PLSC/HSTY 105 Power, Privilege, and Resistance (module)

Why do race and racism exist? How did they come into being and what purpose or purposes to they serve? We will explore these broad themes through the more specific lens of Critical Race Theory. We will study Critical Race Theory (1) as an approach to the study of race and racism, and (2) as a political controversy in contemporary American politics. LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will: 1. Distinguish between diversity, equity and inclusion, and explain their relationship to power, privilege, and resistance. 2. Interpret the impact of multiple axes of power and their intersections on identity construction, lived experiences, and worldviews. 3. Demonstrate effective social interaction that fosters respect for differences in a variety of contexts. 4. Design a plan to mitigate a societal problem that makes use of relevant DEI theories and frameworks. REQUIRED TEXTS: All course readings can be accessed through Blackboard. GENERAL INFORMATION: This course will emphasize critical reading and analysis of the assigned texts. The reading load will be approximately 75 pages per week. Class meetings will be a combination of lectures and discussions. Readings should be completed before the class meeting in which they will be discussed. This enables students to get the most out of the lectures and to participate effectively in discussion. Discussion: During class discussion you are not expected to have fully developed points of view about the course materials. But you are expected to participate. No one will be penalized for being wrong or imprecise, for expressing uncertainty or frustration, for changing their minds. But it should be clear that you are trying, that you have done the readings and are working toward a mastery of the material. Hybrid Structure: This course will meet in person (60%) and online (40%). We will select a time for remote sessions that allows all students to attend. Questions: None of us, myself included, knows everything about the topics of this class. It is our responsibility to ask others who may know the answer, either in class, in office hours, or over dinner. I expect that you are learning the material, not that you know it. As much as possible, try not to be shy or embarrassed about what you don’t yet know. The biggest failure in learning any material, in college or in life, is to fail to ask questions about things you do not know. Availability: I expect that all of you, either alone or in groups, will contact me throughout the semester. I am almost always available to discuss the course material or other life issues. Course Conduct: In order to build and maintain a supportive and productive learning community, students and instructors must treat one another with respect. For students, this includes but is not limited to:

• Beingprepared to discuss the assigned readings each day;
• Regular attendance;
• Notifying the instructor of any scheduling conflicts;
• On-time arrival to class;
• Minimizing trips in and out of the room during class;
• Minimizing side-conversations;
• Refraining from use of cell phones, tablets, and laptops. Neither laptops nor tablets may be used in class. Cell phones must be turned off AND put away during class meetings.  Students who use laptops, tablets, or cell phones will be considered absent.

Failure to adhere to these expectations – especially if students are disrupting others’ learning or creating an unwelcoming environment – will result in disciplinary measures. For more on University policies on appropriate classroom conduct, see the University of La Verne Catalog. For instructors, responsibility for building and maintaining a supportive and productive learning community includes but is not limited to:

• Being accessible to students;
• Communicating clear expectations for student success;
• Addressing students respectfully, including use of preferred names and pronouns;
• Returning graded work in a timely fashion;
• Creating a open exchange of ideas to which all students are encouraged to contribute;
• Facilitating the interrogation and critical analysis of ideas, including interrogation of the instructor’s views, biases, and values.

Students are encouraged to report violations of University policy, including sexual misconduct and social justice incidents here: https://laverne.edu/student-affairs/incident-report-wellness-referral-form/. EVALUATION CRITERIA:

• Study Questions: 20%
• Quizzes: 10%
• Plan of Action Essay 20%
• Midterm: 15%
• Final Exam: 25%
• In-class participation:  10%

Study Questions: On the Schedule of Meetings (below), you will find study questions for each class session.  On the first day of class, students will be assigned questions for each week.  All students are responsible for writing approximately 250 words in response to these questions.  These assignments must be brought to class so that they can be used in our discussion.  Students will be discussion leaders for the questions they have answered.  These assignments should be handed in at the end of each class. In these assignments, you should feel free to answer the questions not only as they pertain to the texts but also with reference to contemporary political issues. The study questions will be assessed on a scale of 1-20. A “16” indicates that the student has answered the question accurately. An “18” is indicative of an accurate answer with some critical reflection on the question. A “20” indicates critical reflection as well as specific reference to the text. Under “16” indicates that the answer misrepresents the text, while under “14” indicates that the question has not been answered. Quizzes: Quizzes will be given at the end of some classes. I will write one question on the board at the end of class. This question will reflect our discussion and/or the assigned reading for the day. Students will have ten minutes to answer this question. The quizzes will be assessed on the same scale used for the study questions. Plan of Action Essay: Students will write an essay in which they design a plan to mitigate one or more of the problems discussed in the course materials. Students should focus on one strategy for mitigating a problem related to race and racism. This essay should be 1250 words and should (1) identify and clearly define the plan or strategy the student will defend and (2) explain both the advantages and limitations of this plan or strategy. Students must turn in an outline and a draft of this essay by midnight on the dates given below. Midterm: The midterm will be a selection of the study questions. Final Exam: The final exam include an in-class component and a take-home component. The in-class component will be a selection of the study questions from the second half of the course. The take-home component will require students to design a plan to mitigate a societal problem. Students should begin working on this assignment early in the term. If you need disability accommodations for an exam or other assignment, please see the instructor as soon as possible. Information regarding disabilities, including learning disabilities, will remain confidential. If you are not sure whether you need special accommodations, please contact the Accessibility Services Department. Information about location and contact numbers can be found here: https://sites.laverne.edu/disabled-student-services/. Attendance and Participation:  Attendance and punctuality are basic requirements for a productive discussion. Beyond that, each student’s frequency and quality of contribution to the class discussion will be assessed and reflected in the class participation score. Attendance policies:

• Students who attend classes in person will receive full credit for attendance. Students who attend classes by Zoom with a valid medical excuse will receive full credit. Students who attend classes by Zoom without a valid medical excuse will receive 3/4 credit for attenance.
• Students may miss up to three classes without penalty. Students who miss more than three classes will suffer a deduction of one-third of a grade (e.g. a B+ becomes a B). Students who miss more than five classes will suffer a full grade deduction (e.g. a B+ becomes a C+).
• Students who are in class but do not have the assigned reading will be considered absent.
• Multiple instances of tardiness may result in a deduction of one-third of a grade.

Late Assignments: Late assignments may be submitted for partial credit, but no assignments will be accepted after the last day of finals week. SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS AND REQUIRED READINGS: WEEKS 1-2 (AUGUST 22-SEPTEMBER 2) The History of Race Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power.

Aurora Levins Morales, “What Race Isn’t: Teaching About Racism,” 2019 

·       What is the biggest challenge in teaching about racism?

Victor Ray, “The Social Construction of Race,” 2022 

·       What does it mean to say that race is a social construction?

·       If race is a “biological fiction,” why can’t we abandon it as an instrument of social analysis?

Michael Omi and Howard Winant, “Racial Formations,” 1994

·       What is race?

·       What is hypo-descent?

·       When did the term “white” originate?

Ian Haney Lopez, “The Social Construction of Race,”1994 

·       What is race? 

Theodore William Allen, “Class Struggle and the Origin of Racial Slavery,” 1975 

·       Why was the White race invented?

·       Why didn’t Virginia planters force white workers into bondage?

·       Do those racialized as White benefit from white supremacy?

·       What is the “old consensus on U.S. labor history? How did Allen counter it?

Pem Davidson Buck, “Derailing Rebellion: Inventing White Privilege,” 2001 

·       How did elites instill a racial identity in poor Whites? 

Sven Lindqvist, “Exterminate All the Brutes,” 1992 

·       How did Darwinism affect racism?

·       What are the origins of Nazism?

Barbara Fields, “Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America,” 1990 

·       What’s wrong with the way the Supreme Court decided Shaare Tefila v. Cobb (1987)?

·       How does Fields define ideology?

·       What does it mean to understand race as an ideology?

·       Why were workers of African descent enslaved while others were not?

·       What is the relationship between race and slavery?

·       Why did it take 100 years (after the inception of slavery in the Americas) for racial ideology to develop?

·       What keeps race alive today? 

WEEK 3 (Sept. 6-9) The History of Race in America

Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power.

A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., “Race and the American Legal Process,” 1978 

·       How has American law been used to deny equality to Black people?

Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1856 

·       How did Justice Taney argue that Blacks were not citizens?

·       How did Justice Taney argue that Blacks had “no rights which the white man was bound to respect? 

Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 1, 1863

United States Constitution: Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments 

·       How did the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments change the Constitution?

W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Black Codes,” 1935 

·       What rights did Black people have under the Black Codes? Which were they denied? 

Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 

·       How did the Court justify segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson? 

U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) 

·       On what grounds did Bhagat Singh Thind claim to be legally White?On what grounds does the Court disagree? 

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954 

·       On what basis does the Court hold that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal?” 

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow 2010 

·       According to Alexander, why are so many Black men under the control of the criminal justice system?

·       How is mass incarceration used to control Black men in the age of colorblindness? 

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “How Real Estate Segregated America,” 2018 

·       Why did the real estate industry want segregated neighborhoods?

·       What is predatory inclusion? 

WEEK 4  (Sept. 13-16) Introduction to Critical Race Theory

Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. 

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, “Hallmark Critical Race Theory Themes,” 1995 

·      Why, according to Derrick Bell, did the Supreme Court outlaw segregation in 1954?

·       Explain the difference between materialism and idealism.

·     What is CRT’s critique of rights?

 Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility, 2018 

·      What is white privilege? 

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, The Problem: Discrimination, 1981 

·       What is “The Problem” identified by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1981)?

·       What is structural discrimination? 

Paula S. Rothenberg, “Defining ‘Racism’ and ‘Sexism,’”1998 

·       What is prejudice? In what sense are racism and sexism more than just prejudice? 

Ian Haney Lopez, “Beyond Hate: Strategic Racism,” 2014 

·       How were Blacks forced into involuntary servitude even after the adoption of the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?

·       What is strategic racism? 

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, “Color-Blind Racism,” 2001 

·       What is color-blind racism? 

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, “Critical Race Theory: An Introduction,” 1995

·       What are the origins of Critical Race Theory?

·       What are the primary tenets of CRT? 

Michael Harriot, Twitter Thread, 2021 

·       Is CRT pessimistic or optimistic? 

Michael Gerson, “I’m a Conservative Who Believes Systemic Racism is Real,” 2021 

·       Why, according to Gerson, is it impossible to “be a conservative without believing that racism is, in part, structural?” 

James Baldwin, “On Being White…And Other Lies,” 1984 

·       What does Baldwin mean when he says “there is, in fact, no white community.”?

·       What did people have to do to become White?

OUTLINE OF PLAN OF ACTION ESSAY DUE (250 WORDS)

WEEK 5  (Sept. 20-23) The 1619 Project

 Nikole Hannah-Jones, “America Wasn’t a Democracy, Until Black Americans Made it One,” 2019 

·       How according to Hannah-Jones did Black people make America a democracy?

·       What was Lincoln’s view on the equality of the races?

·       How did race relations change during Reconstruction? How did they change after Reconstruction? 

Adam Serwer, “Why Conservatives Want to Cancel the 1619 Project,” 2021 

·       Why did conservatives object to the 1619 Project? 

“An interview with historian Gordon Wood on the New York Times’ 1619 Project,” 2019 

·       How does Wood respond to the claim that the Revolution was about founding a slaveocracy? 

James Oakes, “What the 1619 Project Got Wrong,” 2021 

·      What, according to Oakes, does the 1619 Project get wrong? 

Jake Silverstein, “We Respond to the Historians Who Critiqued the 1619 Project,” 2021 

·       How does Silverstein defend the 1619 Project against the historians’ charges? 

“The 74 Interview:Howard Historian Daryl Scott on ‘Grievance History,’ the 1619 Project and the ‘Possibility that We Rend Ourselves on the Question of Race’,” 2022 

·      What is the multicultural approach to history? How does it differ from Nikole-Hannah Jones’ approach? 

WEEK 6 (Sept. 27-30) The Politics of “Critical Race Theory”

Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power.

Tal Fortgang, “Why I’ll Never Apologize for My White Male Privilege,” 2014 

·       What is Fortgang’s objection to the concept of white privilege?

Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory,” 2021 

·       Why did Christopher Rufo think “critical race theory” could be the perfect villain? 

Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “What Do Conservatives Fear About Critical RaceTheory,” 2021

·       What do conservatives fear about critical race theory? 

Rashawn Ray and Alexandra Gibbons, “Why are states banning critical race theory?”, 2021 

·       Why are states banning critical race theory? 

Iowa House File 802, “An Act providing for rquirements related to racism or sexism trainings at, and diversity and inclusion efforts by, governmental agencies and entities, school districts, and public postsecondary education institutions.” 2021 

·       What does the Iowa CRT law ban and what does it not ban? 

Judd Legum, “1 truth and 3 lies about Critical Race Theory,” 2021 

·       Why is CRT suddenly all over the news?

Linda Martín Alcoff, “How Critical Race Theory Became the New Conservative Bogeyman,” 2021 

·       Why are conservatives opposed to what they call “critical race theory?” 

Paul Waldman, “Why conservatives keep creating imaginary enemies to fight,” 2021 

·       If CRT is too sophisticated to be taught in grammar school, why are states banning it? 

Timothy Snyder, “The War on History Is a War on Democracy,” 2021 

·       What are memory laws? Why does Snyder believe CRT laws are memory laws? 

David French, “Loving Your Country Means Teaching Its History Honestly,” 2021 

·       On what basis should we love our country? 

Kmele Foster, David French, Jason Stanley, Thomas Chatterton Williams, “We Disagree on a Lot of Things. Except the Danger of Anti-Critical Race Theory Laws.” 2021 

·       What is the purpose of a liberal education? 

David French, “Structural Racism Isn’t Wokness, It’s Reality,” 2021 

·       According to French, on what grounds does Christianity require acknowledging structural racism? 

Aziz Huq, “The Conservative Case Against Banning Critical Race Theory,” 2021 

·       What is Huq’s conservative case against banning critical race theory? 

Conor Friedersdorf, “Critical Race Theory is Making Both Parties Flip-Flop,” 2021 

·       What is different about North Carolina’s CRT bill?

Draft of plan of action essay Due (750 words)

WEEK 7 (October 4-7) Race and Class

“Race is the modality in which class is lived.” — Stuart Hall 

Walter Benn Michaels, “The Trouble With Diversity,” 2006 

·       How did diversity come to be valued in the US?

·       What is Benn Michaels’s critique of diversity? 

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “What about racism? Don’t socialists only care about class?” 2014

·       What is the role of racism in capitalism? What is the role of capitalism in racism?

·       What role did slavery play in the development of capitalism?

·       Why do socialists tend to be anti-racists?

·       Why aren’t general policies favoring economic expansion sufficient to address racism?

·       Why have African Americans gravitated toward socialism? 

Adolph Reed Jr, “Marx, Race, and Neoliberalism” 2014 

·       What are ascriptive ideologies?

·       How does Marxism demystify race and racism?

 Reihan Salam, “America Needs Anti-Racialism,” 2022 

·       What is anti-racialism? Why, according to Salam is it better than anti-racism? 

Jamelle Bouie, “Beyond ‘White Fragility’,” 2020 

·       Why, according to Bouie, is the Black freedom struggle necessarily a struggle for economic justice? 

WEEK 8 (OCTOBER 11-12) Resistance (These readings are optional. They are meant to be resources for the Plan of Action Essay. Students should read at least one of these essays.)

Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” 1984 

·       What are the “master’s tools” in Lorde’s analogy? 

Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” 1980 

·       How can difference be a solution? 

Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera, “La conciencia de la mestiza,” 1987 

·      What is a “consciousness of the Borderlands?”

·     What does Anzaldua ask of White people? 

Michele Norris, “Germany faced its horrible past. Can we do the same?” 2021 

·      How has Germany come to terms with its Nazi past? 

Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations,” 2014 

·      How, according to Coates, should reparations be paid?

·      Why are reparations the best response to the problem of American racism? 

Cedric Johnson, “An Open Letter to Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Liberals Who Love Him,” 2017 

·      What is Black nationalism What are Johnson’s criticisms of it?

·      How has the reparations demand changed over time? 

Daniel Wildcat, “Why Native Americans don’t want reparations,” 2014 

·      Why, according to Daniel Wildcat, don’t Native Americans want reparations? 

Susan Witt, “Proposal for a ‘Black Commons’,” 2018 

·      What is the argument for a Black Commons? 

Robin D.G. Kelley, “The Tulsa Race Massacre Went Way Beyond ‘Black Wall Street’,” 2021 

·      What does Kelley mean by decolonization? 

Greg Lukianoff, “The Empowering of the American Mind,” 2021 

·      What should be done to protect the vulnerable, according to Lukianoff? 

Alicia Garza, “Our cynicism will not build a movement. Collaboration will.” 2017 

·      Why, according to Garza, is it more important to be connected than to be right? 

Kristin J. Anderson and Christina Hsu Accomando, “The Pitfalls of Ally Performance: Why Coalition Work Is More Effective Than Ally Theater,” 2019 

·      What are the limits of allyship? Why is coalition work better? 

 Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “From #blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation” 

·       What would constitute the “radical reconstruction” of American society?

·       Why, according to Taylor, is socialism and the Black freedom struggle essential to one another? 

Final Draft of Plan of Action Essay Due October 14 by midnight

Race consciousness is a modern phenomenon. First, we should note, it is European. In-group/out-group distinctions go back to the beginning of the species. But the specific idea of race is modern. It, of course, couldn’t originate until Europeans came into significant contact with the world. At first, Europeans wondered if the indigenous peoples of the New World were human beings at all with redeemable souls. A lot hinged on their answer, 10 Soon, their answer began to migrate toward races. What is race? It’s hard to define. 10 It is fundamentally a “socio-historical” concept What is hypo-descent? Hypo-descent is a response to the difficulty of defining race. 11 In Latin America, hypo-descent is seen as ridiculous. The social construction of race there is altogether different. 11-12 In contemporary British politics (I don’t think this is true anymore), the term “black” is used to refer to all non-whites Omi and Winant recommend the term racial formation to capture the social      construction of race. Another good term is racialized/racialization. Everyone learns the rules of race. They become “common sense.” The question is why? Why do these racial formations evolve? Why are we racialized in the ways we are? In the US the racial category of “black” evolved with the consolidation of racial slavery. 13-14 When did the term “white” originate? From the term “Christian” cam the terms “English” and “free.” Only around 1680—well discuss why—did a new term of self-identification emerge: “white” Later, as more immigrants arrived, that racial category got destabilized, 14 Omi/Winant summary, 15 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Ian Haney Lopez, “The Social Construction of Race,” 1994 What is race? Lopez definition, 193 Geneticists have studied this. There is greater genetic differentiation within those coded as Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, etc as there is between those people. This refutes the claim that racial divisions reflect genetic differences So we need to do the history of this invented concept. 194 Once we do this history, it is clear that we should embrace Barbara Fields’ conclusion: “Anyone who continues to believe in race as a physical attribute of individuals, despite the now commonplace disclaimers of biologists and geneticists might as well also believe that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy are real, and that the earth stands still while the sun moves.”

The process by which racial meanings arise has been called racial formation. Lopez prefers racial fabrication to emphasize the active role we all take in producing and reproducing racial identities. This works in four ways, 196

Example of the Hispanic racial formation, 196-7Example of the Wrights who were of mixed Black and indigenous heritage; everything hinged on a Court’s finding that straight hair meant they were Indian and therefore free Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Theodore William Allen, “Class Struggle and the Origin of Racial Slavery,” 1975 Why was the White race invented? First, it was a ruling class response to the problem of labor solidarity. Second, it was used to create the White race as a tool of social control. Third, the consequence was the ruin of the interest of Black and White workers To understand how the anxiety of the Berkeleys and the Morysons was transformed into the self-assurance of the Harpers and the Fitzhughs, is to understand the origins of racial slavery 129 years before William Lloyd Garrison was born, black and white fought side by side for the abolition of slavery Here’s how the overclass responded, 14 So why racial slavery? In a way, it’s the wrong question. 14-15 Why didn’t Virginia planters force white workers into bondage? The “Anglo-American bourgeoisie” did not make slaves of black and white together because it was not within its power to do so. To attempt to do so would have put its power in jeopardy. 15 White servants could now be used to serve in the militia, to serve as a basic means of social control to keep Black people in perpetual bond-servitude. There are scores of documents which attest to this fact. (Allen’s book is long.) America developed a “white militia.” 21 How America Invented Race | The History of White People in America – YouTube‘ Do those racialized as White benefit from white supremacy? Tim Wise Part 3 – The History of Whiteness – YouTube What is the “old consensus on U.S. labor history? How did Allen counter it? Idea was that class consciousness is weak in the US because of its vast middle class identity; homesteading in the west, early development of civil liberties, ease of social mobility, etc. 5 Key points of Allen’s interpretation, 6 At the end of his life, he outlined four challenges, 7 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Pem Davidson Buck, “Derailing Rebellion: Inventing White Privilege,” 2001 How did elites instill a racial identity in poor Whites? Both suffered but more pain was inflicted on Blacks. 25      This gave Whites a sense of superiority, a psychological wage instead of cash, like “being employee of the month instead of a raise.” The problem is that this wasn’t a good deal for Whites, 26 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Sven Lindqvist, “Exterminate All the Brutes,” 1992 How did Darwinism affect racism? Struggle for survival. “In the 19^th century, people believed there are races, peoples , nations, and tribes that were in the process of dying out.” 140 If we do not wish to become extinct we must vanquish our competitors. Europe was in the process of displace the “dying nations” in most of the world. Of course, they were mostly dying because their lands were taken from them. The word genocide had not yet been invented but the matter existed. We want to believe that genocide began with the Nazis. It did not. What are the origins of Nazism? Lebensraum explained, 155 The Holocaust was unique—in Europe. But the history of Western expansion in other parts of the world shows many examples of the total extermination of whole peoples. Hitler was driven by a fanatical anti-Semitism with roots going abtou over a 1000 years. But the step from murder to genocide was not taken until the anti-Semitic tradition met the tradition of genocide arising during Europe’s exansion in American, Australia, Africa, and Asia. Holocaust is anti-semitism + imperialism/colonialism “Auschwitz was the modern industrial application of a policy of extermination on which European world domination had long since rested.” Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Barbara Fields, “Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America,” 1990 What’s wrong with the way the Supreme Court decided Shaare Tefila v. Cobb (1987)? How does Fields define ideology? What does it mean to understand race as an ideology? Why were workers of African descent enslaved while others were not? What is the relationship between race and slavery? Why did it take 100 years (after the inception of slavery in the Americas) for racial ideology to develop? What keeps race alive today? WEEK 3 The History of Race in America Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Slavery to Mass Incarceration – YouTube A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., “Race and the American Legal Process,” 1978 Thurgood Marshall, 250 Who does the we of ‘we the people’ describe? Frederick Douglass gives an answer, 252 How has American law been used to deny equality to Black people? Judge Roger Taney gave an answer, 252 Charles Warren, historian of the Court explains, 258 Oliver Wendell Holmes, perhaps the greatest justice, explains, 258 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1856 Question of the case, 1 How did Justice Taney argue that Blacks were not citizens? Depends on who were citizens with the Constitution was adopted Taney concedes it seems like maybe they are, 3 Two clauses suggest otherwise, 4 What the Court held, 1 “No one seems to have doubted the prevailing wisdom of the time.” How did Justice Taney argue that Blacks had “no rights which the white man was bound to respect? “beings of an inferior order” This was a major factor in precipitating the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 1, 1863 United States Constitution: Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments How did the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments change the Constitution? 13^th Amendment banned slavery, 262 14^th did a bunch of things, the main one, 262 Plus other things, 263 15^th banned slavery, 263 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Reconstruction in America – YouTube W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Black Codes,” 1935 Black Codes were instituted after the Civil War What rights did Black people have under the Black Codes? Which were they denied? Had right to own property, to sue and be sued; family relations were recognized; were no longer real estate But were still liable to slave trade under the guise of vagrancy and apprenticeship laws. 284      convict leasing more limitations, 284, 285, 285, 285, 290 In some states like South Carolina, it was provided that any white man, could arrest a Negro. Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 There was one dissenter, Justice Harlan, 297 How did the Court justify segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson? It violates no provision of the Constitution, 298 Laws mandating separation of the races are fine, 298, 298 if separate implies unequal in any way, that’s the choice of the colored race, 299 U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) On what grounds did Bhagat Singh Thind claim to be legally White?On what grounds does the Court disagree? Thind argues that he descends from the caucasian race. The Court holds that mere descent does not “ipso facto conclude the inquiry.” The statute does not use the word Caucasian; it uses the word “white person” These are both words of common speech and not scientific origin. Oh, so now they’re not of scientific origin. The words of the statue are to be interpreted in accordance with the “understanding of the common man.” Logic, 561, 562 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954 Decision, 306 On what basis does the Court hold that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal?” Cites a Kansas case, 306 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow 2010 According to Alexander, why are so many Black men under the control of the criminal justice system? Begins with Obama speech. Obama lamented absent Black fathers. Where are they? The sense that Black men have disappeared is rooted in reality, 287 Mass Incarceration, Visualized – YouTube more Black adults are under correctional control today—prison, probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850 in many urban areas, the majority of young black men are under the control of the criminal justice system More black men are disenfranchised today than in 1870, the year of the 15^th amendment How is mass incarceration used to control Black men in the age of colorblindness? Three stages, 289 This system ensures the subordinate and marginal status of communities of color Caste system The nature of the criminal justice system has changed; it is no longer about punishment; it is about controlling a population

Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “How Real Estate Segregated America,” 2018 We need to look at the public-private partnerships that have sutured the federal government to the real-estate industry Black housing was of poor quality for three reasons, 26 Meanwhile housing for Whites was being subsidized, 26-7 Why did the real estate industry want segregated neighborhoods? It wasn’t just because of prejudice; it was because of profit What is predatory inclusion? Decades of exclusion gave way to predatory inclusion. The end of redlining meant capital could flow freely into urban communities, but African Americans could not get out Predatory mortgages, then rush to foreclose, and resell at a higher price WEEK 4  Introduction to Critical Race Theory Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power.

What is CRT? According to those who support it:

1. an academic movement originating in law schools, exploring the ways racism can persist even in the context of facially-neutral laws
2. the belief that race should be studied seriously as a constitutive cultural and historical force
3. the idea that race is a historical construct with a genealogy that can be studied
4. the idea that racism extends beyond individual judgment and is inscribed into social practices and institutions
5. the idea that racism is an ideology meant to support European domination of non-European people
6. the idea that racism is a system of power that can be dismantled once understood

According to those who oppose it:

1. discussion of racism that treats it as anything other than a discrete judgment made by an individual toward another individual on the basis of race
2. characterizing America’s history of racism as anything other than steady progress toward realizing the nation’s founding ideals

Possible common ground: Race is a fiction which has no bearing on the moral worth or dignity of any person. Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, “Hallmark Critical Race Theory Themes,”      1995 Why, according to Derrick Bell, did the Supreme Court outlaw segregation in 1954? During the Cold War, locked in a struggle in the black, brown and yellow parts of the      world. The interests of blacks and whites, for a brief time, converged. This sparked outrage but later research confirmed it.      Interest convergence      The theory has been applied to other racial issues. Explain the difference between materialism and idealism. If the materialists are correct, the physical circumstances of minorities’ lives need to      change before racism will diminish, 25 CRT is a critique of color blindness, 27 What is CRT’s critique of rights? Summary, 28-29 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility, 2018 There are biological or physical differences among people. But race is socially      constructed. Race was invented for a purpose: to resolve the “tension between the noble ideology of      equality and the cruel reality of genocide, enslavement, and colonization.” Thomas Jefferson, and others, turned to science. The idea of racial inferiority was created to justify unequal treatment, 16 Ibram Kendi goes one further: If we truly believe that all humans are equal, then disparity      in condition can only be the result of systemic discrimination Racism is prejudice + power When a racial group’s prejudice is backed by the power of legal authority and      institutional control, it is transformed into racism that can function independent      from the intentions or self-images of individual actors While women could be prejudiced and discriminate against men in individual      interactions, women as group could not deny men their civil rights. But men as a      group could and did deny women their civil rights. This is because they control the      institutions. The racial ideology that circulates in the US rationalizes racial hierarchies as the outcome      of a natural order. Those who don’t succeed are just not as naturally capable,      deserving, or hardworking. What is white privilege? Summarized, 24-5 Jackie Robinson story is just wrong, 26, as is the thing she says on p. 25 about whiteness And again on p. 27 The problem is that whiteness is constituted too. Charles Mills uses the racial contract to explain an unspoken agreement that structures      European politics, 29 Lee Atwater explained how racism can be hidden in color blind language. Exclusive: Lee Atwater’s Infamous 1981 Interview on the Southern Strategy – YouTube Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, The Problem: Discrimination, 1981 What is “The Problem” identified by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1981)? White and male supremacy are no longer popularly accepted values. But they persist in social structures that make up our society. The most common understanding of discrimination rests at the level of prejudiced individual attitudes and behavior While this form of racism persists, it is now often hidden and unintentional Superficially “color blind” or “gender neutral” practices have an adverse effect on minorities and women. Some examples? What is structural discrimination? Racism is maintained through individual actions. But longstanding unintentional practices can sustain racism. Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Paula S. Rothenberg, “Defining ‘Racism’ and ‘Sexism,’”1998 What is prejudice? In what sense are racism and sexism more than just prejudice? What counts has race differences and what defines male and female have changed repeatedly over the past several hundred years and continue to change today appealing to see racism simply as a prejudice, 7 3 elements

1. Racism is the subordination of people of color by white people, 7
2. Sexism involves the subordination of women by men.
3. Racism and sexism can be either conscious or unconscious, intentional or unintentional

Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Ian Haney Lopez, “Beyond Hate: Strategic Racism,” 2014 How were Blacks forced into involuntary servitude even after the adoption of the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? Convict leasing 13^th Amendment has a hole, 123 Convict leasing, 123 There are three understandings of racism: hate, structural racism, and implicit bias. Each is important, but none explain the creation and persistence of convict leasing or today’s racial demagoguery. For that, need strategic racism. Racism as Hate Since conservatives on the Supreme Court adopted a malice conception of racism in 1979; when using the standard the Court has rejected every claim of discrimination by non-whites Structural Racism This is racism without racists. It implies the need to change society. Supreme Court has repudiated and many do not wish to make these changes. Implicit Bias Project Implicit: Take a Test (harvard.edu) We are hardwired to assign meaning to similarities and differences. But we are not hardwired to do so based on race. There is something missing in these theories. Convict leasing was about labor extraction. What is strategic racism? Strategic Racism Strategic racism refers to efforts to use racial animaus as leverage to gain material wealth, political power, or heightened social standing Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, “Color-Blind Racism,” 2001 What is color-blind racism? Racism is a matter of group power: the dominant racial group trying to maintain its systematic advantages and minorities fighting to subvert the racial status quo How is it that we have tremendous racial inequality in a society where people (white people) claim that race is no longer a relevant social factor? Difference between jim crow and color-blind, 132 4 features Abstract Liberalism For centuries, the principles of liberalism and humanism were not extended ton non- whites; now they are used to justify contemporary racial inequality Naturalization People just prefer to be around other people like them The Biologization of Culture Minimization of Racism “Oh, there’s not much left These four things barricade whites from America’s racial reality James Baldwin and Paul Weiss Debate Discrimination In America | The Dick Cavett Show – YouTube Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, “Critical Race Theory: An Introduction,”      1995 What are the origins of Critical Race Theory? Scholars in the 1970s realized that the great reforms of the 1960s were not having an impact on society, particularly on undermining racial inequality. The Most Intense Heartfelt Description Of Racism I Ever Filmed – YouTube What are the primary tenets of CRT?

1. Racism is the ordinary experience of people of color, not an exception.
2. Racism benefits people racialized as white, both materially and psychically.
   1. Because of this large segments of the population do not have an incentive to change it.
3. Race is socially constructed.
4. Intersectionality and anti-essentialism, 9 (Gramsci)

Michael Harriot, Twitter Thread, 2021 Is CRT pessimistic or optimistic? Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Michael Gerson, “I’m a Conservative Who Believes Systemic Racism is Real,” 2021 Why, according to Gerson, is it impossible to “be a conservative without believing that racism is, in part, structural?” Tells his own story, 1, 2 The good news is that America also has what might be called systemic anti-racism, 3 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. James Baldwin, “On Being White…And Other Lies,” 1984 What does Baldwin mean when he says “there is, in fact, no white community.”? Answer, 1 It is the price of coming here. One must become white. No one was white before s/he came to America. It took generations to make this a “white country.” What did people have to do to become White? How? 2 The opted for whiteness. They decided to be white. Why wouldn’t they. But they lost something. They opted for safety over life. White is “absolutely a moral choice” for there are no white people. We, as Black, have paid for the crisis of leadership in the white dcommunity. Profile of James Baldwin: Never Aired: Profile on James Baldwin ABC’s 20/20, 1979 on Vimeo. Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. WEEK 5  The 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones, “America Wasn’t a Democracy, Until Black Americans Made      it One,” 2019 How according to Hannah-Jones did Black people make America a democracy? What was Lincoln’s view on the equality of the races? How did race relations change during Reconstruction? How did they change after Reconstruction? Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Adam Serwer, “Why Conservatives Want to Cancel the 1619 Project,” 2021 Why did conservatives object to the 1619 Project? It wasn’t the details of the factual narrative. It was the ideological implications of the claim that the true founding was 1619 They argue that this would mean the country is fundamentally and irredeemably racist But they argument that we not teach history because of its implications is simply an argument against teaching history at all. Take Texas, 3 The historical record shows that Texas will fail, although they may be successful for a long time Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. “An interview with historian Gordon Wood on the New York Times’ 1619 Project,”      2019 How does Wood respond to the claim that the Revolution was about founding a slaveocracy? First thing to say is that slaver had existed all over the New World and elsewhere in the world And it existed in all of these places without substantial criticism. Until the United States. That’s what the 1619 Project misses. 3, 5 The evidence for the Jones thesis just isn’t there. 5 In 1776, there was a common view that slavery was on its way out, 2 Of course, they “couldn’t have been more wrong.” 8 But the Revolution puts the South immediately on the defensive. 8 Pushed them to develop the idea of racism The notion of equality was the key, 16 The elimination of bonded servitude also made slavery more conspicuous. 9, 9, 10 Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. James Oakes, “What the 1619 Project Got Wrong,” 2021 What, according to Oakes, does the 1619 Project get wrong? The 1619 Project claims to reveal the unknown history of slavery and racism in the US. False. To anyone who earned a PhD in US History after 1965, the claim is risible. This leads its editors to erase the history of antislavery and distort the history of slavery Compare to the series the Times did on the Civil War, called Disunion. We were taught the history of slavery, were we not? Also, the 1619 Project creates a false dichotomy. 5      Yes, the revolutionaries had slaves, but it was the revolution that put slavery on a path            to extinction. Also, it underplays the history of antislavery. In a way they concede this in a correction      they make for the book. 7 Also, slavery was not successful economically. It consigned generations of Southerners—      black and white—to poverty. Also, the Civil War did happen, and the Civil War did change a lot. 13, 13      It was a deeply, profoundly repressive system but it wasn’t slavery. Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Jake Silverstein, “We Respond to the Historians Who Critiqued the 1619 Project,”      2021 How does Silverstein defend the 1619 Project against the historians’ charges? We weren’t trying to tell the whole history. We wanted to address the marginalization of African-American history in American history Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation (offer of freedom) was more important than the historians acknowledge Race is a social construct. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. “The 74 Interview: Howard Historian Daryl Scott on ‘Grievance History,’ the 1619 Project and the ‘Possibility that We Rend Ourselves on the Question of Race’,” 2022 Scott defends multiculturalism as an approach to teaching history. What is the multicultural approach to hisotyr? How does it differ from Nikole-Hannah Jones’ approach? Scott fears the collapse of multiculturalism. The right gives up on it because they’re against it. The left gives up on it because they perceive it to have failed. But the key is that White people are beginning to identify as a distinctly ethnic group. This is dangerous and we’re all going to have to deal with it. The 1619 Project doesn’t talk about Black people as much as it talk about what White people did to Black people. Need to recover a distinctively Black culture. The 1619 Project does some of this. 8 The longest-standing question in democracy is how much commonality do we need? 8 We need a shared culture, whatever else we do. 10 We should support common experiences in education and in society. 11 WEEK 6 The Politics of “Critical Race Theory” CRT FAQ: Critical Race Theory FAQ (naacpldf.org) CRT Forward Tracking Project – Tracking anti-CRT efforts introduced at the local, state, and federal levels. (ucla.edu) John Oliver on CRT: Critical Race Theory: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) – YouTube Podcast: Battling Over Critical Race Theory – CAFE What is CRT? According to those who support it:

1. an academic movement originating in law schools, exploring the ways racism can persist even in the context of facially-neutral laws
2. the belief that race should be studied seriously as a constitutive cultural and historical force
3.  the idea that race is a historical construct with a genealogy that can be studied
4. the idea that racism extends beyond individual judgment and is inscribed into social practices and institutions
5. the idea that racism is an ideology meant to support European domination of non-European people
6. the idea that racism is a system of power that can be dismantled once understood

According to those who oppose it:

1. discussion of racism that treats it as anything other than a discrete judgment made by an individual toward another individual on the basis of race
2. characterizing America’s history of racism as anything other than steady progress toward realizing the nation’s founding ideals

Possible common ground: Race is a fiction which has no bearing on the moral worth or dignity of any person. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Tal Fortgang, “Why I’ll Never Apologize for My White Male Privilege,” 2014 What is Fortgang’s objection to the concept of white privilege? I do not want to be judged by the ethnic group to which I belong. OK, but does CRT do this? This diminishes all of my personal accomplishments. 1 everything? I have been privileged but not in the way they say. 2 My appearance doesn’t tell the whole story, and the idea that I should apologize for it is insulting. Appearance? “I have checked my privilege. I apologize for nothing.” Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over      Critical Race Theory,” 2021 Started by writing on anti-racism trainings and seminars. When he looked at the footnotes, he saw references to this thing called “critical race theory.” Why did Christopher Rufo think “critical race theory” could be the perfect villain? That allowed him to say that anti-racism was just about progressive politics; it was about a new distinct political ideology with radical roots He thought conservatives had finally found an effective descriptor for something they’d been fighting for decades. 2-3, 3 Tucker Carlson gave him a platform and the conservative media was off and running. What is critical race theory? Schools, lawmakers, and scholars are divided. – Vox

Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “What Do Conservatives Fear About Critical Race      Theory,” 2021 Conservatives noticed something. Technical terms used in critical race theory–structural racism and internalized white    supremacy—had entered the mainstream, in education and the corporate world. What do conservatives fear about critical race theory? They thought this was presenting a perspective rather than just an accurate description of the society and its history So, they didn’t want to be against that. They wanted to be for that. So, they wrote the bills not exactly to say that you couldn’t talk about racism. They emphasize the concept of neutrality. The Texas bill doesn’t mention critical race theory even though the politicians who support it claim to have banned critical race theory. 2 So they have put themselves in a bit of a dilemma. Can you ban CRT and still say you are not infringing on freedom of expression? 2-3

Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Rashawn Ray and Alexandra Gibbons, “Why are states banning critical race      theory?”, 2021 Why are states banning critical race theory? First of all, it’s based on a misperception, 2-3 Claim is not that we are responsible for what people did in the past. Claim is that we have a responsibility to do something about how racism impacts our lives today. Ironically, making laws outlawing critical race theory confirms the point that racism is embedded in the law.

Article gives a list of the moral panic that is spreading to most states. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Iowa House File 802, “An Act providing for rquirements related to racism or sexism      trainings at, and diversity and inclusion efforts by, governmental agencies and      entities, school districts, and public postsecondar education institutions.” 2021 What does the Iowa CRT law ban and what does it not ban? Doesn’t do, 2-3 does do, 3-4 doesn’t do, 4-5, 6 Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Judd Legum, “1 truth and 3 lies about Critical Race Theory,” 2021

Why is CRT suddenly all over the news? Why has a complex academic legal framework—that’s been around since the 1980s— suddenly become a hot political topic? Bannon quote, 1-2 Rufo is using CRT as an empty vessel, into which he can pour whatever is political unpopular Rufo, 5 Lie 1: CRT is being taught in K-12 schools It’s not but, we should say, some of the themes are. Also, there are clumsy attempts to discuss anti-racism. 5 Lie 2: CRT is about making white people feel guilty.

Lie 3: CRT is about defining people based on their race. CRT posits precisely the opposite. Race is a social construction, 6 Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Linda Martín Alcoff, “How Critical Race Theory Became the New Conservative      Bogeyman,” 2021 Why are conservatives opposed to what they call “critical race theory?” When I was in college, I took “Post-Hobbesian Materialism” at Florida State, 1 It’s true that learning about these things can be hard. 2 Why was critical race theory born? An example, 3 The insistence that only neutral terms be used is what some call the “dumb theory of equality” story about P & T committee Opponents say critical race theory is teaching kids to see racism where it doesn’t exist. Actually, it’s an attempt can be seen as an effort to see how racism may be working beyond what liberal concepts can reveal. liberalism

Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Paul Waldman, “Why conservatives keep creating imaginary enemies to fight,”      2021 If CRT is too sophisticated to be taught in grammar school, why are states banning      it? Clever really, 2 Pick an enemy that doesn’t exist. Should be familiar. We went through something similar with the imaginary threat of sharia law. It was expedient for to create an enemy, so they passed law after law banning it from use in court. It wasn’t being used, but in a way, that’s an advantage. If you can convince people that there is an enemy that doesn’t really exist, then you can claim victory at any time. 3 When pressed, conservatives can’t tell you what critical race theory is. They basically just know that it has something to do with race and that is makes White people feel bad. It’s actually an excuse to create a new Lost Cause narrative in which conservative Whites are the true victims

GOP’s ‘critical race theory’ astroturfing is the new tea party (msnbc.com); start at 4:10-6:31 Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Timothy Snyder, “The War on History Is a War on Democracy,” 2021 Snyder begins with Soviet propaganda around its modernization, 1, 2 This creates a problem for democracy, 3 What are memory laws? Why does Snyder believe CRT laws are memory laws? memory laws, 4 In response to the 1619 Project, Trump created the 1776 Comission This is a version of memory laws, 5 The 1776 commission discussed the evils of identity politics more than it discusses slavery CRT laws have a perverse goal: “Teachers succeed if students do not understand something.”

These laws do a “totalitarian pirouette.” They try to affirm freedom of speech while banning (divisive) speech. Memory laws focus on feelings. CRT laws ban “discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.” It is clear to us what Russian memory laws are meant to do. 8 What would happen if Black students said teaching history without reference to slaveholding caused them discomfort? My experience as a historian of mass killings tells me that everything worth knowing is discomfiting

Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. David French “Loving Your Country Means Teaching Its History Honestly,” 2021 To root patriotism in a particular view of the past is to misunderstand patriotism On what basis should we love our country? It should not be conditioned on a sense of national supremacism or even national greatness but in tead on the idea of national home and national community, and the obligations we ow to each other to crat a more just land. C.S. Lewis, Four Loves If you root you national narrative in superiority there will be a temptation to whitewash the “shabby and even shameful acts” that everyone occasionally commits Had I rooted my love of country in its unadulterated greatness—and there is greatness— then learning the extent of post-Civil War violent racial oppression would be deeply disorienting. And it is for those are not taught to stare history in the face. There is a lot of shabby, shameful stuff in our history. But we—most of us—love our country anyway. Why? 3 So teach it all, good and bad, ugly and beautiful. 3 Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Kmele Foster, David French, Jason Stanley, Thomas Chatterton Williams, “We      Disagree on a Lot of Things. Except the Danger of Anti-Critical Race Theory      Laws.” 2021 What is the purpose of a liberal education? Schools should turn citizens into well-informed, discerning citizens. At their best they equip minds to grapple with complexity and navigate our differences. At their worst, they resemble indoctrination factories. The authors disagree broadly on CRT. But it is because of these differences that they have come together to oppose these laws The very act of learning history in a free society is fraught. Any accurate teach of any country’s history could make some of its citizens feel uncomfortable—even guilty— about the past. Let’s not mince words about these laws. They are speech codes. Even if it is legal in the narrow context of primary and secondary education, it is antithetical to educating students in the culture of free expression. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. David French, “Structural Racism Isn’t Wokness, It’s Reality,” 2021 According to French, on what grounds does Christianity require acknowledging      structural racism? Pastor David Platt, 2 The Pastor is right on biblical grounds. His critics are wrong biblically and wrong according to the dictates of secular conservatism. 2-3 Time and again there are non-racist reasons for wanting to maintain the structures racists created. How should Christians respond to this? 4 Conservative Christians are wrong on Christian grounds but also wrong on secular conservative grounds. Quotes Rod Dreher, 4 Finally, no one is right all the time. The topic requires grace. But some things are clear. 5 Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Aziz Huq, “The Conservative Case Against Banning Critical Race Theory,” 2021 What is Huq’s conservative case against banning critical race theory? Anti-CRT laws violate a core conservative principle: that speech should not be curtailed because it makes some people feel uncomfortable or threatened. Until recently conservatives were making the opposite argument, 2-3, 3 The idea that audience discomfort provides a justification for censorship, that is at profound odds with our free speech tradition. Racism is an ideology that supports a system of power. Conor Friedersdorf, “Critical Race Theory is Making Both Parties Flip-Flop,” 2021 What is different about North Carolina’s CRT bill? One scholar said the large majority of these bills are repugnant to an open society, but the North Carolina one would probably do little harm Friedersdorf sympathizes with the idea that the public has a role in overseeing curriculum. 3 But even the North Carolina law illustrates the problem. 3 This issue is putting both Dems and Republicans in unfamiliar positions. The list in the NC bill would have traditionally been supported by Democrats. Friedersdorf thinks it’s wrong to present the 1619 Project as established truth rather than an intervention into a hotly contested debate. That’s fine. We did that. Some of the things Friedersdorf doesn’t like. 5 But, of all people, conservatives should understand the problem with passing a state law that interferes with the prerogatives of local control Don’t give the state this kind of power. Conservatives used to understand this. Liberals should too. WEEK 7  Race and Class “Race is the modality in which class is lived.” Stuart Hall Walter Benn Michaels, “The Trouble With Diversity,” 2006 Starts with The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby takes a distinction based in class and redescribes it in an American idiom, which is grounded in race. We tend to see our society as divided into races. This story is so strong, it has survived the demise of race as an analytical concept. 2 How did diversity come to be valued in the US? Out of the struggle against racism cam the concept of diversity. Enshrined in US v. Bakke, had to serve diversity, a universal concept. Diversity was not originally connected with race. Universities, for example, cared about diversity before they cared about race. but the two came to be associated. 3 This was an end-run around the problem of racism. But it came to be seen as a solution to it. 3

What is Benn Michaels’s critique of diversity? Diversity redefines opposition to discrimination as the appreciation of difference. To, with respect to race, the idea is not just that racism is a bad thing but that race itself is a good thing. Why is it a good thing? According to Benn Michaels it is that it isn’t class. We don’t like to talk about class, 3 We like to see ourselves as part of a middle class, but that does not make it true. Celebrating the diversity of American life has become our way of accepting their poverty, of accepting inequality There is a remark that Hemingway supposedly made to Fitzgerald when Fitzgerald said “the rich are different from you and me.” Hemingway said, “yes, they have more money.” That is the most important feature of modern life. Class. And it’s getting worse. They are getting richer and richer Celebrating the diversity of American life is the left’s way of accepting their poverty, or accepting inequality Almost everything we say about culture is mistaken. 4 Classes are not like races and should not be discussed as such. White is not better than black, but rich is definitely better than poor. System is designed to enable rich kids to succeed. 5 Today, says David Brooks, “the rich don’t exploit the poor, they just out-compete them.” In an ideal universe we wouldn’t be celebrating diversity at all, 7 We have allowed diversity to displace more fundamental changes. Huey Long, 7-8 Eugene Debs used to say he was not interested in any reform that didn’t address economic inequality Anything else is diversionary and will divide the working class Diversity discourse, like it does with everything else, allows class to be seen as a problem that can be solved in a relatively straightforward way, without much excpenditure. 8      In a way, this is what Trump figured out. “Race is the modality in which class is lived.” Stuart Hall Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “What about racism? Don’t socialists only care about      class?” 2014 Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “ABC’s of socialism” (Blackboard) What is the role of racism in capitalism? What is the role of capitalism in racism? What role did slavery play in the development of capitalism? Why do socialists tend to be anti-racists? Why aren’t general policies favoring economic expansion sufficient to address racism? Why have African Americans gravitated toward socialism? “Race is the modality in which class is lived.” Stuart Hall Adolph Reed Jr, “Marx, Race, and Neoliberalism” 2014 What are ascriptive ideologies? How does Marxism demystify race and racism? Marxism is helpful for understanding race. Here’s why. 49 From this perspective, Marxism’s most important contribution to the discourse of race and racism is demystification. Race is a historically specific ideology that emerged, took shape, and has evolved within a definite set of social relations. Race organizes populations as groups and sorts them into hierarchies. This is done on the basis of “natural” or essential characteristics. Ideologies operate to stabilize the social order by legitimizing existing hierarchies of wealth, power and privilege Race/racism is an ascriptive ideology. But it can become common sense. 49 Provocative claim, Just has race has been and continues to be unthinkable without racism, today it is also unthinkable without anti-racism. We now see clearly how theories of biological essentialism are bogus. 51 This applies to all essentialism, including the discourse of whiteness. Identity politics has been the handmaiden of neoliberalism. There is the kinship, even though many on the left assume an enmity. Identity politics is fundamentally antagonistic to working-class politics. It does not challenge capitalism, only asks      that its wealth be distributed along more racially equitable lines.

Racism should not be treated as an independent, autonomous force, as it is in the 1619 Project It is not sui generis. “Race is the modality in which class is lived.” Stuart Hall Reihan Salam, “America Needs Anti-Racialism,” 2022 What is anti-racialism? Why, according to Salam is it better than anti-racism? Americans do not take the position on race that one might think. 2, 3 People are resistant to anti-racism not necessarily because they are racists. Some are to be sure. But some are anti-racialists. Anti-racialism as compared to anti-racism. 2-3 “Race is the modality in which class is lived.” Stuart Hall Jamelle Bouie, “Beyond ‘White Fragility’,” 2020 Why, according to Bouie, is the Black freedom struggle necessarily a struggle for economic justice? BLM is about more than criminal justice, just like the previous movements for Black freedom have been broad attempts to reform society Quotes King, 2 “Racial segmentation of personhood” has always been about controlling access to wealth. 2 Quotes W.E.B. Du Bois’ Black Reconstruction in America There was a bargain struck in 1876, which is the year Reconstruction effectively ended. 3 WEEK 8 (OCTOBER 10-14) Resistance Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” 1984 I stand here as a Black lesbian feminist being asked to comment at the only panel where the input of Black feminists and lesbians is represented What happens when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowable. Interdependency is the way to a freedom which allows the I to be. What are the “master’s tools” in Lorde’s analogy? One is the academic conference. We have to take our differences and make them strengths. We cannot use the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to beat him at his own game, but they will not allow genuine change. And this is only threatening to those women who still define the master’s house as their only source of support. Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” 1980 How can difference be a solution? Whenever the need for some pretense of communication arises, those who profit from our oppression call on us to share our knowledge with them. 114-5 There are real differences between us but it is not those differences that are separating us. It is rather our refusal to recognize those differences, to examine the distortions that result form our misnaming them and their effects Refusing to recognize difference makes it impossible to see the different problems and pitfalls facing us as women Some Black women lose sight of their oppression as women because they focus on their race. But hostility against Black women is implemented within Black communities as well Her lament, 120 We need new definitions of difference. The old definitions have not served us, nor the earth that supports us. The old patterns condemn us to repetitions of the same old exchanges, the same old guilt, hatred, recrimination, lamentation, and suspicion. Quotes Paulo Freire. Lorde’s solution is primarily about transformed consciousness and agency. Not      structural. Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera, “La conciencia de la mestiza,” 1987 What is a “consciousness of the Borderlands?” Creolization A new consciousness is being born, an alien consciousness, a new mestiza consciousness, a consciencia de la mujer, a consciousness of the Borderlands It is dual or multiple personality, it is plagued by psychic restlessness It is destabilizing. Uncomfortable but possible the beginning of something. It is a coming together, un choque, a cultural collision. The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not to react Rigidity means death. The new mestiza copes by developing a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity. She learns to be an Indian in Mexican culture, to be Mexican from an Anglo point of view. She learns to juggle cultures. To be mestiza is to be fluid, to see identity as fluid. The work of mestiza consciousness, 102 As a mestiza, I have no country, my homeland cast me out; yet all countries are mine because I am every woman’s sister or potential lover What does Anzaldua ask of White people? Here, 108 “Let’s try it our way, the mestiza way, the Chican way, the woman way.” 110 Isn’t that essentialist? Michele Norris, “Germany faced its horrible past. Can we do the same?” 2021 One visitor to a plantation said it was depressing. Could there be a tour that emphasized positive stories? “Slavery could be optional.” The US does not have the stomach to stare directly at the evil on which this country stands. We don’t want to claim this history for obvious reasons. But we need to ask a question: What happens if we don’t? collective memory: how groups of people recall past events. But collective forgetting can be just as revealing. How has Germany come to terms with its Nazi past? Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung Reckoning Susan Neiman explains its importance. 4 Like us, Germany was reluctant to do this. They didn’t come to it easily. As Germany became wealthier, young people began to travel and encounter a different narrative about the war. Not just “poor us, we lost the war.” So, it wasn’t until this began to happen in the 1960s that Germany initiated the process of Vergangenheitsaufarbeitung Examples of what they’vc done, 7 What might this look like in the US, 9 Will be messy; has been messy in Germany, but at least there is a process Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations,” 2014 Clyde Ross moved north “seeking the protection of the law.” In some ways he got it, 3 But not on housing, 3, 4 Founded Contract Buyers League, which sought reparations. In many ways things are better for Blacks than they were 50 years ago. But income gap is as big as it was in 1970 and white households have on average 20 times the wealth as black households. Also Black people and White people of similar incomes live in very different neighborhoods. Black families making $100,000 typically live in the kinds of neighborhoods inhabited by white families making $30,000. Reparations used to be considered a reasonable response. Yale president proposed it. 10 Belinda Royall, formerly enslaved, got them. 8 Others too, 8 How would reparations work. It’s complicated. 9 How, according to Coates, should reparations be paid? A Question on Reparations | Bryan Stevenson | @ City Arts & Lectures in SF – YouTube One possibility, 21 Why are reparations the best response to the problem of American racism? Slavery created a lot of wealth, 11 Plunder. Black wealth has been plundered in a variety of ways. 14, 16 Coates real reason though, is he wants us to begin to imagine a new country. 22 Raises German example. Money cannot compensate for the losses of the Jews, but it did help Israel triple its GNP. That’s not the real reason to do it though. 24 Cedric Johnson, “An Open Letter to Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Liberals Who Love Him,”       2017 What is Black nationalism What are Johnson’s criticisms of it? Coates’ account depicts Black people as victims. He ignores the legions of blacks who have fought for generations to advance egalitarian state interventions, the way people of all races and backgrounds benefit from social democracy, and the way they all suffer in the absence of it The New Deal was flawed but Blacks benefitted from it The problem with black nationalist politics is that it elides class. He ignores the way race-first politics ultimately benefits “bourgeois class interests.” Interracialism is essential to social justice. Creates new notions of communion and solidarity. Interracial social movements created the black middle class. 9 How has the reparations demand changed over time? It used to be for discrete harms. Now it is a moral claim advanced not by victims themselves but by black political elites and antiracist liberals. 5 Fundamentally Johnson’s critique boils down to this: “Coates’ essay unfolds neatly within the parameters of market liberalism.” 8 Must think about class and race together. 10 White guilt is not enough. What we need is solidarity. Guilt alone is not genuine unity. The effect of work like Coates’ is to assuage white guilt. Daniel Wildcat, “Why Native Americans don’t want reparations,” 2014 The greatest harm done to us was the theft of land. But this was not just the taken of land. It was the evisceration of a way of life. 1 These things cannot be remedied through money For example, the Sioux have consistently refused to accept reparations. 2 Of course, Coates agrees that reparations cannot restore what has been taken, and Wildcat acknowledges that. For Coates it is almost more about the effect on White people or the culture as a whole. Susan Witt, “Proposal for a ‘Black Commons’,” 2018 Land trusts facilitate low cost access to land Based on donations, with the assurance that the land will never go back into the market What is the argument for a Black Commons? The question is why not a universal program The answer is a Black Commons seeks justice for “a people systematically excluded from       ownership opportunities.” When land is privately held, wealth accumulates disproportionately in the hands of the owner. How it would work, 4 “Freeing the land as well as a people.” Suggests a model that could be used beyond Black       people. Robin D.G. Kelley, “The Tulsa Race Massacre Went Way Beyond ‘Black Wall Street’,”       2021 People keep saying they don’t know about Tulsa. We know about Tulsa. It’s never been about not knowing. It’s been about not wanting to know. What caused it? 5 What does Kelley mean by decolonization? Decolonization He calls it “exiting this country.” Solidarity with indigenous peoples Transformed consciousness Reparations are easier than decolonization. What it is. 13 Greg Lukianoff, “The Empowering of the American Mind,” 2021 Lays out a set of principles. Principle 1: No compelled speech, thought or belief. Yes, we must instill a set of shared values but not by telling citizens what they must believe. Principle 2: Respect for individuality, dissent, and the sanctity of conscience. Doesn’t that violate principle 1? Principle 3: Foster the broadest possible curiosity, critical thinking skills, and discomfort with certainty. Doesn’t that violate principle 2? Principle 4: Demonstrate epistemic humility at all levels of teaching and policymaking. Principle 5: Foster independence, not moral dependency. Principle 6: Do not teach children to think in cognitive distortions. We are teaching a generation of students the mental habits of anxious and depressed people. Physician, heal thyself. The antidote to cognitive distortions is practiced disputation. This is written through the gaze of the offender but addressed to the offended. Deaf to the       power relations that structure the environment. Principle 7: Do not teach the “Three Great Untruths.” Summary, 6 Principle 8: Take student mental health more seriously. Seems to be thinking about the vulnerable. Is he? Trigger warnings intended to protect students. Actually coddles them. What should be done to protect the vulnerable, according to Lukianoff? He assumes symmetrical relations, doesn’t acknowledge the vulnerable not by coddling, 8 by encouraging resilience Principle 9: Don’t reduce complex students to limiting labels. Labels circumscribe their potential and limit their growth. Principle 10: It it’s broke, fix it. Don’t let ideology keep you from acting. Alicia Garza, “Our cynicism will not build a movement. Collaboration will.” 2017 Wrote about showing up for the women’s march. Wasn’t the easiest decision, because she knew there would be people there who oppose BLM. White people

But she sees pervasive withdrawal and cynicisim. How do we challenge cynicism? Why, according to Garza, is it more important to be connected than to be right? Because, otherwise, you can’t win. I’m not saying we should stop holding white people accountable. But white people are not going anywhere. And we, black people, won’t get anywhere if we don’t start to think and do things differently. Kristin J. Anderson and Christina Hsu Accomando, “The Pitfalls of Ally Performance: Why Coalition Work Is More Effective Than Ally Theater,” 2019 allyship versus coalition work What are the limits of allyship? Why is coalition work better? An ally is typically defined as a person engaged in dismantling the form of privilege their group receives. Claiming to be an ally centers the identity of the privileged individual. Makes the emphasis the activist’s identity. In contrast, coalition across differences can be a powerful means of changing society over the long term. Once ally becomes a marker of identity, it becomes a description of who you are rather than what you do. Also, wearing ally as an identity can easily slip into performance. Rather than binary, coalition work is inherently intersectional. Coalition work demands more from an activist than does an ally. It is not a feel-good performance for status points.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “From #blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation” How do we get from the current situation to the future? What would constitute the “radical reconstruction” of American society? Book began with an MLK quote saying the country needs a “radical reconstruction.” Some people have used the metaphor of a colony within a nation. This is not accurate, though it does bear some similarities. It is really capitalism that is the source of Black exploitation. She uses Tim Wise as an example of the kind of thing she’s criticizing. 200-1 Why, according to Taylor, is socialism and the Black freedom struggle essential to one another? Socialists have always been at the forefront of the black freedom struggle for a reason. 205 Capitalism depends on ascriptive identities to divide the majority. 205-6 It isn’t in the interest of ordinary whites to accept racist ideas. Yet they do. For two reasons. Competition and ruling class ideology. One problem with what Tim Wise does is he misses the opportunities for solidarity between the races along material lines. How this could work, 215-16 Paula Rothenberg, Race, Class, and Gender in the United States Grusky, Szelenyi, The Inequality Reader: Contemporary and Foundational Readings in Race, Class, and Gender 2nd Edition Bonilla-Silva, E. (2017). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. Aime Cesaire, discourse on colonialism Homegoing Black Skin, white Masks Baldwin, Fire Next Time On the Run, Goffman Sorry to Bother You “Race is the modality in which class is lived.” Stuart Hall Jesse Prinz (aquarusa), “Mapping the Political Space,” 2021 Rainbow/White, Elitism/Populism Explain the four categories in Prinz’s schematic. Rainbow v. White refers to attitude toward diversity, not just race but general diversity Of course, there are many people between the two extremes The second axis is elite v populist, 2 This yields four types Rainbow elites, 3 White elites, 3-4 Rainbow populists, 4-5 White populists, 5 Why does Prinz think his way of mapping the political space is better than the standard left/right, liberal/conservative approach? White elites have an interest in blurring their interests and the interests of ordinary people When rainbow elites criticize white elites, it can look like it’s a failure to empathize with ordinary people It makes poor and working class white people think they’re being criticized Without class in the picture it is difficult to tease these apart

• What are nomos and physis?

On Euripides, The Bacchae NOTE:  When the word “lacuna” appears it indicates a gap in the text.  Dionysos is referred to as “Bromius,” “Bacchus,” “Evius,” and “Leader.”

• What is the course of action in The Bacchae? Jose
• Does Pentheus have a ‘tragic flaw’ in his character? If so, what is it? Claire
• Why does Pentheus think the Bacchic revelries are “immoral?” p. 286, Zackery
• What are the various qualities of character of the god Dionysos?, MichaelN
• Why do only the women go to revel? Nika
• Why does Pentheus agree to go see the Bacchae? Isabel
• What does The Bacchae reveal about the relationship in the Greek world between religion and the state? Ethan

WEEK 3 (SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 9) The History of Race in America Sophocles, Antigone (Blackboard)

• What is the course of action in Antigone? MichaelD
• Is Creon a tyrant?  What makes a ruler tyrannical? Regina
• Who is Sophocles’ sympathy with, Antigone or Creon? Sona
• Is Antigone’s morality “primitive,” as Creon suggests? Julissa
• Is Antigone a figure of anarchy? Keep in mind that Thebes has just finished a horrible civil war and desperately desires stability and order. Remo
• What is Ismene’s reaction to Angitone’s behavior? Ariel
• One interpreter of Antigone has reached this conclusion about the play: “The conflict between Antigone and Creon leads to tragic conclusions, not because of their different religious and moral views, but because of the extreme and rigid way in which they both hold their views. And Antigone and Creon are rigid and extreme because of certain features of their own character or familial and political situation. Sophocles aims to teach us that we can escape tragedy only by embracing moderation. To embrace moderation, however, requires us to understand not just what our deepest principles are, but why we hold them.”  Do you find this interpretation of the play plausible? Why or why not? Danielle
• Is it significant that Creon’s decree is being subverted by a woman rather than a man? Why? Vanessa

Plato, The Apology in Four Texts on Socrates, 17a-35a, W.K.C. Guthrie, The Greek Philosophers, “Greek Ways of Thinking,” pp. 1-12 (Blackboard)

• What are the charges against Socrates? Violette, Jose
• What are Socrates’ main arguments of defense in regard to these charges?, Abdulla, Alicia
• In what sense did Socrates claim that he was wise? William, Isabel
• Are the charges against Socrates reasonable?, Ethan, Julissa

AUGUST 30-31 Plato, The Apology, 35a-end, Guthrie, “The Reaction Towards Humanism (The Sophists and Socrates),” pp. 63-80 (Blackboard)

• Does Socrates cater his arguments to his audience? Abdulla, MichaelD
• Does Socrates refute the arguments advanced against him? Zackery, William
• Is there anything Socrates could have said to save himself?  Why did he refuse to say these things? Regina, Sona
• Is the verdict in Socrates’ trial lawful?  Is it just? Claire, Violette

Plato, Crito in Four Texts on Socrates

• Why does Crito think that Socrates should escape from prison? Nika, Vanessa
• Why doesn’t Socrates agree to escape? Remo
• What is the Laws’ argument? Ariel, Danielle

SEPTEMBER 1-2 FILM: Groundhog Day

• How does Phil respond once he learns about the curse? He goes through several stages. Describe each stage.
• What eventually causes the spell to be broken?
• What is the path–according to the film–to becoming a good person?
• What keeps us from becoming a good person?
• Compare and contrast the Ring of Gyges story from Book II of the Republic to the spell in Groundhog Day.
• How does the conceit of living the same day over and over again help us think about how we should live?

Plato, The Republic, Book I

• What is Cephalus’ definition of justice?  How does Socrates criticize it? Vanessa
• What definition of justice does Polemarchus try?  How does Socrates criticize it?  How does Polemarchus revise his definition in response? Claire
• What is Thrasymachus’ definition of justice?  What does he mean? Alicia
• What does Socrates refer to as “a far bigger thing”? (347e)  What is its connection to justice? Isabel
• Why does Thrasymachus blush? (350d) Remo

SEPTEMBER 6-7 Plato, The Republic, Book II

• What are the three categories of good things, according to Glaucon? (357b-d)  Name something that falls into each category. Ethan
• To which category of good things does justice belong, according to Glaucon and Socrates? Violette
• What is myth of Gyges?  What does it tell us about justice? Julissa, Abdulla
• Why, according to Adeimantus, is better to appear just than to actually be just?  How do the gods factor into his reasoning? Regina
• What method does Socrates propose for discovering what justice is? Why does he think this is a good method? (368c-369b) Sona, Danielle
• What is the reasoning behind the division of labor Socrates proposes in the just city?  What makes this division just? Zackery
• Explain how the guardians are educated in the just state. Michael
• How is the character of a good guardian analogous to the character of a dog? Ariel
• What is the difference between a “true” falsehood, and a falsehood in words? (382a-e)  Which is worse, according to Socrates? Why? William, Nika

Plato, The Republic, Book III

• What qualities must the rulers have and why? Vanessa
• What is the myth of the metals?  What is its function? Claire
• Why can’t the guardians have private property or touch gold and silver? Alicia

SEPTEMBER 8-9 Plato, The Republic, Book IV

• Why is Adeimantus dissatisfied with Socrates’ proposal of communal property for the guardians? How does Socrates respond? Isabel
• What effect does great personal wealth have on citizens? Remo
• Why doesn’t the ideal state need to worry about being conquered? Ethan
• What are the four virtues? Violette

Plato, The Republic, Books V and VI

• What is the rationale for holding women and children in common? Julissa
• How can we reconcile the equality of women proposed in Book V with the claim that each nature is suited to a different job? Regina
• What was the aim of the inquiry into justice? Sona
• What claim does Socrates make which he says will “drown him in laughter and ill repute?” Zackery
• How does Socrates distinguish philosopher or lover of wisdom from other character types? Michael
• What is the difference between knowledge and opinion, as Socrates understands them? Ariel 
• How is philosophy generally regarded, according to Socrates?  How should it be regarded? William
• Why are philosophers necessarily attacked by the many? Nika
• What is the most important thing to learn about? Abdulla
• Is it in a philosopher’s nature to rule over the city? Danielle
• What does Socrates mean by the “intelligible?”  How does it differ from the “sensible?” Vanessa
• What is “the divided line?” Regina
• What is the Allegory of the Cave? Claire

SEPTEMBER 13-14 Aristophanes, Clouds in Four Texts on Socrates

• What problems is Strepsiades worrying about when Clouds begins? How does he propose to solve his troubles? Vanessa
• What sort of establishment is the thinkery? Who occupies it? What do they do? How does Strepsiades react to their concerns? Isabel
• What sort of character does Socrates appear to be in the “Clouds”? How is what he teaches Strepsiades capable of relating to Strepsiades’ troubles? Remo
• What argument does unjust speech use to defeat just speech? Ethan
• Does the Socrates of this play resemble the one in the Apology, Crito, and Republic in any meaningful way? Violette
• Is Aristophanes in some way responsible for the trial of Socrates? Julissa
• Why does Pheidippides strike his father? Danielle
• What social problems, if any, does the play address? Sona
• Is the ending of the play satisfactory? Why or why not? Zackery

Plato, The Republic, Book VII and Book VIII, pp. 221-235 (557a), FIRST ESSAY EXAM DISTRIBUTED

• What is the myth of the cave?  What do the shadows, fire, and exit  represent? Why do most people prefer to stay in the cave? Michael
• Are we in a cave? Ariel
• What motivates people to leave the cave?  What motivates them to return once they’ve left? William
• Why is it necessary to “do [philosophers] an injustice?”  What is the injustice that must be done to them? Nika
• What is the meaning of Socrates claim that there are as many kinds of people as there are kinds of regime? Abdulla
• What are the four kinds of corrupt regimes and their corresponding characters?  What causes each regime to collapse? Vanessa
• Why will even the ideal state deteriorate? Claire

SEPTEMBER 15-16 Plato, The Republic, Book VIII, pp. 235-249, Book IX, pp. 261(580c)-275 and X, pp. 296(612c)-303

• What are the bastard pleasures? Isabel
• Why, according to Socrates, is the life of a tyrant unpleasant? Remo
• Why does it make no difference to Socrates’ argument whether the ideal state exists? Ethan
• What is the myth of Er?  What is its purpose? Violette
• Has Socrates answered Glaucon and Adeimantus’s concerns about the just life? Julissa

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I

• How does Aristotle’s conception of the good differ from Plato’s? Regina
• Why, according to Aristotle, is political science the architectonic science? Sona
• How does Aristotelian political science differ from modern political science? Zackery
• What are the characteristics of the end of all ends? Michael
• What are external goods? Are they required for happiness? Ariel
• What is virtue, according to Aristotle?  How does Aristotle’s understanding of virtue compare to Plato’s? William

SEPTEMBER 19: FIRST ESSAY EXAM DUE SEPTEMBER 20-21 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book II

• What is “the mean?” Abdulla
• Give examples of feelings, capacities and states. Danielle
• How can virtue be pleasant? Nika
• Name the virtues.  Can the virtues be defined via a list? Isabel, Violette
• How do human beings become virtuous? Ethan

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV

• For each virtue, name the excess and the deficiency. Abdulla
• For each virtue, indicate whether most people incline toward the excess or toward the deficiency. Michael D, Zackery
• Why is shame not a virtue? William

SEPTEMBER 22-23 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book V

• What is the nature of the virtue of “justice”? Regina
• What is “distributive justice”? Sona
• What is “corrective justice” or justice as rectification? Claire
• What is political justice? Julissa
• Does justice vary from society to society or is it the same everywhere? Nika
• What distinguishes decency or equity from justice? Remo

Alisdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, pp. 6-10, 51-55, ch. 12 (Blackboard)

• “There seems to be no rational way of securing moral agreement in our culture.” (p. 6) Why? Ariel
• What are the “three characteristices” of “contemporary moral utterance and argument?” (pp. 8-10) Danielle
• Why, according to MacIntyre, did the Enlightenment project of justifying morality have to fail? Vanessa
• What is wrong with the modern conception of human nature? How is Aristotle’s conception of human nature different? (pp. 51-5) Abdulla
• What is phronesis? (p. 154) Isabel
• What is MacIntyre’s criticism of Aristotle’s conception of telos? Ethan
• What is his criticism of Aristotle’s conception of the polis? Violette

SEPTEMBER 27-28 Aristotle, The Politics, Book I; Steven Smith lecture (optional)

• Why does Aristotle believe that “man is by nature an animal intended to live in a polis”? Michael
• Why does Aristotle introduce a book on politics with a discussion of the household? Zackery
• What do the relationships between master/ slave, husband/wife, and father/child have in common (and how do they differ)? William
• What are Aristotle’s arguments in defense of slavery? Regina
• Is slavery ever illegitimate?  When? Sona

Aristotle, The Politics, Book II

• Will the best city be homogeneous (one) or heterogeneous (many)? Claire
• Is Aristotle fair to Plato, or has he distorted aspects of Plato’s political philosophy? Julissa
• Does Aristotle believe property will be held in common in the best regime? Nika
• What are the essential characteristics of Hippodamus’ best regime? What are Aristotle’s criticisms of this city? Remo
• Based on what he says in Book II, what do you think Aristotle’s preferred city will be like? Ariel

SEPTEMBER 29-30 Aristotle, The Politics, Book III

• How does Aristotle define the concept of “the citizen” in Book III? Why is the citizen he speaks of “a citizen above all in a democracy”? Danielle
• How does Aristotle define “the virtue of the citizen”? Vanessa
• Is there a difference between the good man and the good citizen? Abdulla, William
• What are the different kinds of regimes?  What makes a regime “deviant”? Isabel, Regina
• What virtue does Aristotle associate with ruling? Why? Ethan, Sona
• Who are the “vulgar persons” Aristotle describes? Why will the best city not make a vulgar person a citizen? Violette
• How does Aristotle define justice in Book III?  Does justice vary or is it the same everywhere? Michael, Claire
• How will democracies treat outstanding men? Zackery, Julissa

Aristotle, The Politics, Book IV, SECOND ESSAY EXAM DISTRIBUTED

• How does Aristotle define the concept of “regime” in Book IV? Danielle
• What are the different kinds of democracy according to Aristotle? Vanessa
• What are the different kinds of oligarchy according to Aristotle? Abdulla
• Which regime does Aristotle describe as best “for most cities and most human beings?” Isabel, Nika

OCTOBER 4-5 Augustine, City of God in Political Writings, Books I, II, IV, and V

• What is Cicero’s definition of a republic? Ethan
• What is the city of man? Violette, Remo
• Explain and evaluate Augustine’s injunction, “Love God and do what you will.” Michael, Ariel
• What is the city of God? Zackery
• How is Augustine’s theology rooted in Adam and Eve’s Fall? What role does original  sin play in Augustine’s theology? William
• What’s the difference between the city of God and the city of man? Regina
• Does Augustine believe that a good Christian can be a good citizen?  Does he think a good citizen be a good Christian? Sona
• Does Rome meet Cicero’s definition of a republic? Claire
• Can earthly cities achieve justice? Julissa
• Is the city of God realizable? Nika

Augustine, City of God in Political Writings, Books VI, VIII, XIX

• Which of the three philosophical possibilities of the Supreme Good does Varro prefer?  How does Augustine contrast this with the supreme good sought by Christians? Remo
• Augustine holds Plato above the rest of the ancient Greek philosophers. What is the relationship between Plato’s idea of the Good and Augustine’s idea of God? Ariel
• What are the sources of peace and discord between the two city of God and the city of man? Danielle
• What is true justice according to Augustine? Vanessa

OCTOBER 6-7 Alisdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, chs. 14, 17 (Blackboard), ADVICE NOTES

• What does Christian virtue share with Aristotle?  How does it differ? Abdulla, Isabel
• How is Aristotle’s view of virtue like Franklin’s?  How is it different? Ethan, Violette
• What are the stages in the development of virtue? pp. 186-7 Michael, Zackery
• What is a “practice” as MacIntyre defines it?  How is it related to virtue? William, Regina
• What is virtue, according to MacIntyre? p. 191 Sona, Claire
• What is the relationship between internal and external goods? Julissa, Nika
• What is Rawls’ principle of justice?  What is Nozick’s? Remo, Ariel
• For all of their differences, what do Rawls’ and Nozick’s conceptions of justice have in common? Danielle, Vanessa

OCTOBER 10: SECOND ESSAY EXAM DUE OCTOBER 13: FINAL EXAM: Dec. 14, 9:50am Style Guide: The Department of History and Political Science mandates that all submitted work adhere to the Turabian/Chicago style delineated in Kate Turabian, et. al., A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, University of Chicago Press (available at the Wilson Library Reference Desk). Here you can access the online version of the Chicago Manual of Style. Here are a couple of websites that will automatically format citations in Chicago style for you: https://www.citationmachine.net/ and http://www.citethisforme.com/. Exam Proctoring Guidelines:

1. One seat space between students when possible.
2. No bathroom breaks except in the case of illness or emergency.  Student should discuss this circumstance with the proctor prior to the start of the exam.
3. No materials on the desk except for pens/pencils, bluebook or writing paper and exam.
4. Under no circumstances can students access electronic devices during the exam.
5. Exam proctors will note any violation of these rules and those will be considered in the final grade.

Grading: Your work will be evaluated according to the following criteria: A—designates work of extraordinarily high quality; reflects unusually thorough and comprehensive understanding of issues at hand; presents a clearly identifiable thesis and argument that demonstrates cogent and creative development and support of ideas. B—designates work of high quality; reflects clearly organized and comprehensive understanding of issues and hand; presents substantive thesis and argument with evident development and support of ideas. C—designates work which minimally meets requirements set forward in assignment; reflects some organization and development of ideas, but develops argument in superficial or simplistic manner; may only address part of the assignment or be otherwise incomplete. D—designates work of poor quality which does not meet minimum requirements set forward in assignment; demonstrates poor organization of ideas and/or inattention to development of ideas, grammar, and spelling; treatment of material is superficial and/or simplistic; may indicate that student has not done reading assignments thoroughly. F—designates work that does not meet ANY of the standards set above or which is not handed in. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a prevalent but highly unethical practice. Plagiarism will result in the immediate failure of this course and disciplinary action which could lead to expulsion from the University. If you are having problems in the course please come and talk to me about it rather than doing something that could put your entire college career in jeopardy. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: ·The direct copying of any source, such as written and verbal material, computer files, audio disks, video programs or musical scores, whether published or unpublished, in whole or part, without proper acknowledgment that it is someone else’s. ·Copying of any source in whole or part with only minor changes in wording or syntax, even with acknowledgment. ·Submitting as one’s own work a report, examination paper, computer file, lab report or other assignment that has been prepared by someone else. This includes research papers purchased from any other person or agency. ·The paraphrasing of another’s work or ideas without proper acknowledgment. ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER The Academic Success Center provides free one-on-one peer tutoring to graduate and undergraduate students in a wide variety of courses and subjects. Please make liberal use of the ASC if you need assistance with any of the assignments for this course. To make an appointment, use the quick start guide, stop by ASC on the second floor of the Campus Center, or call (909) 448-4342. Answers to frequently asked questions are available here.