Race and Ethnicity Commons^™

Attempting To Reason In The Holiday Season, Anonymous

SURGE

Every year on the fourth Thursday of November, I sit down with my extended family to heaping dishes of mashed potatoes, sleekly polished bowls of green bean casserole, overflowing gravy boats, and, of course, a crackling turkey fresh from the oven. Without a doubt, my relatives and I have a lot for which to be thankful. [excerpt]

Message From The President (Of Bsu), Ja'nai Harris

SURGE

Last night as a couple of my friends scrambled to find a classroom to do work in, they came across a poster that has been plastered all around campus for weeks now. This poster, however, was different. This poster was vandalized. The face of this year’s 10th Annual Derrick K. Gondwe Memorial Lecture, Opal Tometi, had been ripped off and the word “Black” was crossed out and replaced with the word “All.” This changed the quote from “Black Lives Matter” to “All Lives Matter.” [excerpt]

Anchored In El Sueno Americano, Anette Aguilera-Gonzalez

SURGE

“Give me your tired, give me your poor.” With these words carved into the Statue of Liberty, we should never forget that the United States of America is the home of those fleeing oppression, of those who are brave, and of those who are willing to give their best. [excerpt]

Exploring Cape Malay Identity Through The Lens Of Food, Allyson Ang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the construction of Cape Malay identity through the lens of food. Made up of descendants of slaves from India, Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, and other places, “Cape Malay” is a very contentious identity. Although people who fall under the label of Cape Malay today are hundreds of years removed from their slave ancestors, there are still distinct remnants of these origins in Cape Malay culture. One of the ways in which this is most evident is Cape Malay cuisine. Cape Malay dishes such as bobotie, samosas, bredie, and beryani have become staples in South African …

Theravada Buddhism, Identity, And Cultural Continuity In Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, James H. Granderson

Student Publications

This ethnographic field study focuses upon the relationship between the urban Jinghong and surrounding rural Dai population of lay people, as well as a few individuals from other ethnic groups, and Theravada Buddhism. Specifically, I observed how Theravada Buddhism and Dai ethnic culture are continued through the monastic system and the lay community that supports that system. I also observed how individuals balance living modern and urban lifestyles while also incorporating Theravada Buddhism into their daily lives. Both of these involved observing the relationship between Theravada monastics in city and rural temples and common people in daily life, as well …

Changes In Luoshui: How The Outside World Affects Luoshui Village And The Mosuo Culture, Lucy Woychuk-Mlinac

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Is tourism really the biggest harm to Mosuo culture? Mosuo people are often the center of studies about how tourism affects the traditions and cultures of minority groups, but there is little focus on the other influences that change Mosuo culture. This study focuses on the lives of the Mosuo in Luoshui village, and how their everyday lives are influenced by the world outside of the village. Without knowing the causes of changes in the Mosuo village, there is little hope for fixing the situation and keeping dying traditions alive. Looking into their religion, education, and the holiday shazhu, …

Duration Of U.S. Stay And Body Mass Index Among Latino And Asian Immigrants: A Test Of Theoretical Pathways, Annie Ro, Georgiana Bostean

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Studies find that longer-term immigrants have higher body mass index (BMI) than their more recently-arrived counterparts. Most interpretations of these health patterns by duration of U.S. residence rely on theories of immigrant integration; they posit that with increasing time in the United States, immigrants incorporate economically, socially, and culturally into aspects of U.S. society, and that these changes impact health. Few studies empirically examine whether these aspects of integration are indeed mediators of the association between duration of U.S. stay and BMI, and if their patterns differ across immigrant subgroups. This study examines data from the National Latino and Asian …

Construct Validation Of The Psychosocial Costs Of Racism To Whites Scale For Ashkenazic Jews In The United States, Emile Tobias Berk

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study is a construct validation of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) with Orthodox and non-Orthodox Ashkenazic (of European descent) American Jews. While Jewish-American biculturalism has been explored at length, there is a dearth of psychological research on Jewish-White biculturalism (Langman, 1999). Furthermore, the literature has yet to explore the impact of Jewish religious diversity on Ashkenazic-American self-perception as racially White beneficiaries of unearned privilege.

The Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) measures three dimensions of White racial attitudes: White Empathic Reactions Towards Racism, White Guilt, and White Fear of Others. …

New Destinations Of Islamic Fundamental Terrorism: The Rise Of Al Shabaab, Damien Evan Pitts

Masters Theses

The rise of Al Shabaab was achieved primarily in three ways. The first way was through the power granted to them as the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union.Governmental legitimacy allowed them to enforce sharia law throughout Somalia, and this was reinforced even further as they were able to fend off Ethiopia's invasion.Secondly, they were able to surpass tribal affiliations and use Islam as the rallying tool to organize, and gain support in the faced of a growing secular government. Lastly, Al Shabaab created alliances that provided them with logistical and financial support, to include Eritrea, Al Qaeda, foreign …

La Nouvelle Immigration Et L’Identité Ethnique, Christoph Schimmele, Zheng Wu

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

Cette synthèse des connaissances fournit une évaluation à jour de l’influence de l’acculturation des enfants sur leur identité sociale. Bien que d’autres facteurs aient un impact sur le développement de l’identité, cette synthèse met l’accent sur le point de rencontre entre l’identité et les relations intergroupes. La plupart des immigrants arrivés après 1965 se heurtent à des circonstances économiques et à une barrière de « couleur » qui compliquent le processus d’acculturation. Comment ces forces structurelles affectent-elles le parcours qui mène à devenir un Canadien ou un Américain est une question dont la portée est étendue. Dans les groupes qui …

Diario De Perla Jimenez, Brenda Dorantes

World Languages and Cultures

The aim of this project is to present the effect of the immigration issue in the United States, with a direct focus in San Luis Obispo, and including a spread of intercultural knowledge between the Hispanic and the Caucasian community. Through a fictional short story, the manifestation of these ideas will relate to current events occurring in our society today. These events focus primarily on immigration in California, deportation issues, socioeconomic issues in Mexico, and the cultural barrier seen in Mexican and American cultures; expressed through the main character: a young college student named Perla.

My primary goal in completing …

Examining The Prevalence Of Bullying Among Biracial Children In Comparison To Single-Race Children, Kristina Gamble

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Bullying is an issue that has a presence felt by individuals residing all across the United States. There is not one universal accepted definition of this problem, but the types of bullying are as diverse as the individuals who are affected. This study looks at an under researched demographic of Biracial children in comparison to single-race children and the prevalence of bullying. The study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study. The original study took place in 20 urban cities across America with mothers and fathers of newborns (N=4,898). This study looks at the prevalence of bullying …

From “My Block” To “Born On The Rez”: A Linguistic Analysis Of Lyrics By 2pac, Frank Waln, Litefoot, Nataanii Means, And Night Shield, Teresa Y. Neely, Sarah Kostelecky, Jorge Ricardo Lopez-Mcknight, Monica Etsitty Dorame

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The lack of consistent wide-spread media coverage of recent events in North America involving violence against Native Americans and African Americans in the U.S., missing and murdered indigenous women, led the authors to a thoughtful discussion about the similar and parallel issues shared by our people. Although the deaths of Michael Brown (August 9, 2014, Ferguson, MO), Eric Garner (July 17, 2014, NY), and Sandra Bland (July 13, 2015, TX) were nationally covered news events; the deaths of Misty Upham, Blackfeet (October 5, 2014, WA); Native American activist Rexdale Henry, Choctaw (July 14, 2015, MS), and Christina Tahhahwah, Comanche (November …

Discussion Of Iran Awakening By Shirin Ebadi, Musselman Library

Iran: Beyond the Headlines

In preparation for our book discussion on Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi for our Iran: Beyond the Headlines series, we created some of our own discussion questions about the book. Please feel free to use for your own book discussion!

A Meal For The Man On The Redline, Stephen Lin

SURGE

These words will bite,

Acid bubbling

At the pit of your bowels

Vowels volatile won’t

Be easy to swallow. [excerpt]

Education, Crystal C. Gray

Eddie Mabry Diversity Award

Education is a spoken word poem that explores many aspects of the African American struggle within (self-knowledge). It starts with an African American college student who is disappointed with the lack of courses about her culture. Most curricula in the United States tend to be from a Eurocentric perspective, leaving out a multitude of information about people of color. All groups of people of color have unique experiences, however, African Americans have the most known (or perhaps I should say, unknown) history. The standard explanation of their existence is often limited to the start of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, when …

The Effect Of Refugees On Jordanian Identity, Max Yenkin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Jordan has become known as the home for refugees from the crises that have occurred along its borders. Several waves of large groups of refugees have come to Jordan: 1948, 1967, 1991, 2003, and 2011-present, with copious amounts of refugees coming from different surrounding countries to Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom is ruled through keeping relations between the Bedouin tribes that have lived in the area from the founding of the country. This has led to the denial of equality for former refugees who obtained citizenship as well as the other refugee populations in areas such as work and education. As …

A Good Girl, A Graduate, A Gynecologist, And A Gladiator: A Qualitative Analysis Of Representations Of Women In Four Television Shows, Laura M. Figueroa

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Transracial Adoption In Cape Town, South Africa: The Perspectives Of Black Young Adults, Emma Bilodeau

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent research project focuses on transracial adoption in Cape Town, South Africa. Specifically, this project tries to fill in the gaps of past research by providing how black young adults perceive white adoptive parents adopting black children in Cape Town. Past research has not focused solely on the perspectives of blacks. Therefore, this research will be increasing the literature around transracial adoption in Cape Town and in South Africa.

Since this form of adoption was only made legal in 1991, it is an extremely relevant issue in this country particularly since the minority race (whites) is adopting the majority …

Most Americans Are Now Opposed To Laws Against Interracial Marriage, But Their Behavior Does Not Yet Reflect These Attitudes, Ginny Garcia-Alexander, Richard Lewis Jr., Joanne Foed-Robertson

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent decades have seen a dramatic fall in the number of people that support laws which prohibit interracial marriages, and an increase in the number of these marriages. But why does the rate of interracial marriages remain so low, when compared to same-race marriages? Using national data from the past three decades, Ginny E. Garcia, Richard Lewis Jr., and Joanne Ford-Robertson show that while attitudes towards interracial marriages have changed, many groups still have negative attitudes towards Black-White unions. They find that those who perceive social and economic competition with Blacks, such as those with lower levels of education, were …

The Knights Of The Front: Medieval History’S Influence On Great War Propaganda, Haley E. Claxton

Crossing Borders: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Spanning a number of academic areas, “Knights of the Front: Medieval History’s Influence on Great War Propaganda” focuses on the emergence of medieval imagery in the First World War propaganda. Examining several specific uses of medieval symbolism in propaganda posters from both Central and Allied powers, the article provides insight into the narrative of war, both politically and culturally constructed. The paper begins with an overview of the psychology behind visual persuasion and the history behind Europe’s cultural affinity for “chivalry,” then continues into specific case studies of period propaganda posters that hold not only themes of military glory and …

From U.S. Ghettos To The ‘Arab Street’: Race And The ‘Conspiracy Theorist’, Martin Orr

Martin Orr

No abstract provided.

Border X-Ing, Alicia A. Castro

SURGE

The sun out-stretched its bright arms in an embrace with the mesquite trees that beckoned upwards. The wind greeted the clothes drying upon delicate wire while my mother meticulously placed white towels in the light and the jeans under the shade of the Arizona Ash. The washboard sits upright in the bucket full of suds and other assorted laundry. Inside the shed there is both a working dryer and washer only a few years old, but she has chosen to do this chore outside. Here she can close her eyes and be back in Mexico with the dry heat and …

The New Immigration And Ethnic Identity, Christoph Schimmele, Zheng Wu

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

This knowledge synthesis provides an up-to-date assessment of how the acculturation experiences of the children of immigrants influences their social identities. While other factors affect identity development, this synthesis focuses on the interface between identity and intergroup relations. Most post-1965 immigrants encounter economic circumstances and a “color” barrier that complicate the acculturation process. How these structural forces affect the pathway towards becoming a Canadian or an American is a far-reaching issue. For groups that are able to achieve economic parity with Whites and encounter little racism, their “ethnicity” could recede across generations. Hence, recent immigrants could eventually adopt unhyphenated identities …

Family Therapist Connecting And Building Relationships With Substance Abusers In The Seminole Tribe Of Florida: An Ethnographic Study, Sunny Nelli Khachatryan

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine the process of a family therapist entering and then navigating the cultural system of working with substance abusing Seminole tribal clients. The study also utilized two tribal members sharing their opinions about how Seminoles view therapy. As noted in the interview questions and responses, the research presented guidelines for family therapists to follow when working with tribal members. Because there has been no study conducted with family therapists providing clinical services to tribal members, this study introduced tools for clinicians to keep in mind and utilize when working with tribal clients. …

Teaching Progress: A Critique Of The Grand Narrative Of Human Rights As Pedagogy For Marginalized Students, Robyn Linde, Mikaila M. L. Arthur

Faculty Publications

With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, education about human rights became an important focus of the new human rights regime and a core method of spreading its values throughout the world. This story of human rights is consistently presented as a progressive teleology that contextualizes the expansion of rights within a larger grand narrative of liberalization, emancipation, and social justice. This paper examines the disjuncture between the grand narrative on international movements for human rights and social justice and the lived experiences of marginalized students in urban environments in the United States. Drawing on …

Between Warrior And Helplessness In The Valley Of Azawa - The Struggle Of The Kel Tamashek In The War Of The Sahel, Patrick James Christian

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an Investigation into the Tuareg involvement in violent conflict in the Sahara and the Sahel of North Africa from a sociological psychological perspective of unmet human needs. The research begins by establishing the structure and texture of the sociological, psychological, and emotional life patterns of their existence when not involved in violent conflict. This is followed by an examination of the pathology of Tuareg social structures that are engaged in intra and inter communal violence as perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. The first part of the research establishes normal conditions of the sociological life cycle and highlights natural …

Visualising Migrant Voices: Co-Creative Documentary And The Politics Of Listening, Darcy Alexandra

Doctoral

This ethnography of media production explores the challenges of literally and figuratively visualising voice. The labour of a shared production and the distribution of the audio-visual documentary essays unfolded within a field of diverse, and at times, conflicting interests. For this reason, judicious attention to what I name ‘encounters’ of ‘political listening’ (Bickford 1996; Dreher 2009) provides one framework for theorising the challenges of researching with marginalised subjects and stories, and the contradictions of developing shared practices within proprietary contexts. These encounters reveal moments of listening and being heard, struggles over ‘veracity’ and ‘evidence,’ and the power relations inherent in …

Review Of Jon Stratton And Nabeel Zuberi's Black Popular Music In Britain Since 1945 (2014), Tim Engles

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

A review of Jon Stratton and Nabeel Zuberi's book Black Popular Music in Britain since 1945.

Threads And Stitches Of Peace- Understanding What Makes Ghana An Oasis Of Peace?, Hippolyt Akow Saamwan Pul

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Ghana is considered an oasis of peace despite having the same mix of ethno-political competitions for state power and resources; north-south horizontal inequalities; ethno-regional concentrations of Christians and Muslims; highly ethnicised elections; a natural resource dependent economy; and a politically polarized public sphere, among others, that have plunged other countries in Africa into violent and often protracted national conflicts. Use of the conflict paradigm to explain Africa's conflicts glosses over positive deviance cases such as Ghana. This study used the peace paradigm in a mixed method, grounded theory research to examine Ghana's apparent exceptionalism in staving off violent national conflicts. …