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I was elated to see the election of the first multi-racial president, President Barack Obama, named as the President of the United States in November 2008. The amount of pride for my country, hope for the future and opportunity to see a significant ideological shift in the way we see "race" and ethnicity was all tied to the election of this extraordinary man.
To be honest, I never envisioned this happening in my lifetime. Even as a first generation product of the civil rights movement and integration, I never saw it happening in my lifetime. I'm not sure if this is because everything that I had been told by the generation of blacks who came before me or because of what I have witnessed personally and peripherally through my studies and observations, I just couldn't imagine another way.
I'm glad to say that I was wrong. President Obama's election signified all of the beautiful things that this country is capable of becoming and is. His fathers Nigerian ancestry epitomizes the belief in the principle that you can come to this country as an immigrant and make a better life for your family. His biracial heritage shows that the schism of race and racism can be narrowed.
After the election, reporters, politicians, and scholars alike hailed this period as a post-racial America. This is when I was pulled back to reality. The reality that I speak of is demonstrated in the readings that you have examined over the past week, the news accounts of stories like the Jayvon Martin shooting, desegregation, and the Immigration laws passed in states like Alabama and Arizona. How is it possible for me to experience both the biggest problem of the twentieth century as WEB DuBois so eloquently pointed out about race and live in a post-racial America simultaneously? Is it an either/or situation or both.
I think it's both. We still face injustices based on race and ethnicity in the 21st century.
Be mindful that because there is more diversity in American society, we will face more racial and ethnic conflict, compare to societies that are more cohesive, which leads to more equality because the members of the society are similar in the values and culture. Because of this competition, racial and ethnic groups vie for resources, wealth, power, and prestige as Weber wrote many years ago. Yet his writings, like Karl Marx, are as relevant as anything contemporary scholars and writers have written about in recent decades. Social stratification ranks us in society and what this means is that we are assigned both opportunity and unequal treatment in our society as a result of race and ethnicity( as well as class and gender, which we will discuss next week). This inequality (and opportunity) is present throughout society and found within its social institutions.
Most of you are younger than me and for you I hope for a better world, one that is free of racial and ethnic divisions. It is through my teachings and the readings we shared that I hope to impart you with a deeper understanding of "race" and ethnicity. Through your knowledge, you will have the ability to see beyond the things I couldn't see about race in America while growing up. Through you and your generation, perhaps we can truly achieve the goal of a post-racial America, one that is truly equal and affords all Americans the chance for a better life and social justice that each human being deserves. Until next week...
Check out this story about Crown Heights and the experiences of some new immigrants and their interactions with the Hassidic Jews in their community:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/rookies/2012/may/02/
