What Is The Relationship Between Whiteness And Racism Effects of Essay

What Is The Relationship Between Whiteness And Racism Effects of Racism and Sexism. Binary Logic of Race - Essay Example Western society has a shameful and recent legacy of slavery and is a country stratified by race, gender and class. For some, like renowned African American author, scholar and social activist, bell hooks, the United States is a country with a strong tradition of institutionalized racism which permeates all aspects of modern America society (see hooks' Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, 1981). Importantly as well, the United Kingdom has a colonial legacy in which racist ideas about civilisation governed its colonial conquests. For many in the UK as well as in the United States, racism is an ever-present aspect of the social condition and is built upon a rigid social code, a white/black binary which has its roots in a belief that whiteness is superior to all other types of skin tones. The following will explore racism today and the relationship between whiteness and race in modern society.... variety of factors can account for this disparity, low birth weight remains the most prominent cause of a higher infant mortality rate amongst black babies. In fact, black babies in America have a 300% greater likelihood of being born with a low birthrate relative to their white counterparts. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found a variety of socio-economic causes for the phenomenon of low birth weight, including poverty, poor nutrition, a lack of knowledge about pregnancy and the challenges associated with it, and access to proper medical facilities. The disparity in black-white successful birth ratios in America thus can be attributed to social forces and socio-economic differences amongst black and white Americans (Carmichal and Iyasu, 1998; Kogan, 1997) Binary Logic of Race The binary logic of race is inherently hierarchical and people of mixed racial parentage or individuals who are bi-racial are somewhere in-between the artificial and socially constructed binary so pervasive in modern American society. How do mulatto people identify within the rigid constraints of the racial binary How is racial identity redefined by individuals who, through no fault of the own, do not fit into the supposedly neat and compact racial categories society seeks to impose on them Most importantly, how are people who are mulatto freed from the binary concept of race and how do these people define their own unique racial identities Seeking to answer these questions and further analyze the social construction of identity today, this essay will discuss readings from Reddy, Walker, Senna and Williams with an eye to the social construction of race and racial identity. The specific focus will be on how the artificial binaries of race and race hierarchy are navigated and

Food and Politics in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Food and Politics in Britain - Essay Example The year 1917 marked the worst times for Britain because of scarcity of food brought by bad winter and attack of the food supplies by Germans U-boats. The British government started food rationing to mitigate the food crisis, meat, tea, butter, margarine, sugar were some of the food stuffs rationed by the government. Previously, before food rationing, people had to queue on long queues, which led to frustrations and rioting by the persons especially workers in munitions factories. However, food rationing only took a short time because local communities started taking control of the food supply. Government took control of prices of food supplied by the local community and this led to drops in price. Queues started disappearing and the population had enough food supply (Mason 2004). Mason (2004) explains that because of scarcity of food in Britain during the First World War, they had to depend mostly on the outside world. The author points out that the government depended mostly on the imports and their food is industrialised. The British government import raw and finished food products from other countries. Because of the wars in the early times of the 20th century most of the people in Britain did not care much of the food culture. Only a few of them knew about food culture, however, the currently food culture is viable and in most households food culture is practiced. A small percentage of the British population was fond of meat and potatoes. These combinations were served as meat and two veg. Meat and two veg according to British culture is meat, potatoes and other vegetables served all together. However, industrialization phased out food culture in the late 20th century. Foods such as roasted beef, fruit cake and minced pies were embraced as traditional fo od. British foods served were made in regard to food fashion, health standards and eating habits. Unlike French and Italian food,