exam Questions (revised)

Sorry for the mix-up yesterday. I should have noticed the comments on Quoted Passages & Reminders, but in the future please go back to the original blog post describing whatever exercise I give you. So, below are the questions from the families that will be on the midterm exam, including the Red Family's questions which I posted yesterday. Notice that I did make a few changes in the questions and answers submitted.

BLACK FAMILY: (earns 3 points)

1. Dr. Bonilla-Silva wrote a book entitled Racism Without Racists in which he identified what kind of racism? (1pt)

ANSWER: colorblind racism (or you could give the definition -- a form of racism NOT based in inherent biological inferiority but based on or explained by nonracial factors such economics or cultural factors.)


YELLOW FAMILY: (earns 3 points)

1. Briefly explain the seemingly paradoxical assertion that opens Part 3 of the video series: "Race is an illusion and yet profoundly real." (2pts)

ANSWER: It is illusory as a biological (or scientific) distinction, yet profoundly real socially because we have chosen to associate physical differences such as skin color with assumptions about values, behavior, historical meanings.


RED FAMILY: (earns 3 points + 1 bonus point)

1. Why does Dr. Tatum say white and black parents are reluctant to talk to their children about racism? (2pts)

ANSWER: They are afraid that they will create problems where perhaps none exist and make "colorblind" children unnecessarily color conscious.

2. What analogy does Dr. Tatum use to explain the pervasiveness of prejudice in our society? (1pt)

ANSWER: It's like the SMOG, and insofar as we breathe the air we are also smog breathers, even though we would not describe ourselves as smog breathers.


Remember, these questions will appear on the exam. See you next Tuesday.

Family Midterm Exam Questions

It is roughly noon on Thursday 10/16, almost 24 hours after the deadline and only one family has submitted their questions. I am not considering other submissions at this point, and so the other two families will not earn the 3 points for this activity and will not get a chance to make up part of the test. Below are the two questions I accepted from the RED FAMILY, so they will earn 3 points, plus a bonus point.

Red Family Midterm Questions and Answers:

1. Why does Dr. Tatum say white and black parents are reluctant to talk to their children about racism? (2pts)

ANSWER: They are afraid to create problems where perhaps none exist, and make "colorblind" children unnecessarily color conscious.

2. What analogy does Dr. Tatum use to explain the pervasiveness of prejudice in our society?

ANSWER: It's like SMOG, and insofar as we breathe the air we are also SMOG BREATHERS, even though we would not describe ourselves as smog breathers.


So, those are the two family questions you will see on the midterm next Tuesday, 10/21.

Midterm Outline & Reminder

Below is a brief outline of the topics we've covered in class since the beginning of the term. This may help you give some order to your notes and prepare for the midterm exam next Tuesday, 10/21.

I. Comments on the relevance of this course, especially for members of the "dominant white majority"

A. Dr. Bonilla-Silva passage on the blog

II. "Race: the power of an illusion" (3 parts)

A. Family main points on each part.
B. What I highlighted in class following each part.

III. Basic Definitions

A. Culture
1. Metaphors for America: melting pot (problems with that) & newer metaphors which reflect a more pluralistic attitude: salad bowl, stew, stir fry.

B. Race
1. Emphasized message of video series
2. Talked about Blumenbach and his race hierarchy; where the term "Caucasian" came from. Posted some of this on the blog.
3. AAA Draft Statement on Race (handout)

C. Racism
1. Noted most people would say they are not racist according to that definition, but that does not mean racism is dead.
2. Different forms: cultural racism (Frederickson), color-blind racism (Bonilla-Silva), institutional racism.

D. Ethnic Group
1. How distinguished from race.

E. Ethnocentrism
1. Ethnocentrism is to ethnic group what racism is to race.
2. Stressed that a society or individual can be ethnocentric but not necessarily racist.

F. Prejudice
1. Noted connection to "stereotype". Prejudice often based on limited knowledge of other people. Can be positive, but mostly negative.
2. Sources from which prejudice is learned: a. authority figures, b. media images, c. negative experiences, d. discrimination.
3. Often grows out of situation of groups competing for scarce resources. (eg. Indians)
4. Ways to overcome it: a. contact, b. cooperative action, c. empathy, d. law (indirect)-- posted quote from Dr. King in this context.

G. Discrimination
1. Can be various levels: individual, group, institutional, which is the most significant.
2. Challenged notion of "reverse discrimination"

IV. Dr. Tatum's book (however far we get by Thursday, 10/16).


List of handouts:

1. Obama's speech on race (do not need to study)
2. Basic Definitions
3. AAA Draft Statement on Race
4. "All Brains Are the SAme Color" (generally)
5. "Racism Without Racists" (do not need to study; come back to later)

Of course, do not forget the blog material.


REMINDER: Look forward to receiving all your suggestions for midterm exam questions by roughly 1PM this afternoon (Wed.) See you tomorrow.

Quoted Passage & Reminders

In connection with my observations about the indirect role that law can play in overcoming prejudice, I quoted the following passage from Martin Luther King, Jr., which appears in his first book, Stride Toward Freedom:

"Government action is not the whole answer to the present crisis, but it is an important partial answer. Morals cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. The law cannot make an employer love me, but it can keep him from refusing to hire me because of the color of my skin. We must depend on religion and education to alter the errors of the heart and mind; but meanwhile it is an immoral act to compel a man to accept injustice until another man's heart is set straight. As the experience of several northern states has shown, antidiscrimination laws can provide powerful sanctions against this kind of immorality."
"Moreover, the law itself is a form of education."

REMINDERS: First, continue reading in Dr. Tatum's book. Again, I hope to be able to get as far as the end of Part II (p. 90) by next Thursday. Second, the families got a start on making up midterm exam questions. The questions are to be short-answer, and in that context let me rule out either True-False or Multiple Choice questions. I will NOT accept either T-F or multiple-choice questions. We will try to wrap up that exercise next Tuesday and the questions should be submitted by next Wednesday.

Families' Main Points From the Video Series

I've looked over your revised main points from the three parts of the video series we saw and distilled them down to the following list. In a couple cases I spliced together two different points and I also made some minor changes in the revised points submitted. If I ask any questions on the midterm about this exercise, they will be based on this list. Of course, you are welcome to make up some questions as well based on this.

"Race: the power of an illusion"

Part 1: the difference between us

1. Even though we have determined that race is empty of any biological meaning, we must still acknowledge its significance as a social and historical concept that has real effects on people's lives, greatly contributing to determining where someone will live, what socio-economic class they will belong to, the quality of their education, etc..

2. Race is not based on biological differences. Just as the saying goes, "beauty is only skin deep," well, so is race.

3. There are no genetic markers that "define race." Instead, there are more differences within a so-called race than between them. Noah, a white male, found that he had many genetic similarities with individuals from Iceland, the Balkans, and Africa.


Part 2: the story we tell

1. Initially, Indians were thought to be able to assimilate, while blacks were not, based on the notion that culture and not race separated the Indians from whites.

2. Thomas Jefferson called upon science to prove the inherent inferiority of slaves so he could use the phrase "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence without having to include slaves. The American race scientists' notion of race superiority turned out to be more a product of cultural bias than of fact.

3. The idea of race emerged as a justification for slavery and for dispossessing Native Americans of their land.


Part 3: the house we live in

1. Race is a social construction, as demonstrated by the fact that different states had different criteria to determine who was black. In Florida, for example, one had to be one-eighth African to be considered black, whereas in Virginia it was one-sixteenth and in Alabama it was ny African ancestry.

_______________________

Midterm Exam Date Change & Family Activity: Making Up Exam Questions

MIDTERM EXAM DATE CHANGE: After some further thought, I have decided to change the date of the midterm exam to TUESDAY, OCT. 21ST. Although this is after the mid-semester grading period and it will not be considered in the midterm grades, this will give us plenty of breathing space and a chance to get a bit farther into our first book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?. Also, it will give us more chance for review and avoid the Homecoming Hoopla. So again, instead of Oct. 14th, the midterm exam will be given on TUESDAY, OCT. 21ST.

FAMILY ACTIVITY: MAKING UP EXAM QUESTIONS: I will give the families some time in class next week (probably beginning on Thursday) to brainstorm some midterm exam questions. More specifically, I want each family to come up with THREE SHORT-ANSWER questions (and answers) based on anything we've covered in class since the beginning of the term. This would include: lecture notes including my comments on the video series, any handouts, however far we get in our book, and family points about the video series. You will need to come to some consensus on your three best questions. I will accept at least ONE question from each family. However, for each additional question I accept, that family will receive a bonus point. So, it is possible to earn 2 bonus points for this exercise and there will be the added advantage of knowing more of the questions on the test. I will give the families roughly 20 minutes on Thurs. 10/9 to confer and some time the following Tues. 10/14. ALL QUESTIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST BY 1PM WEDNESDAY 10/15 --
NO EXCEPTIONS. I want to be able to look over your questions and make my selections by Thursday 10/16 when we will set aside some time for review. This activity is worth 3 points.

________________________

I will have your essays back on Tuesday, and please start bringing Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? to class next week.

Quote from "The Geometer of Race" on Race Theorist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

As I noted yesterday, Blumenbach was the one responsible for using the term "Caucasian" to refer to Whites based on his belief that human origins can be traced to the Caucasus Mountain region of Georgia (southern Russia). Gould wrote:

"Blumenbach chose physical beauty as his guide to ranking. He simply affirmed that Europeans were the most beautiful, with Caucasians as the most comely of all. This explains why Blumenbach viewed all subsequent variation as departures from the originally created ideal -- therefore, the most beautiful people must live closest to our primal home."
"Blumenbach's descriptions are pervaded by his subjective sense of relative beauty, presented as though he were discussing an objective and quantifiable property, not subject to doubt or disagreement. He describes a Georgian female skull (Found close to Mount Caucasus) as 'really the most beautiful form of skull which...always of itself attracts every eye, however little observant.' He then defends his European standard on aesthetic grounds: 'In the first place, that stock displays...the most beautiful form of skull, from which, as from a mean and primeval type, the others diverge by most easy gradations...Besides, it is white in color, which we may fairly assume to have been the primitive color of mankind, since...it is very easy for that to degenerate into brown, but very much more difficult for dark to become white.'"

That is not all of what I quoted, but it makes the essential point which I am not sure I emphasized enough in class yesterday: that Blumenbach's supposed scientific judgment was not based on objective fact but subjective aesthetic opinion. As the video program also brought out, later American race scientists were also guilty of placing cultural biases above real science.

We'll get back to our Basic Definitions tomorrow.

Reflections on Family Activity & Reminder

Our little exercise in criticism yesterday (Thurs. 9/18) did not go as well as I thought it might when I dreamed it up. But I still think it has merit and can be a learning experience. However, since by my tally it appears the families basically tied in offering criticisms last time, I am not going to award any bonus points. I am going to re-think how we will critique the points on the next two parts. Nonetheless, do be thinking about how the points made on parts 2 & 3 of the video series could be improved, and do make sure to submit your revised points which may be the basis for a couple midterm exam questions.

REMINDER: I will be handing out a write-up of our first out-of-class essay on Tuesday, 9/23, and it will have directly to do with the video series and class discussion on it.

International Festival Extra Credit & Reminder

On Sat., Sept. 27, the City of Spartanburg will host the 22nd annual International Festival at Barnet Park from 11:00-6:00PM. If you have the time and inclination to attend for perhaps an hour or two, check out ONE of the nations (or ethnic groups) represented on the Avenue of Nations and ask whoever is representing that nation this question: If there is anything about them that they wished people in Spartanburg knew better, what would that be? On this blog entry, post a brief write-up of their response and your own reaction to it (a couple paragraphs at most).
You may earn 3 extra-credit points for this.

REMINDER: Don't forget to post your comment on the Obama speech (the deadline is Monday). And I expect the families to post their two points about Part 2 of the video series, "Race: the power of an illusion" sometime between now and next Tuesday.

Bonilla-Silva passage and First Family Activity

I trust what I had to say yesterday about the relevance of this course on race and ethnic relations got through to you ok. I didn't feel terribly good about my performance, and the lawn mower disruption did not help either. Next time that happens, unless we are watching a video, I think we'll take a break. As promised, I will give you the passage from Dr. Bonilla-Silva's book, Racism Without Racists, (p.1) I believe he articulates well why Whites in particular often do not consider the status of race and ethnic relations that significant or even think about it at all these days. He says:

"Nowadays, except for members of white supremacist organizations, few whites in the United States claim to be "racist." Most whites assert that they 'don't see any color, just people;' that although the ugly face of discrimination is still with us, it is no longer the central factor determining minorities' life chances; and, finally, that like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they aspire to live in a society where 'people are judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.' More poignantly, most whites insist that minorities (especially blacks) are the ones responsible for whatever "race problem" we have in this country. They publicly denounce blacks for "playing the race card," for demanding the maintenance of unnecessary and divisive race-based programs, such as affirmative action, and for crying "racism" whenever they are criticized by whites. Most whites believe that if blacks and other minorities would just stop thinking about the past, work hard, and complain less (particularly about racial discrimination), then Americans of all hues could "all get along.""

And I forgot to add in class what Dr. Bonilla-Silva went on to say: "But regardless of whites' "sincere fictions," racial considerations shade almost everything in America." He then goes on to list the many socio-economic variables on which blacks lag far behind whites.


FIRST FAMILY ACTIVITY: Over the next two weeks we are going to be seeing a three-part video series entitled, "Race: the power of an illusion." It challenges the whole notion of race and gives an overview of the pernicious effect of race theory and racism in America from our earliest days as a nation. Following the viewing of each part, I want the families to discuss what you saw and identify what you believe were the TWO most important points made in each part, points which you believe everyone should know. Then, have a designated family member post these points as comments on this blog entry (you should rotate the responsibility for this among family members).Please be succinct in stating these points -- no more than a few sentences. At the conclusion of this, each family will have contributed SIX points total. We'll review these in class and I will add my own analysis of this video series. I will use some of the points you come up with as a basis for some questions on the midterm exam.
This activity is worth 6 points.

"Get-Your-Feet-Wet" Exercise: Barack Obama's Speech on Race

I will be distributing in class today, our first meeting, a copy of Barack Obama's speech on race which he delivered last March. After reading and pondering his speech, I want you to address the following:
(1) What do you think of his speech in terms of his depiction of the current state of race relations in America, particularly between Blacks and Whites?
(2) Quote any portion of the speech which you believe is especially insightful and tell why you thought it was insightful.

I am looking for roughly TWO paragraphs or so (I may give you a chance to comment on it again later in the semester, at which time I may ask for a bit more.)

Post your comments NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, SEPT. 12TH.

You will receive 5 activity points for this exercise.

Welcome Soc. 240 Students, Fall '08

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome all Soc. 240 students to this course blog. As you will note, I first set up this course blog last Fall '07, and you can get an idea of what this blog is for by taking a few minutes to scroll through the entries from last year. Basically, we will be using this blog for a variety of purposes: for extending class discussion or occasionally posting lecture notes if I get behind, for individual and family activities, for occasional extra credit opportunities, to review for exams, among other things. Although I will announce in class when you need to check the blog, it would also be a good idea to get into the habit of checking it regularly, at least once or twice a week. Prof. Ginocchio