UGC 211 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Key Terms Systematic inequality Matrix of domination Oppression Institution Double bind White Privilege Myth of meritocracy Active vs Passive Racism The sidewalk metaphor Race Class and Gender Still Matter P 1 6 re read pages Keynotes from reading o Race class and gender continue to structure society in ways that values some lives more than others o Some groups have more opportunities and resources while others struggle o Race class and gender remain the foundations for systems of power and inequality o There is a need for people to form a new frame of vision see things differently not just from one group s view remove the stereotypes and misconceptions o Rethinking class means seeing the vastly different experiences of both wealthy middle class working class and poor people in the US and learning to think different about privilege and opportunity o Knowledge is not just about content and information it provides and orientation to the world o What you know frames how you behave and how you think about yourself and others o Learning about other groups and their experiences from their perspective helps you realize the partiality of your own perspective o Having misleading and incorrect information and knowledge leads to the formation of bad social policy reproduces social problems not solve them o People need to take a broader view of social issues because it will foster more effective social policy o Race class and gender operate together is people s lives intersecting categories of experience that affect all aspects of human life they simultaneously structure the experiences of all people in this society o Emphasize social structure to conceptualize intersections of race class and gender o Use approach of a matrix of domination to analyze race class and gender o Matrix of domination sees social structure as having multiple interlocking levels of domination that stem from the societal configuration of race class and gender relations o Studying the connections among race class and gender reveals that the divisions by race and by class and by gender are not as clear cut as they may seem o Race class and gender intersect with other categories of experience such as sexuality ethnicity age ability religion and nationality o We ground our analysis in the historical institutional context of the US o Systems of race class and gender have been so consistently and deeply codified in US laws that they have had intergenerational effects on economic political and social institutions example the capitalist class relations that have characterized all phases of US history have routinely privileged or penalized groups organized by gender and by race o In the US race class and gender demonstrate visible long standing material effects that in many ways foreshadow more recently visible categories of ethnicity religion age ability and or sexuality Frye Article available on UB Learns reread article Keynotes from reading o Oppressors are oppressed from their oppressing example of men and women men are oppressed masculinity and thus oppress women insensitivity stretched the term oppression to become meaningless o Being oppressed is mold immobilize reduce o Requirement for oppressed people to smile and be cheerful if we comply signaling our docility not being taken note of becoming invisible on the other hand if we are mean bitter or dangerous we are difficult and unpleasant to work with Results in rape arrest beating and murder o Women are caught in a bind where neither sexual activity or sexual inactivity is all right caught between systematically related pressures o Frye s metaphor for oppression bird cage need to look macroscopically BIG picture not microscopically small picture Be able to define oppression o Unjust or cruel exercise of power a sense of being weighed down in body or mind Be able to define institution o Fairly stable social arrangements and practices through which collective actions are taken Examples of institutions in the US legal educational healthcare social service government media and criminal justice systems o Institutional Oppression Institutional Oppression o System of invisible barriers limits people based on their membership in unfavorable social groups o Institutional Oppression is Systematic Oppression How does institutional oppression occur o When established laws customs and practices systematically reflect and produce inequalities based on one s membership in targeted social identity groups o The institution is oppressive whether or not the individuals maintaining those practices have oppressive intentions Militarization of Local Police o Police are trained using same military tactics o Use of military vehicles strong resemblance of military looks and actions o Returning veterans from overseas becoming police officers returning of the standing army o Is the way they re dressing causing this tension Psychological perspective o Need police oversight committees to handle this issue before it gets worse issue is illustrating forms of oppression o Militarization has taken away right of free speech Know the term double bind good answer for short answer o Situations in which options are reduced to a very few and all of them expose one to penalty censure or deprivation o Example Issue of how women are viewed in society Article 5 A Different Mirror by Ronald T Takaki P 37 46 re read article Keynotes from article o The dramatic change in our nations ethnic composition is altering the way we think about ourselves o America s intensifying racial crisis o Four Los Angeles police officers were found not guilty of brutality against Rodney King reality of racial tension rage exploded in Los Angeles o How should we be defined in America o We will have to include Hispanics and Asians o Our society s various ethnic groups need to develop a greater understanding of each other o This need to share knowledge about our ethnic diversity has acquired new importance and has given new urgency to the pursuit for a more accurate history o Be able to discuss about these groups African Americans Asian Americans Chicanos Irish Jews and Indians o All these groups have helped to explain general patterns in our society each has contributed to the making of the United States o A broad comparative focus also allows us to see how the varied experiences of different racial groups occurred within shared contacts o Much of what is familiar in America s cultural