Structure and Format
• Accepted document formats: pdf, doc, docx
• Please structure this assignment as an essay, with a short introduction, an arguable
thesis statement, and paragraphs that begin (or end) with a clear topic sentence claim.
• Please use class sources to define key concepts and to support your points. One reason
to assign an essay topic is for students to actively engage with course readings.
Students who do not use or cite course readings will earn a failing grade on this
assignment.
• It should be between 1000 and 1400 words
• Use 1” margins and 12 point font.
• Please double space the text.
• You do not need a title nor a title page.
• Please include a reference page. List all the sources used in alphabetical order by the
author's last name. Please see the handout on formatting for more information.
• Be sure to include evidence from your personal experience and the book.
• Please cite the book using parenthetical references. If you mention his name in the text,
put the year published after his name and the page # at the end. Otherwise, put all of
the information in the parenthesis. For example:
According to He
ert Blumer (2019), “ . . . .” (p. #).
OR
“. . . . .” (Blumer 2019: #).
Race as a Social Construction
According to Omi and Winant, what does it mean for race to be a social construction? How do
they define race, racial formation, racialization, and racial etiquette? Then, use these concepts
to analyze George Floyd’s life experience. In other words, how do specific racialized institutions
(the neighborhood, the school system, the criminal justice system, the workforce, etc),
ideologies (common ideas and stereotypes about black men), and practices (redlining,
segregated neighborhoods and schools, sports, policing, ways of acting and dressing, etc) create
acial categories and racialized identities Floyd and his friends and family? And, what are the
consequences of race for George Floyd and others in the book? Please use Omi & Winant and
His Name is George Floyd to support your points. Be sure to define and use the following terms
from Omi and Winant: race, race as a social construction, racial formation, racialization, and
acial etiquette.
His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice[Kindle Edition]
By: Robert Samuels, Toluse Olorunnipa
To access the book, must use the Amazon Kindle App:
https:
www.amazon.com/dp/B09DNX99H9
ef=docs-os-doi_0
Email: XXXXXXXXXX
Password:Luther-bu
ank1
Note: I don’t have access to the Omi and Winant book so you will just be defining those concepts listed
above. Please use the other file that I provided to define those concepts for Omi and Winant.
Midterm Essay Ru
ic
Criteria Ratings Pts
purpose and thesis
statement
25 pts
exceeds expectations
Essay has an explicit and
focused thesis that
organizes and controls the
development of the essay.
The essay addresses
complex ideas and is
extremely focused
throughout.
22 pts
meets expectations
Establishes a focused
controlling idea or thesis
statement that organizes
the essay throughout.
19 pts
approaches expectations
The essay generally stays on
a fairly
oad general topic.
Often descriptive.
16 pts
elow expectations
The topic is identified but it
is discussed in a general
sense. The thesis is vague
and overly general.
13 pts
incomplete or missing
25 pts
mailto:Email: XXXXXXXXXX
The essay has no clear sense
of purpose or central thesis.
understanding and use of
sociological concepts
25 pts
exceeds expectations
The essay demonstrates a
sophisticated understanding
and use of sociological
theory
22 pts
meets expectations
The essay demonstrates a
solid understanding and use
of sociological theory
19 pts
approaches expectations
The essay demonstrates a
satisfactory understanding
and use of sociological
theory.
16 pts
elow expectations
The essay mentions
sociological concepts but
their definition or
application may be uneven
or superficial.
13 pts
incomplete or missing
Sociological concepts are
missing, inco
ect, or are
merely mentioned but not
applied to the analysis.
25 pts
evidence and support
25 pts
exceeds expectations
Uses compelling evidence
from class sources to
support claims and explains
the evidence with
exceptional reasoning.
22 pts
25 pts
meets expectations
Uses relevant evidence from
class sources to support
claims and explains the
evidence with effective
easoning.
19 pts
approaches expectations
Uses some evidence from
class sources. Sources may
not be co
ectly cited. The
explanation of the evidence
may be uneven.
16 pts
elow expectations
Some paragraphs may lack
enough supporting evidence
or the explanation may be
unclear. Citations may be
uneven.
13 pts
incomplete or missing
Little to no supporting
evidence is provided from
course materials, or the
evidence is not explained.
Citations may be missing.
clarity and revision
25 pts
exceeds expectations
Uses sophisticated prose
and demonstrates mastery
of standard writing
conventions. The entire
essay is extremely clear and
easy to understand. It needs
little or no editing or
evision.
22 pts
meets expectations
Uses solid prose and
demonstrates a strong grasp
25 pts
of writing conventions. The
essay is clear and easy to
understand but needs some
minor editing and/or
evision.
19 pts
approaches expectations
Displays evidence of editing
with adequate control of
grammar and mechanics.
E
ors do not slow the
eader, impede
understanding, or seriously
undermine the authority of
the writer.
16 pts
elow expectations
Prose may be choppy or
unclear. The essay has
e
ors in spelling,
punctuation, grammar,
and/or paraphrasing. The
essay needs quite a bit of
editing and revision.
13 pts
incomplete or missing
The essay is not clear and
hence difficult to follow.
E
ors in spelling,
mechanics, and grammar
make it difficult to read. It
may lack organization. It
may not meet the required
length. It needs significant
evision.
Structure and Format
Race as a Social Construction
Racial Formation Theory omi and Winant
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
Racial formation
Race
Racialization
Racialized
aced
Ideology
Racial ideology and stereotypes
acial etiquette
Racialized presentation of self
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
Racial formation
“The socio-historic process through which social, economic, and political institutions determine the content, meaning, and importance of racial categories, and conversely, how these same institutions are in turn shaped by racial meanings. Through this process, racial categories are created, inhabited or lived, evolve over time, and eventually disappear.”
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
“Racial categories and the meaning of race are given concrete expression by the specific social relationships and historical context in which they are embedded.”
Michael Omi and Howard Winant
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
II) Race -- (noun) “an unstable and ‘decentered’ complex of social meanings constantly being transformed by political struggle.” (27)
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
III) Racialization – (ve
) The process of giving racial meaning to a relationship, practice, or group.
Example -- African slavery in the U.S.
“biological differences in themselves have no intrinsic social meaning. Skin color is genetic – it is a real biological property – but it became a sign of political and economic difference for specific historical reasons, including the European colonization and exploitation of Africa” Nelkin and Lindee
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
IV) racialized
aced – (adjective) describes something that has undergone the process of racialization
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
V) Ideology – According to Stuart Hall, ideology is “those images, concepts, and premises which provide the frameworks through which we represent, interpret, understand, and ‘make sense’ out of some aspect of social life.” Ideologies work to naturalize, normalize, and justify cu
ent power relations.
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
VI) Racial ideologies and stereotypes–
They are systems of myths and stereotypes that work to maintain the racial order by making it seem natural, normal, and inevitable.
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
VII) racial etiquette – Part of this ideology is what we might call racial etiquette. Etiquette refers to the rules and expectations that guide social interactions. Omi and Winant suggest there are different sets of cultural rules for different groups.
A quote – just read and listen
“Everybody learns some combination, some version, of the rules of classification, and of their own racial identity, often without obvious teaching or conscious inculcation. Race becomes ‘common sense’ – a way of comprehending, explaining, and acting in the world. Throughout the history of [humans], people have assigned identity based on race, both as means of distinguishing one group from another, but more importantly as a means of control. . .”
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
Presentation of Self (Erving Goffman) – part of this etiquette has to do with how we look, how we act, and what social locations people expect to find us in.
Front
Setting
Personal front
Appearance
Manner or demeano
Racial Formation Theory
omi and Winant
B. Racialized Fronts. Personal fronts have a racial dimension. We learn the rules of how to convincingly present ourselves as belonging to a particular racial group. Conversely, people make certain assumptions about you based on your skin color, how you are dressed, how you walk, where they see you, and other “racialized” characteristics.
A quote – just read and listen
“We expect people to act out their apparent racial identities; indeed we become disoriented when they do not. The black banker harassed by police while walking in casual clothes through his own well-off neighborhood, the Latino or white kid rapping in perfect Afro patois, the unending faux pas committed by whites who assume that the non-whites they encounter are servants or trades people . . . Indeed the whole gamut of racial stereotypes . . . All testify to the way a racialized social structure shaped racial experience and conditions meaning.” Omi and Winant
Discussion:
What do you think about the previous quote?
What do we call non-white people who “act white?”
Why?
What does it mean to “act white” anyway?