Race and Ethnicity Commons^™

Toward A Theology Of Transformation: Destroying The Sycamore Tree Of White Supremacy, Hannah Kathleen Griggs

Celebration of Learning

Black liberation theologians come to terms with white supremacy by collectively remembering the story of the Exodus and Jesus' crucifixion--affirming God's preference for freedom and in-the-world salvation. The particular history of white American Christianity requires a different story to provide the foundation for our social memory. As white American Christians, we have certain blind spots—blind spots created by historical and social privileges that have given white people unequal access to power and resources. The story of Zacchaeus has the potential to help reframe white Christianity’s conception of race relations in the United States, shifting from a reconciliation paradigm to a …

Making A German-American Place: Davenport, Iowa, 1836-1918, Benjamin E. Bruster

Celebration of Learning

This study examines the impact of German-Americans in the creation of Davenport and Scott County, Iowa from 1836 through 1918. Like cities many other 19^th century places in the American interior, Davenport and Scott County direly needed people to settle it, build its infrastructure, develop its economy, and contribute to growing social and political life. Conveniently, Davenport and Scott County boosters’ desires occurred simultaneously with rampant pauperism, political, ideological, and religious revolutions, economic redundancy, and widespread dreams of rebirth in Germany. These conditions produced an unprecedented migration from Germany to Davenport and Scott County in the second-half of the …

A Culture On A Loop: Baltimore, Josh Schmader

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Police brutality has been at the fore front of American consciousness for almost a decade now. Numerous African Americans all over the country, both male and female, have lost their lives in situations where that end result was not justified. In response to each of these individual tragic events, peaceful protests rose up to demand for justice. After the death of Freddie Gray in April of 2015, however, Baltimore had a more aggressive response to the loss of one of their native sons. An initial peaceful protest turned into riot that raged through the streets of Baltimore for a series …

Lupe Under The Sun, Rosie Pineda

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies

Lupe Under the Sun is a neorealist film following an aging migrant worker living in California, who longs to return to Mexico before it is too late. Featuring a cast of nonprofessional actors, real farmworkers and authentic locations, Lupe Under the Sun tackles issues of depression, homesickness and the immigrant myth of the American Dream.

Long estranged from his family in Michoacán, migrant laborer Lupe finds relief from the backbreaking work of harvesting peaches in California’s Central Valley through camaraderie and a quiet love affair with fellow immigrant Gloria. Soon the stability of his daily routine begins to crack under …

Critical Citizen Engagement: The Black Pete Controversy, Anti-Racism Activism, And Limits To Citizenship In The Netherlands, Lianne M.A. Mulder

Western Research Forum

Background

This research analyses the engagement of Dutch citizens with a migration background in anti-racism activism, specifically activism against the blackface caricature Black Pete. It aims to answer how and why their citizenship is questioned when they become critical participants of civil society, and how this relates to the history of Dutch colonialism, the denial of racism, and the self-image of white Dutch people as ‘good, tolerant, and innocent’ despite evidence to the contrary.

Methods

The research is based on literature and field research and uses a theoretical framework based on critical race theory, citizenship studies, and decolonial theory.

Results …