Dr. Sara DiazWGST 303: The *isms: Race, Class, and GenderGonzaga University

Color-blindness

Housekeeping

• I will post grades for daily responses at the midpoint and end of the semester.

• You can easily calculate your grade by adding the number responses you completed and dividing by the number of possible responses at any giving point in time (then multiply by 100).

Response Question

•What is a meritocracy? How does a color-blind perspective buttress the deeply held belief that America is a meritocracy?

Discussion Questions

• On what evidence does Gallagher build his argument that a belief in color-blindness and a belief in meritocracy are both myths?

• What are some of the policy implications and social consequences of these related ideologies?

• What does Gallagher mean when he says that “The new color-blind ideology does not ignore race: it acknowledges race while disregarding racial hierarchy...”?

Discussion Questions

• How do media images affect the way that whites think about race and racism, according to Gallagher? • How can depictions of racial harmony be racist? • How can media images of successful politicians,

celebrities and sports figures contribute to racism?

• What important sociological concepts – and

social realities - are missing from the picture in the color-blind perspective?

Discussion Questions

•What happens when media defines “race only as cultural symbols that are for sale”?

• Do consumers of all racial groups ‘see’ race the same way, according to Gallagher?

Discussion Questions

•What is “symbolic ethnicity”?

•Why does Mary C. Waters call some white people’s claim to ethnic identity a “symbolic

•What is "oppositional identity”?

Discussion Questions

•What is the relationship of “liberal individualism” and “pluralism” to the phenomenon of symbolic ethnicity?

•Why does Mary Waters say that symbolic or optional ethnicities have a cost for society? What are those costs?

Discussion Questions

• How does ethnic identity formation differ for White and non-White groups?

• How is this a source of tension and misunderstanding between people of European descent and people of color in the United States?

• Can you identify racial tensions on campus similar to the examples Waters talks about? How can these tensions be resolved?

Discussion Questions

•What might those who have the option to choose a symbolic ethnicity for themselves do to understand the broad range of ethnic/racial experiences in the United States?