In the essay Whiteness as Property, author Cheryl I. Harris talks about how whiteness evolved into a property that was acknowledged and protected whites in American law. Harris starts by tracing everything back to the Native American era, where everything was based off of property and property rights. After the slavery period, whiteness became the base of many benefits in society, whether that be social, private, or public. One example of this could be seen with how only white’s could own land and if a Black person was the first to inhabit or take over some land the Rule of First Posessor wouldn’t work as they weren’t white. White’s were also only recognized as 3/5th’s of everyone else and they were also treated like property, like they were owned and used in currency exchanges. Harris gave an example in Johnson v. Butler where a slave was used to pay off a $496 debt. Harris then goes on to talk about how whiteness has been diminished over the years but is still present in everyday society and can only be addressed by recognizing affirmative action’s purpose. Harris also goes over cases like Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education to show how black people were discriminated against to the benefit of white’s. In the final parts of her essay, Harris discusses how the historical views of whiteness as a property continue to this day and is used to the disadvantage of Blacks. I agree with Harris’s factual points about the past and how Blacks were discriminated against and taken advantage of. I also agree with the majority of her opinion portion of the writing where she talked about how Blacks are set back to this day. To fix this issue altogether, we will need to recognize the issues and face them as a society.
Category: Uncategorized
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Inay Gupta Wk 3 Response
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Week 2 Post
Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang’s article, “Decolonization is not a metaphor,” focuses on breaking down the term “decolonization” and arguing its complex nature. For some, decolonization might be symbolic but it actually encompasses a bigger, concrete, process. To begin, Tuck and Yang argue that to truly decolonize, making a holiday for the Indigenous population or trying to reconcile the past is not enough. True decolonization renders actual, material change like the reparation of land and the dismantling of ongoing legacies and laws of colonialism. The authors also argue how the word “decolonization” has been metaphorized in academic discourse, activism, and movements. Such metaphorization has diluted its significance, made the issue lose importance, and ignores the Indigenous peoples’ struggles. Moreover, the authors challenge non-Indigenous people to reflect on their own role in the decolonization process. This is because the same way one may say they support decolonization, one needs to recognize if they are a part of the problem. By learning how colonialism is kept alive by things like stealing land and holding on to power, one will fully garner a positive role in the movement of decolonization. Lastly, Yang and Tuck argue that it is hard to challenge or take away the privileges settlers have because it involves losing land and power. In all honesty, this article was moving. Though I say that I support decolonization I can say that I have never been involved in movements or seen my role in the issue. I do not play an active role, but I should. I would also like to know how it ties to Indigenous takeover in Latin America. A lot of the time indignity is erased, especially with terms like “mestizo” y “trigueño” so how do the problems read here compared to those? This article ties a lot with the articles from the previous week, especially Land as Life by Mishuana Goeman. The concepts of exploring decolonization, Indigenous’ sovereignty, and the effects of settler-colonialism are touched in both articles. However, they do approach the issues a bit differently. This is because Yang and Tuck center their work on political action and returning land as core to decolonization, whereas Goeman argues more about land and how it ties to identity and cultural survival.
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Suzana Martinez Wk 2 Response
When Place Becomes Race by Sherene H. Razack depicts the deemed connections between European colonizers and land. In this sense, there’s a specified innocence in European actions completed during the colonial period that engulfed the Indigenous population, essentially erasing history in favor of Europeans. The modern definition of land is connected to the community of individuals occupying it at the time, which causes the land to be viewed and used differently, deriving from racial orders set by White Europeans to immortalize their beings to establish power. Due to colonization, the epitome of class, femininity, and masculinity lies on the shoulders of White individuals, often causing self-hatred in minorities. Self-hatred infiltrates political ideologies, occupations, and societal changes, meaning colonization correlates to a refusal of self-acceptance. Decolonization is not a metaphor by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang emphasizes the performative nature of utilizing the term “decolonize” as it often ignores the history and needs of Indigenous populations that faced the brutality of colonization in the first place. With the rise of political discussions using social media, there continues to be a lack of acknowledgment toward Indigenous communities such as the rising death toll for missing Indigenous women, lack of clean water in reservations, and generational trauma stemming from colonization. A personal thought I had regarded how playing with the term “decolonize” takes away from the initial meaning and removes power from Indigenous communities. Similarly, the text discussed how everything Natives held sacred and crucial to survival was rebranded to fit the European lens; this idea is grossly similar to creating political discussions centered around decolonizing mindsets because the ideas being implemented aren’t always centered on the benefit of Indigenous peoples or society as a whole, rather to clear the conscience of European history. Both passages heavily enveloped Native images within the words to illustrate frustrations and how individuals continue to talk for and over Natives. Both ideas of land and space are fairly similar as they correlate to European rebranding, which created a social hierarchy. An interesting point derived from both is the violence and negatives sparked by colonization. In school, there’s little taught regarding the dark effects of colonization and what occurred. However, Decolonization is not a metaphor that depicts the violence inflicted on enslaved individuals to contribute to the hostile image of colonizers and When Place Becomes Race highlights the innate need for control within colonizers.