Race Class Gender

Race, Class and Gender

 

Social Construction of terms

The concepts of "Race" socially constructed categories.  This means that they come to have meaning through societal influences.

 

As people define and put about different conceptions of race, they actively create contrasting social realities through which racial categorization is achieved in varied ways.[13] In this sense, races are said to be social constructs.[14] These constructs can develop within various legal, economic, and sociopolitical contexts, and at times may be the effect, rather than the cause, of major social situations.[1

 

Racial Formation

 

Class

Class:  The kind of work you do, who your parents were. There are untouchables in society, "lower" classes do not have access to certain... a collection or division of people or things sharing a commoncharacteristic, attribute, quality, or property the same relationship to the means of production a group of persons sharing a similar social position and certain economic, political, and cultural characteristic the pattern of divisions that exist within a society on the basis of rank, economic status, etc.  

In the United States, class is used...

Gender

Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women, sex, social role to gender identity. 

Self-Indentified gender, gender identity, personal pronouns...

 

There are biological and genetic factors that all humans are born with, race, class and gender are not these.

Even individuals that do not self identify with a particular race, class or gender  are impacted daily by their socio economic situation. Those who make judgements by their dress, language, physical features, occupation, and living standards.

Through the process of acculturation, socialization, social practices, behaviors, assumptions, superficial characteristics, people classify and assign a name to individuals and groups in the absense of objective criteria.  

On the other hand, ethnicity is the state of belonging to a social group that has a national or cultural tradition.

Intersectionality

This term is used to describe the interconnected nature of socially constructed cataegories such as race, class and gender. Overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.  (Oxford Dictionary)  First coined in 1989 by Kimberle' Crensaw, law professor and social theorist,  Beginnings of Critical Race Theory.

The terms do not exist in isolation.  Understanding the numerous socially constructed factors that contribute the entire constituencies of people necessitates a much broader and inclusive approach. People are not one dimentional and just one characteristic.

culture, ethnicity

The Necessity of understanding Intersectionality 

We move quickly to establish economic policies, industries, labor practices that primarily serve the company's needs.  To get a jump on global markets, industries established work days that began at 6:00 AM.  Late arrivals and absenteism were always blamed on the poor performance of the workers not the poor design of the employers. Managers quickly found out that many workers were also parents who had to get children to school or arrange for child care.  

 

What do we mean by Equality?

a situation in which people of all races are treated fairly and in the same way.  Cambridge Dictionary has the same outcomes regarldess of disability, sexual orientation, gender, age, race, ethnicity, immigration status, place of residence and other characteristics.

How do we measure equality

 What can individuals and the civil society organizations they support do about: 

Economy:  What is important to understand is that a person of color can simply aspire to a higher paying job, but that does not guarantee achieving it.  They cannot simply get more training and compete equally.  Institutions have put in place strategies to achieve greater equity in the hiring process, though these cannot guarantee equality.  In reality, employers still harbor implicit bias.

Health

Justice

Education

Housing

Services

Cuny Institue for State and Local Governance Equality Indicators

City University of New York

Community is about belonging.

Many people of privilege cannot identify with the phrase, "constructing a world where everyone belongs."

"To them, "poverty" or "food insecure" is not a condition that the builders of community wish to address.

But without acknowledging intersectionality, systems about building community will be inaffective and serve just the privileged.  

Some people still believe that that process involves getting key stakeholders to communicate and agree to a common agenda. The key stakeholders are generally selected from business leaders, elected officials, and those of influence. 

But when "representatives" of certain constituencies offer a different analysis and different road map, they are considered obstructionists.It is not measured in the quality of education, health care, housing, Attempting to "build community" without acknowledging intersectionality is perpetuting  privilege. 

 

Diverse Solidarity Economies

To build another world that is more responsive, equitable and equal. 

World leaders know that without reaching out to underdeveloped countries, that those populations and those problems always spill out onto the rest of the world. So to take a nationalist, isolationist approach is just being in denial.  Denying the inevitable.  I understand the metaphor of putting the mask on oneself first.

Beginnings of Critical Race Theory.

Women of color shut out of leadership positions of different movements, be it Feminists, Civil Rights, La Raza. 

The Old Normal

That inability is a reflection of a lack of understanding for intersectionality.

No matter whether you live on the continent of North America, Africa or Europe, people define themselves and others in many different ways simultaneously.  Each adult can be worker and parent or parent and wife or African and feminist or Israeli and Muslim.

In the past we assumed that everyone defined the problems in the same way and could just come together to solve problems. 

Privilege determines access

Race: can be defined as group of persons related by common descent or heredity or a population related.  There are also traditional divisions of humankind such as caucasion or Negro supposedly distinctive physical characteristics such as skin color, facial form, eye shape and genetic markers, no longer in use.  But arbitrary.  It may also refer to a group of tribes or peoples that may be united by a common history, language, family origin, cultural traits, etc. 

Race has been used as the basis for determining whether you are a citizen, or can own property, or can vote, or can marry, or can bring a legal suit against one who robbed, you raped you, etc.

In practice, many social conditions are genderfied job classifications, pay scales, ability to marry, access to restroom facilites, health care, research, politics..

Throughout history, the concept of "human rights" has expanded and led to many laws being put in place to prevent "discriminatory" practices. When people experience unequal access to employment, housing, food, health care, education, and personal civil rights, they seek answers.  If an employer, apartment manager, doctor or teacher does not offer either a remedy or satisfactory answer, groups have formed that include people experiencing the same issues.  

Elites, those in power have historically disproportionately used discriminatory practices when dispensing those freedoms, discrimination based on race, gender, class. etc.

These are the excuses used to burn villages, discriminate in labor, education.  Then it manifests itself in every day practice with white privilege,

  • when I walk into a store or restaurant I expect to be served first, ahead of other people, promptly, 
  • to get somehting that is not on the menu, 
  • people in defference to me.
  • Served by people who look like me

Common civil liberties include the rights of people, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally, the right to due process, to a trial, to own property, and to privacy.

If you have no "rights" you do not have 

  • Freedom of Religion:  Workshop, practice the way they wish
  • Freedom of Speech:  Can write, paint, publish, film, act...
  • Due Process;  Speedy trial, face ones accusers, jury of peers, 
  • Trial
  • Property:  The right to own a piece of real estate, a home, a mining claim, a camp site, a bicycle etc.
  • Privacy