Gonzalo Guzman Com 597 J Racial Formation Approach/Method Text: Omni, Michael; Winant, Howard.

Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s. Overview: First published in 1986, Racial Formation in the United States is now considered a classic in the literature on race and ethnicity. This second edition builds upon and updates Omi and Winant's groundbreaking research. In addition to a preface to the new edition, the book provides a more detailed account of the theory of racial formation processes. It includes material on the historical development of race, the question of racism, race-class-gender interrelationships, and everyday life. A final chapter updates the developments in American racial politics up to the present, focusing on such key events as the 1992 Presidential election, the Los Angeles riots, and the Clinton administration's racial politics and policies.(Amazon.com, 2009) Key Terms/Definitions: Race- is a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interest by referring to different types of human bodies(55). Racial formation- the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed(55). Racial Project- is simultaneously an interpretation, representation, or explanation of racial dynamics, and an effort to reorganize and redistribute resources along particular racial lines(56). Racism-racial project linking essentialism to domination(71). Racial projects related to changing social structures Creation of the other Change in knowledge or new knowledge and the renewed racial definitions Racial hegemony master race project Racial dictatorship/racial democracy Methodology: -Defining race/racism -How are groups and individuals are put in racial categories -Use of theory of racial formation -Historical context: How racial legacies of the past shape the present -Review the structural and personal forces that shape race construction -Race as part of social structure not irregularity -Confronting essentialism(p.64) -Confronting racial dictatorship and master race project in research -Addressing the issue of counternarratives in changing racialized positions. -Changing perspectives on racism(e.g. synthesis, colorblind, two languages) -Abstract view of racism to reality

Discussion of examples: Lisitz, George. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the White Problem in American Studies. American Quarterly, Vol 47, No.3(Sep., 1995), pp. 369387. Jun, Helen H. Black Orientalism: Nineteenth-Century Narratives of Race and U.S Citizenship. American Quarterly, Volume 58, No. 4, (Dec 2006), pp. 1047-1066. Scene: The Color of Fear (YouTube) Group discussion on racial formation in the clip. Small Group Questions: 1. What main discussion issues did you have with the text? 2. Given the study of race formation by Omni, how does the election of Barack Obama play in the idea of consent and coercion of maintaining hegemony in the U.S? 3. How are the two languages of race (p.70-71) interpreted by researchers? Referencing back Racing Research Researching Race text was there a different between the discussions of race by white scholars versus those belonging to a minority group? 4. How has racial formation methodology been used in the previous works weve addressed (audience response)? 5. How can racial formation methodology be applied to your research? 6. Omni asserts, There is nothing inherently white about racism.(72) and that racisms apply to people of color. However, should the racism of the dominant group be in the same category of the historically racialized one? 7. Can you think of any critiques of the Racial Formation methodology presented?