Family observations on Part 3 of "Race: the power of an illusion"

GREEN FAMILY
(1) Ozawa case
The Ozawa case was very surprising: how he could not be a citizen because he was not white, despite the fact that the Japanese had been in America for many decades. This case really showed us that being labeled "white" is about more than skin color; it is also about what opportunities you can have. Even though Ozawa acted as a white American, this was not enough to prove to the Supreme Court that he was white.

(2) 1930s FHA
The Federal Housing Administration sounded like a good program, helping the "average" person to own a home. But it also sanctioned discrimination against "average" black people trying to purchase a home and it used racial criteria to determine which areas were considered good or bad credit risks. People of that era would probably be surprised to see how things have changed today.


BLUE FAMILY
(1) Ozawa and Thind cases
The two Supreme Court cases in the 1920s that involved the definition of who is "white" not only showed the difficulty in doing this, but also showed the arbitrariness of such definitions. Takao Ozawa made two arguments. First, he argued that race should not be a factor in becoming an American citizen. But knowing his first argument was too far-reaching, he made another argument that he should be considered white because he lived like any other American. But the court ruled against him, saying that according to the latest science he was not Caucasian. The court contradicted itself two years later in the case of an Indian named Thind. He used science to trace his ancestry to the Aryan (white) race. But this, too, was not good enough for the court, which argued that this scientific argument was not good enough, that the common man could clearly see Thind was not white. So, white was whatever the white man said it was. Clearly, this is circular reasoning and proves that race is a matter of social definition -- a very dangerous and powerful idea.

(2) Impact of housing discrimination
The beginning of mass homeownership after WWII had a huge impact on race relations in America. First, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) made possible mass homeownership by requiring only a small percentage down on a house and low payments each month. This made it possible for average families and seemingly "anyone" to own a home. But "non-whites" were left out of this housing market because the builders and realtors were allowed to discriminate against non-whites. This led to nearly all-white suburbs and minorities being concentrated in inner-city housing projects. When minorities were finally allowed to move into these neighborhoods, "white flight" occurred, which was encouraged be realtors and led housing values to decline in neighborhoods where blacks moved in. This led to a geographic Jim Crow (or racial segregation) in the U.S. today, and this contributed significantly to the large wealth gap between whites and non-whites.


ORANGE FAMILY
(1) Ozawa and Thind cases
Even though Zangwill wrote about America being a "Melting Pot," clearly those who were regarded as non-white did not have a place in this pot, as illustrated by the Ozawa or Thind cases. Ozawa's petition to the Supreme Court to be declared white so he could become a citizen was denied even though he lived his life like most white Americans. Thind was able to prove scientifically he was white, but his petition was also denied because the Supreme Court said any person can see he is not white. These cases showed how easily the rules could be changed for who was white, and who would be allowed to be a part of this so-called "melting pot."

(2) Government-sanctioned housing discrimination
The FHA program, which was a path to homeownership for millions of Americans, was discriminatory toward blacks. It pioneered the practice of "red-lining" in which predominantly black neighborhoods were judged to be bad risks for mortgage lending, which led to inevitable decline and decreasing home values in these areas. This institutional discrimination was much more serious than individual discrimination against blacks.


That's it. Everyone earns the 6 points for this activity. I did decide to award the Blue family a bonus point for being so prompt in sending me their responses, which were generally more complete. We will discuss this tomorrow (Thurs. 9/22), and these family points may be used as a basis for some midterm exam questions.