RACIALIZATION – THE RACIALIZATION PROCESS

CRITICAL RACE THEORY – RACIALIZATION – THE RACIALIZATION PROCESS

WHAT DOES “CRITICAL” MEAN-DO? {BRACKETS CONCEPT}

HOW MANY RACES DO YOU THINK EXIST?

[[CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS AN ATTEMPT TO THEORIZE RACE AND USE IT AS A TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING PATTERNS OF POWER AND INEQUALITY]]

WHY RACIALIZATION INSTEAD OF RACE?

IN A SOCIOLOGICAL SENSE:

RACE IS NOT A “THING IN ITSELF” == BUT RATHER == “A SOCIAL PROCESS” =====> “NOT A PERSON” == BUT RATHER == “A PERSPECTIVE ON THINGS”

DIFFICULTIES ARISE WHEN THINKING IN TERMS OF "RACE". THE USE OF THE TERM IMPLIES THAT RACIAL PURITY EXISTS -- AS IF THERE IS A CLARITY, EXACTNESS TO BIO-PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC. {I.E. AS IF I AM THE SAME AS THE GUY FROM LOUISIANA}

EX: (1) ALTHOUGH WE MAY ASSUME THAT WE CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN PEOPLE ON THE BASIS OF "RACE", BIOLOGY WOULD CONFIRM THAT MOST CANADIANS, LIKE PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD, ARE GENETICALLY MIXED.

(I.E., BARAKA OBAMA IS COUSIN OF DICK CHENEY???)

(IN FACT, MOST SCHOLARS ARGUE THERE ARE NO "PURE" RACIAL TYPES (BIOLOGICAL UNITS) IN THIS WORLD.

IN FACT, MANY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS SUGGEST THAT THE CONCEPT OF "RACE" IS REALLY A MYTH -- (RACE IS REALLY A INVIDIOUS STATUS DISTINCTION).

SOCIOLOGICAL STIPULATION: THE CONCEPT OF IT MAY BE A BIOLOGICAL MYTH — BUT — IT IS A SOCIAL REALITY {IT IS REAL IN ITS CONSEQUENCES

{SO} SOCIOLOGICAL STIPULATION: BECAUSE THE CONCEPT OF “RACE” IS (1) SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED AND HAS INTERACTIONAL CONSEQUENCES; AND (2) IT IS TIME AND SPACE CONTINGENT; AND (3) THESE CONTINGENT CONSTRUCTS ARE ATTRIBUTED/ATTACHED WITH STATUS AND MEAN ======> MANY SOCIOLOGISTS THINK IT IS MORE PRECISE TO REFER TO “RACIALIZED INDIVIDUALS”

======> MANY SOCIOLOGISTS PREFER TO USE THE TERM RACIALIZATION AS OPPOSED TO RACE IN ORDER TO EMPHASIZE THE FACT THAT RACIAL CATEGORIES ARE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS THAT CHANGE IN TIME AND SPACE AND CIRCUMFERENCE, AND ARE ATTRIBUTED WITH STATUS AND MEAN}

CONSIDER RACIAL AMBIGUITY

IF WE THINK ABOUT “RACIAL AMBIGUITY” IN OUR MIXED-GENETIC LIVES IT IS MUCH EASIER TO UNDERSTAND HOW ETHNO-RACIAL CATEGORIES ARE SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED.

EX: TIGER WOODS - MOTHER IS ONE-HALF CHINESE AND ONE-HALF THAI, AND HIS FATHER HAD ONE WHITE, ONE NATIVE, AND TWO BLACK GRANDPARENTS. (WHAT IS HE? FUZZY ZEOLLER - FRIED CHICKEN AND COLLAR GREENS).

******WHILE RACE IS TREATED AS A “REAL THING” IN EVERYDAY LIFE – IN ACTUALITY RACE IS A PROCESS OF RACIALIZATION ======> REFERS TO THE ASSIGNING OF RACIAL CONNOTATIONS {LABELS & STIGMAS} TO THE ACTIVITIES OF MINORITY PEOPLE.

TO SEE RACE IS ENGAGE IN A THOUGHT PROCESS WHICH BIOLOGIZE PEOPLE BY ATTACHING STATUS TO THE PHYSICAL.

PEOPLE ARE THE SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS OF "RACIALIZED FORMATIONS" -- MEANING -- PEOPLE DO NOT SEE "RACE"; RATHER THEY OBSERVE CERTAIN COMBINATIONS OF REAL AND SOMETIMES IMAGINED SOMATIC [OF THE BODY] AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT THEY ATTRIBUTE MEANING TO WITH THE IDEA OF "RACE".

A DIFFERENCE IN SKIN COLOUR IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO THE PROCESS OF "MARKING" HERE -- IT ACTUALLY GOES BEYOND THE BIOLOGICAL RACE IS A SOCIAL PROCESS OF ATTRIBUTING SUPERIOR- INFERIOR STATUS === THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS OF EXPLOITATION, CONTROL, AND EXCLUSION GROUNDING THE DIFFERENCES OF RACE, AND GIVING RISE TO (THE IDEOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF) "THE RACIALIZED OTHER"

MY ARTICLE AFRICAN CANADIANS IN 80S

{{{AGAIN, MANY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS SUGGEST THAT THE CONCEPT OF "RACE" IS REALLY A MYTH -- (RACE IS REALLY A INVIDIOUS STATUS DISTINCTION).}}}

RACE IS A POLITICAL ECONOMIC CONSTRUCT ==è THIS MEANS THAT IT IS NOT A “THING-IN-ITSELF” PER SE BUT AN INTERACTIONAL POWER DYNAMIC

EX: THE CONCEPT OF RACE IS ONLY IN EXISTENCE BECAUSE OF RACISM -- THE ACQUISITION OF POWER AND STATUS -- "POLITICS OF DOMINANCE AND DOMINATION" -- CREATES "STATUS AND STATUS ANXIETY".

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF “RACIALIZATION”?

RACIALIZATION (?) – THE SOCIAL PROCESS BY WHICH CERTAIN GROUPS OF PEOPLE ARE SINGLED OUT FOR UNIQUE TREATMENT ON THE BASIS OF REAL OR IMAGINED PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. {SOCIAL “PROCESS”DEFINITION}

~ OR~

RACIALIZATION - REFERS TO THE ASSIGNING OF RACIAL CONNOTATIONS TO THE ACTIVITIES OF MINORITY PEOPLE. {COLLECTIVE “PERSPECTIVE” DEFINITION}

IN A SOCIOLOGICAL SENSE:

RACIALIZED SOCIETIES – SOCIETIES WHERE CERTAIN IDEAS BECOME LINKED WITH RACE.

~ THEREFORE ~

THE RACIALIZATION PARADIGM EMPHASIZES THE SOCIAL CREATION OF DIFFERENCE AND DISPLACEMENT IN THE STATUS HIERARCHY OF “THE NORMAL” AND “THE STIGMATIZED”

RACIALIZATION ==> STIGMATIZATION==> MARGINALIZATION

THE PROCESS OF RACIALIZATION “LABELS” AND “STIGMATIZES” A MINORITY GROUP BY LINKING IT WITH RACE ====>

STIGMATIZATION: REFERS TO A MARK OF DISGRACE IMPOSED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BY OTHER INDIVIDUALS OR A SOCIAL GROUP. IN POPULAR USAGE IT OFTEN REFERS TO ANY NEGATIVE SANCTION OR DISAPPROVAL FOR NONCONFORMITY. AN UNDESIRABLE DIFFERENTNESS OF AN INDIVIDUAL THAT DISQUALIFIES HIM OR HER FROM FULL SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE. SOCIOLOGISTS ORIGINALLY USED THE TERM TO SHOW HOW HUMANS NOT ONLY SEEK TO CONTROL THE PHYSICAL WORLD BUT THE SOCIAL WORLD. ====>

MARGINALIZATION: REFERS TO THE STATUS OF A GROUP WHO DOES NOT HAVE FULL AND EQUAL ACCESS TO THE SOCIAL ECONOMIC, CULTURAL, AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS OF SOCIETY.

[[[EX: “RACIAL PROFILING” === MILES DAVIS AND HIS LAMBORGINE === THE POSTER BOY FOR “DRIVING WHILE BLACK” === “THE MILES DAVIS SYNDROME” --- SAYS THAT SKIN COLOUR, WITH ITS ATTENDING NEGATIVE ASSOCIATIONS, BECOMES THE STANDARD BY WHICH PEOPLE OF COLOUR ARE MEASURED {“INFERIORIZING” OR “LEVELING” WITHOUT REGARD TO PARTICULARS}]]]

[[[EX: {IN A WIDER SENSE, WHAT HAPPENS IN TERMS OF RACE RELATION HERE} ====> “PROBLEMATIZE” THE “STRUCTURED IMPOVERISHMENT OF BLACKNESS” -- BY TURNING ORDINARY PRACTICES INTO OCCASIONS FOR INTERVENTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE =====> “THE JANE-FINCH STIGMA” – VIDEO SURVEILLANCE, OVER-POLICING OF MINORITY NEIGHBOURHOODS, TASKFORCE-FIXATION AND GANG SQUADS, RAMPING-UP PUNITIVE SENTENCING ON 'STREET CRIME', ETC.]]]

IN A SOCIOLOGICAL SENSE

TO SEE RACE IS ENGAGE IN A THOUGHT PROCESS WHICH BIOLOGIZE PEOPLE BY ATTACHING STATUS TO THE PHYSICAL.

A DIFFERENCE IN SKIN COLOUR IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO THE PROCESS OF "MARKING" HERE -- IT ACTUALLY GOES BEYOND THE BIOLOGICAL

RACE IS A SOCIAL PROCESS OF ATTRIBUTING SUPERIOR- INFERIOR STATUS === THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS OF EXPLOITATION, CONTROL, AND EXCLUSION GROUNDING THE DIFFERENCES OF RACE, AND GIVING RISE TO (THE IDEOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTION OF) "THE RACIALIZED OTHER"

OMI AND WINANT OFFER A “RACIAL FORMATION THEORY” THAT THEY DEFINE AS “THE SOCIOHISTORICAL PROCESS BY WHICH RACIAL CATEGORIES ARE CREATED, INHABITED, TRANSFORMED AND DESTROYED. . . . [IT] IS A PROCESS OF HISTORICALLY SITUATED PROJECTS IN WHICH HUMAN BODIES AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES ARE REPRESENTED AND ORGANIZED.” FURTHER, THEY LINK “RACIAL FORMATION TO THE EVOLUTION OF HEGEMONY, THE WAY IN WHICH SOCIETY IS ORGANIZED AND RULED.” THEIR ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT “RACE IS A MATTER OF BOTH SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND CULTURAL REPRESENTATION.” [[ MICHAEL OMI AND HOWARD WINANT, “ON THE THEORETICAL CONCEPT OF RACE,” IN RACE , IDENTITY AND REPRESENTATION IN EDUCATION, ED. C. MCCARTHY AND W. CRICHLOW (NEW YORK: ROUTLEDGE, 1993), PP. 3–10.]]

RACIAL CATEGORIES & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

(1) CANADA IN THE PAST:

FOUR RACES=

WHITE

BLACK

RED

YELLOW

2) CANADA IN THE PRESENT:

THREE RACES=

WHITE

BLACK

ASIAN

3) CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:

FROM THREE TO TWENTY RACES:

CAUCASIOD

NEGROID

MONGOLOID

AUSTRALOID

4) THE AGE OF GLOBLISM (AND WORLD-WIDE CAPITALISM)

IN THE PAST THREE GROUP (KINDS-OF-PEOPLE) GEO-POLITICAL CONFIGURATIONS THAT IMPACT DEFININTIONS:

FIRST WORLD - [NATO ALLIES -WESTERN SOCIETIES]

SECOND WORLD - [RUSSIA AND EASTERN COMMUNIST ALLIES]

THIRD WORLD - [THE REMAINING COUNTRIES]

{{THE TERM "THIRD WORLD" EMERGED AFTER WORLD WAR II, WHEN THE TWO CONQUERING POWERS - WASHINGTON AND MOSCOW - BEGAN POINTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AT EACH OTHER AND DASHING HOPES OF PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION. WASHINGTON'S BLOC REPRESENTED THE ADVANCED CAPITALIST COUNTRIES AND WAS DEEMED THE "FIRST WORLD," AND MOSCOW'S BLOC OF EAST EUROPEAN COMMUNIST COUNTRIES WAS BY WAY OF CONTRAST THE "SECOND WORLD." WHILE MOST OF THE REMAINING COUNTRIES - THE "THIRD WORLD" - WERE STILL FORMAL COLONIES OR ECONOMIC DEPENDENCIES OF THE WESTERN POWERS, OR WERE JUST EMERGING FROM EXTERNAL DOMINATION.}}}

IN THE PRESENT=

TWO INTERNATIONAL "KINDS OF PEOPLE" CATEGORIES:

NORTH - [DEVELOPED, RICH COUNTRIES]

SOUTH - [DEVELOPING, POOR COUNTRIES]

[TODAY] WHEN YOU IDENTIFY AN "ETHNICITY" YOU ARE IDENTIFYING A "CULTURE" (DIFFERENT TRADITIONS AND VALUES); WHEN YOU IDENTIFY A "RACE" (DIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES AND QUALITIES) YOU ARE IDENTIFYING A "BIOLOGY".

(1) RACE: THEREFORE, VERSIONS OF BLOODLINES, AND GENETICS, AND HEREDITARY TRAITS -- DIFFERENT "BIOLOGICAL APTITUDES" FOR NATION BUILDING.

THIS IS WHY MANY SOCIAL SCIENTIST CALL RACE: "AN INVIDIOUS STATUS DISTINCTION".

(2) RACE: PEOPLE MADE OF THE "RIGHT STUFF" VERSUS PEOPLE MADE OF "THE WRONG STUFF" (OR LESSER STUFF, OR INFERIOR STUFF).

(3) THE CONCEPT OF RACE NECESSITATES A "BIOLOGICAL HIERARCHY". (STRATIFICATION SYSTEM -- A "NATURAL SELECTION", "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST", "HUMAN-SUBHUMAN", "MASTER-SLAVE", "THIRD REICH" HIERARCHY.

IN CANADA TODAY, WHAT USED TO BE CALLED RACE IS BEING SUBSUMED UNDER THE CATEGORY OF "ETHNICITY" (I.E., BEING GIVEN A "CULTURAL VOCABULARY" FOR SPEAKING OF PEOPLE).

*****THE TERM "RACE" IS BEING RESERVED FOR PEOPLE DEFINED AS "WHITE", "BLACK", AND "ASIAN"

{{{QUES: DO YOU DETECT A FUTURE PROBLEM HERE?}}}

(4) MANY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS -- SEE "RACE" AS A GROUP THAT DEFINES ITSELF AND/OR IS DEFINED BY OTHER GROUPS AS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER GROUPS BY VIRTUE OF "INNATE AND IMMUTABLE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS". THESE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE IN TURN BELIEVED TO BE INTRINSICALLY RELATED TO MORAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND OTHER NON-PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OR ABILITIES.

IN SHORT, RACE REFERS TO A GROUP THAT IS "SOCIALLY" DEFINED BUT ON THE BASIS OF "PHYSICAL" CRITERIA.

(SHOWS THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SEPARATE THE PHYSIOLOGICAL FROM THE SOCIAL)

WHAT IS "RACIST IDEOLOGY":

USED BY SOCIOLOGISTS TO REFER TO THE SOCIAL PROCESS BY WHICH BOTH ETHNIC AND RACIAL MINORITY GROUPS ACQUIRE AN INFERIOR STATUS.

INDICATES ANY EXPRESSION OF IDEOLOGY JUSTIFYING SUPERIORITY-INFERIORITY POSITIONS OF ANY ETHNIC OR RACIAL GROUP.

(SO) "RACISM" IS THE COMPLEX OF PROCESSES THAT "RACIALIZE OTHER" AS HAVING AN INFERIOR STATUS.

I.E., RACIAL MAJORITIES CARRY A SOCIAL PRESTIGE AND STATURE ALONG WITH THEIR EXPERIENCE OF DOMINANCE THAT BECOMES ASSOCIATE WITH THEIR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.

RACIAL MINORITIES CARRY A SOCIAL STIGMA ALONG WITH THEIR EXPERIENCE OF OPPRESSION THAT BECOMES ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.

IN FACT, MANY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS SUGGEST THAT THE CONCEPT OF "RACE" IS REALLY A MYTH -- (RACE IS REALLY A INVIDIOUS STATUS DISTINCTION).

EX: THE CONCEPT OF RACE IS ONLY IN EXISTENCE BECAUSE OF RACISM -- THE ACQUISITION OF POWER AND STATUS -- "POLITICS OF DOMINANCE AND DOMINATION" -- CREATES "STATUS AND STATUS ANXIETY".

RACIAL DISCOURSE IN SOCIETY

MANY THEORISTS HAVE FOCUSED ON THE CONCEPT OF "RACE" AS AN IDEOLOGY, AS A DISCOURSE (A WAY OF MAPPING OUT THE WORLD == THAT CONFERS MEANING AND STATUS)

[[SOCIOLOGICAL NOTE: “CULTURAL DISCOURSE” PROVIDES THE CONCEPTUAL MODELS FOR PEOPLE AROUND WHICH THEY MAP THE WORLD === “RACIAL DISCOURSE” PART OF A DOMINANT CULTURAL DISCOURSE IN OUR SOCIETY THAT PROVIDES THE CONCEPTUAL MODELS FOR PEOPLE AROUND WHICH THEY MAP THE WORLD == THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE ON RACE IS MAPS A “SOCIAL BIOLOGY” AS AN ASSUMPTIVE REALITY {MEANING IT IS ASSUMED THAT CERTAIN “BODIES” ARE CONNECTED TO CERTAIN “PATTERNS OF ACTION”} ]]

[[EX: RACIAL SCHEMES AND UNARTICULATED ANALYTIC FRAMEWORKS == “MINORITIES AS PROBLEM PEOPLE” == DARK BODIES HAVE AND CAUSE PROBLEMS]]

EX: MINORITIES SEEM AS CREATING SOCIAL PROBLEMS [BLACKS-CRIME CULTURE], POSING A THREAT TO SOCIETY [ASIAN “BOAT PEOPLE”], AND PROVIDING UNWANTED COMPETITION FOR SCARCE RESOURCES [“THIRD WORLD” IMMIGRATION].

SO WHAT IS RACIALIZATION?

RACIALIZATION - IS THE SOCIAL PROCESS BY WHICH CERTAIN GROUPS OF PEOPLE ARE SINGLED OUT FOR UNIQUE TREATMENT ON THE BASIS OF REAL OR IMAGINED PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS == CONFERRING A RACIAL MEANING TO EVENTS AND/OR INVESTING PEOPLE WITH BIOLOGICALLY DETERMINED ATTRIBUTES.

RACIALIZATION == AS A SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPT PRESERVES THE IDEA THAT RACE RELATIONS DO NOT EXIST (SINCE THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS RACE) BUT FOCUSES ON WHY CERTAIN RELATIONS BETWEEN GROUPS BECOME DEFINED BY REFERENCE TO RACE — WHY PATTERNS OF INTERACTION BECOME DEFINED BY REFERENCE TO RACE — WHY PATTERNS OF INTERACTION BECOME IMBUED WITH PERCEPTIONS OF BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES TO ACCOUNT FOR DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES.

RACIALIZATION ALSO ENTAILS THE IDEA THAT CERTAIN IDEAS OR ACTIVITIES BECOME LINKED WITH RACE (RACIALIZED) WHEN AND BECAUSE MINORITIES ARE INVESTED WITH NEGATIVE BIOLOGICALLY DETERMINED ATTRIBUTES THAT ARE SEEN AS CREATING PROBLEMS, POSING A THREAT TO SOCIETY, AND PROVIDING UNWANTED COMPETITION FOR SCARCE RESOURCES.

{RACIALIZATION IS A PROCESS BY WHICH SOME GROUPS AND THEIR ACTIVITIES COME TO BE DEFINED ON THE BASIS RACE (BIOLOGY)}

(THEORISTS) THEORETICAL PRESUMPTION == SOCIETY IS PERVADED BY RACE-BASED ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.

EX: THERE IS NOTHING NORMAL AND NATURAL ABOUT THE INEQUITABLE STATUS OF MINORITY WOMEN AND MEN IN CANADA. RATHER, THEIR INEQUITIES ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES, OR IMPOSED BY THOSE WITH POWER TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS WITHIN STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORKS. THESE INEQUITIES ARE RACIALIZED IN THAT THEY ADVERSELY AFFECT THOSE WHO ARE MOST VISIBLE.