SOCY3303.01: The Social Construction of Whiteness
Fall 2014, Stokes 131S
Mondays, 12:00-2:30 p.m.
Prof. Deborah Piatelli
millerdp@bc.edu
McGuinn 425
Office hours: Mondays 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Seminar Description
This discussion-based seminar course explores the social construction of race through the lens of
whiteness. Why talk about whiteness? Contrary to popular belief that we are now living in a
post-racial society, systemic racial discrimination and inequality persists. By considering
whiteness as both a race and historical system of privilege, we can gain a deeper understanding
of the persistence of racism that can better inform our strategies to end it. Over the course of the
semester, we will draw upon the work of critical race scholars and theoretically and practically
examine the distribution of privilege within American society at both the interpersonal and
institutional levels, as well as consider how whiteness operates within the social constructs of
class and gender.
Through writing and in-class group discussion in both small and larger groups, you will examine
your own identities and lived experiences and consider how consciously or unconsciously they
are affected by these processes, as well as consider strategies for challenging racism and
privilege at the individual and institutional levels. This seminar will facilitate the development of
a critical racial consciousness by building a cognitive understanding of racism and critically
reflecting upon one’s life experiences in the context of privilege. While the course employs a
critical lens upon society, it is not structured to produce a monolithic way of thinking. Instead,
the course encourages reflection and questioning of how and why we think in certain ways and
the influence (intended or unintended) this can have on our interactions.
We all have unique experiences and perspectives on the issue of race and it is important that we
are prepared to not only discuss those thoughts and feelings, but also welcome being challenged.
Although these topics may be uncomfortable to talk about, it is important to realize that we can
learn a great deal from each other through active listening and dialoguing.
“Hidden biases are bits of knowledge that are stored in our brains because we encounter them
so frequently in our cultural environments. Once lodged in our minds, hidden biases can
influence our behavior toward members of particular social groups, but we remain oblivious to
their influence. Most people find it unbelievable that their behavior can be guided by mental
content of which they are unaware.” [Banaji and Greenwald, 2013 in Blindspot, pp. xii]
SOCY3303.01 Piatelli
1
Seminar Objectives
§
Increase one’s cultural competency: Identify and articulate your personal feelings, fears, attitudes and
behaviors about the issues of privilege and racism in order to build a better understanding of self.
Develop an empathetic understanding of a perspective different from your own and demonstrate
receptiveness to being challenged on views and beliefs. Recognize and discuss how white privilege
operates in everyday discourse.
§
Build the components of a racial consciousness: Explain the historical relationship between white
privilege, inequality and racism and how it has and continues to structure contemporary society. Be
able to clearly define and differentiate the concepts of prejudice and racism. Understand one’s own
racism and racial prejudices and how that influences one’s behavior and interactions with others.
Articulate your own path to racial conscious and identify steps for becoming more racially aware.
§ Develop a racial justice advocate identity: Describe the ways in which you can be critical racial justice
advocate in your everyday life. Conduct a mini-sociological research project on how whiteness,
privilege, and racism operates in everyday life. Describe and develop specific strategies designed to
challenge racism on both the individual and institutional levels through an action project focused on
racial justice.
Seminar Requirements
Class participation (25% of your grade)
Class participation is required, as much of the learning will take place in the classroom through
participation in class discussions. It is expected that when you are in class you will participate and come
to each class session having completed the assigned readings and prepared to discuss the material. The
quality of your participation as well as absences and lateness will be noted as this has an effect on group
discussion. More than one absence from class will result in points deducted from your class participation
grade.
Four (4) Reflection Papers (15% of your grade)
You will be asked to submit a reflection paper to Prof. Piatelli at the end of each week as noted on the
syllabus (for a total of 4 reflection papers). Note that the frequency of these papers will decrease as you
begin to write your thematic papers (see below for a description of those papers). These papers should be
a maximum of three (3), double-spaced pages and emailed to Prof. Piatelli no later than Thursday at
4:00 p.m. for the week they are due.
In these papers, you should discuss how you are interacting with the course material and discussions (the
ideas presented by the authors, the way that you are integrating the readings into your thinking, the way
your personal experiences may/may not related to the issues raised by the readings/discussions). The
writing can be informal, but should be thoughtful, reflective and draw upon the reading and discussion.
Your papers should NOT simply be a summary of a reading, film or class discussion, but rather
demonstrate how you are relating the readings/film/class discussion to each other, to readings from other
weeks, and/or your own life. You may also explore ideas that may not be covered in class or that you may
be hesitant to assert verbally.
Possible questions to think about when writing: How do the readings, films, and/or discussions make me
feel? Do I sometimes feel uncomfortable? Why? Do the readings make me think differently about my
own life experiences? Does the author raise issues I have not thought about before? Is there something
that has been bothering me that I have felt reluctant to bring up in class? Is the class raising issues I want
SOCY3303.01 Piatelli
2
to learn more about? Is this class making me think about things in new ways?
Each paper will be evaluated based on its thoughtfulness, insight, and engagement with the course
material and discussion. I may draw on your reflections (anonymously) in the classroom to foster
discussion. I also encourage you to share your reflections in the classroom.
Three (3) Thematic Papers (40% of your grade)
You will be asked to complete three papers on a particular theme discussed in class. These papers are
more formal than the reflection papers and MUST cite the readings from the course syllabus in a more
detailed manner. These assignments will be distributed in class before the due date and copies can also be
found on Canvas (approximate page length requirements are noted on the assignment sheet).
Assignments will be submitted to Prof. Piatelli by email by 4:00 p.m. on the due date.
Thematic paper #1 Historical Memories of Race (10%)
Thematic paper #2 Racial Identity Development (10%)
Thematic paper #3 Observing and Analyzing Racetalk (20%)
Due: Thursday, Oct. 23
Due: Thursday, Nov. 6
Due: Thursday, Nov. 20
Action Project and Presentation (20% of your grade)
This assignment involves working with at least one of your classmates (preferably a small group) in
analyzing and presenting a critical issue regarding race. As a group, you will develop and present your
project to the class on one of the class presentation sessions (see course schedule). Presentations will be
scheduled in 30-minute increments. As a part of your presentation, you should plan to leave at least 5
minutes for class discussion. (We may adjust timeframe depending on how many presentations we have
scheduled for the semester.) More information on this assignment will be forthcoming during the
semester and a copy can also be found on Canvas. Project Update:
Due: Thursday, Nov. 13
Required Texts (available in bookstore and on reserve)
*Rothenberg, Paula S. (2011). White privilege: Essential readings on the other side of racism. 4th edition.
*Tatum, Beverly Daniel. (2003). Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? [any edition]
*Trepagnier, Barbara. (2010). Silent racism: How well-meaning white people perpetuate the racial divide.
[any edition]
*Wise, Tim. (2011). White like me: Reflections on race from a privileged son. [any edition]
Seminar Policies
Grading scale and late work: 95-100 (A); 90-94 (A-); 87-89 (B+); 84-86 (B); 80-83 (B-); 77-79 (C+);
74-76 (C); 70-73 (C-), etc. As the assignments build upon your knowledge throughout the course, it is
important that you complete your assignments on time so that you are able to receive feedback to improve
your learning and I can evaluate my effectiveness in the classroom. If you have extenuating circumstances
that will prevent you from completing your assignments on time, you must come see me BEFORE the
due date to discuss a possible extension. Otherwise, you will lose 5 points each day the assignment is late.
For information on Boston College’s academic integrity policy, please visit:
www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/resources/policy/#integrity.
SOCY3303.01 Piatelli
3
Seminar Schedule
Monday, September 8
How do we talk constructively about race?
Reflection Due Thursday
Readings:
* Tatum, Chapter 2 (The complexity of identity)
* Tatum, Chapter 10 (Embracing a cross-racial dialogue)
* Warren, Mark R. (2010). Working with white people: Challenging racism in the context of
inclusion. In Fire in the heart: How white activists embrace racial justice (pp. 113-148).
LIBRARY RESERVE
I: THEORIZING RACE AND WHITENESS
Monday, September 15
Why study race and whiteness?
The social construction of race
Reflection Due Thursday
Readings:
* Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. (2007). Racialized social systems approach to racism. In
Charles Gallagher (Ed.), Rethinking the color line: Readings in race and ethnicity (pp.
46-55). LIBRARY RESERVE
* DuBois, W.E.B. (1920). The souls of white folk. In Darkwater: Voices from within the
veil (pp. 17-29). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Hobgood, Mary Elizabeth. (2009). An ethical agenda for elites. In Dismantling privilege:
An ethics of accountability (pp. 14-41). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Rothenberg, Introduction; Chapter 1 in Part One (Richard Dyer, The matter of whiteness)
* Wellman, David. (1993). Introduction to the second edition. In Portraits of white
racism (pp. 1-26). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Wilson, William Julius. (1980). From racial oppression to economic class subordination.
In The declining significance of race (pp. 1-23). LIBRARY RESERVE
Monday, September 22
Researching race
Historical constructions of whiteness
Reflection Due Thursday
Film in class: Race: The power of an illusion, Episode 2: The story we tell
Reading:
* Gallagher, Charles A. (2008). The end of racism as the new doxa: New strategies
for researching race. In Tukufu Zuberi and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (Eds.), White logic, white
methods: Racism and methodology (pp. 163-178). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Horsman, Reginald. (1997). Race and manifest destiny: The origins of American
racial Anglo-Saxonism. In Richard Delgago and Jean Stefancic (Eds.), Critical white studies:
Looking behind the mirror (pp. 139-144). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Mckhopadhyay, Carol C. (2011). Getting rid of the word ‘Caucasian.’ In Mica Pollock (Ed.),
in Everyday antiracism: Getting real about race in school (pp. 12-16). LIBRARY
RESERVE
* Rothenberg, Chapter 7 in Part Two (Charles Mills, Global white supremacy)
SOCY3303.01 Piatelli
4
Monday, September 29
Historical constructions of whiteness (continued)
Fluidity of whiteness
Reflection Due Thursday
Readings:
* Abdulrahim, Sawsan. (2008). ‘Whiteness’ and the Arab immigrant experience. In Amaney
Jamal & Nadine Naber (Eds.), Race and Arab Americans before and after 911: From
invisible citizens to visible subjects (pp. 131-146). LIBRARY RESERVE
*
Huntington, Samuel P. (2004). Forward and Components of American
identity. In Who are we? The challenges to America’s national identity (pp. xv-xvii and 3758). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Yancey, George. (2003). How to become white. In Who is white? Latinos, Asians, and
the new Black/Nonblack divide (pp. 27-62). LIBRARY RESERVE
Monday, October 6
Prejudice, racism and privilege
Film on your own: White privilege: Racism, white denial & the costs of inequality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SIINVfqnxw
Readings:
* Kivel, Paul. (2011). Part V: Fighting institutional racism. In Uprooting racism: How white
people can work for racial justice (pp. 209-278). LIBRARY RESERVE
* McIntosh, Peggy. (1998). White privilege, color and crime: A personal account. In
Coramee Richey Mann and Marjorie S. Zatz (Eds.), Images of color, images of crime:
Readings (pp. 52-60). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Tatum, Chapter 1 (Defining racism)
* Trepagnier, Chapter 1 (Rethinking racism) and Chapter 4 (The production of
institutional racism)
II.
RACISM AND PRIVILEGE IN EVERYDAY LIFE
NO CLASS Monday, October 13
Monday, October 20
Exploring identity development and racial awareness
Thematic Paper #1 Due Thursday
Readings:
* Chesler, Mark, et.al. (2005). White students in the university In Challenging racism in higher
education (pp. 79-98). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Tatum, Part II (Understanding blackness in a white context, all chapters); Part III
(Understanding whiteness in a white context, Chapter 6); Part IV (Beyond black
and white, all chapters)
* Trepagnier, Chapter 5 (Race awareness matters)
Additional Suggested Readings:
* García, José. (2007). The hatred within. In Andrew Garrod, et.al. (Eds)., Mi voz, mi vida:
Latino college students tell their life stories (pp. 72-88). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Lee, Leah. (2007). Korea is my heart and soul, America is my mind and spirit. In Andrew
Garrod and Robert Kilkenny (Eds.), Balancing two worlds: Asian American college
SOCY3303.01 Piatelli
5
*
*
students tell their life stories (pp. 108-122). LIBRARY RESERVE
Renn, Kristen. (2000). Patterns of situational identity among biracial and multiracial
college students. The Review of Higher Education, 23(4), 399-420. LIBRARY
RESERVE
Torres, Vasti and LeManuel Bitsoi. (2011). American Indian college students.
In Michael J. Cuyjet, et.al. (Eds), Multiculturalism on campus: Theory, models, and
practices for understanding diversity and creating inclusion (pp. 169-190).
LIBRARY RESERVE
Monday, October 27
Exploring identity development and racial awareness (continued)
Readings:
* Carbado, Devon and Mitu Gulati. (2013). Acting out the racial double bind (or being
black like Obama). In Acting white? Rethinking race in post-racial America (pp. 1-20).
LIBRARY RESERVE
* Knoll, Benjamin R. (2012). Companero o Extranjero? Anti-immigrant nativism among
Latino Americans. Social Science Quarterly, 93(4), 911-931. LIBRARY RESERVE.
* Wise, Tim. Entire book
* Wong, Frieda and Richard Haligan. (2006). The model minority: Bane or blessing
for Asian Americans? Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 34, 3449. LIBRARY RESERVE
Monday, November 3
White talk/Race talk
Thematic Paper #2 Due Thursday
Readings:
* Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. (2006). The central frames of color-blind racism. In Racism
without racists: Colorblind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United
States (pp. 25-52). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Kivel, Paul. (2011). It’s not just a joke. In Uprooting racism: How
white people can work for racial justice (pp. 130-133). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Rothenberg, Chapter 3 in Part Four (Paul Kivel, How white people can serve as
allies to people of color in the struggle to end racism)
* Trepagnier, Chapter 2 (Silent racism) and Chapter 6 (Antiracist practice)
Monday, November 10
Whiteness on the college campus
Action Project Update Due Thursday
Readings:
* Chesler, Mark, et.al. (2005). Students of color in the university. In Challenging racism in
higher education (pp. 99-120). LIBRARY
RESERVE
* Feagin, Joe, and Eileen O’Brien. (2003). Issues of interracial dating and marriage.
In White Men on Race: Power Privilege and the Shaping of Cultural
Consciousness (pp. 131-154). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Nenga, Sandi Kawecka. (2011). Volunteering to give up privilege? How affluent
youth volunteers respond to class privilege. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography,
40:263-289. LIBRARY RESERVE
* Tatum, Beverly Daniel. (2007). What kind of friendship is that? The search for
authenticity, mutuality, and social transformation in cross-racial relationships.
SOCY3303.01 Piatelli
6
In Can We Talk About Race? (pp. 83-104) LIBRARY RESERVE
Monday, November 17
Whiteness and affirmative action
Thematic Paper #3 Due Thursday
Readings:
* Feagin, Joe, and Eileen O’Brien. (2003). Views on public policy: Affirmative
action. In White men on race: Power, privilege and the shaping of
cultural consciousness (pp. 189-225). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Sander, Richard J. and Stuart Taylor, Jr. (2012). The idea of mismatch and why it
matters. and Why academics avoid honest debate about affirmative
action. In Mismatch: How affirmative action hurts students it’s intended
to help, and why universities won’t admit it (pp. 3-14 and 175-184). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Tatum, Part III (Understanding whiteness in a white context, Chapter 7)
Monday, November 24
Whiteness and the criminal justice system
Whiteness and the educational system
Readings:
* Alexander, Michelle. (2010). The rebirth of caste and The new Jim Crow. In The new Jim
Crow: Incarceration in the age of colorblindness (pp. 40-57 and 173-208). LIBRARY
RESERVE
* Bloom, Lisa. (2014). The state misses its best evidence (pp. 49-72); Closing arguments: a
disaster for the prosecution (pp. 157-174); Bring it on, make my day, stand your ground (pp.
279-292). In Suspicion nation: The inside story of the Trayvon Martin injustice and why we
continue to repeat it. LIBRARY RESERVE
* Carbado, Devon and Mitu Gulati. (2013). (Not) acting criminal. In Acting white? Rethinking
race in post-racial America (pp. 96-115). LIBRARY RESERVE
* Lewis, Amanda E. and Michelle J. Manno. (2011). The best education for some:
Race and schooling in the United States today. In Moon-Kie Jung, et.al., State of white
supremacy: Racism, governance and the United States (pp. 93-109). LIBRARY RESERVE
* McWhorter, John. (2001). The cult of anti-intellectualism. In Losing
the race: Self-sabotage in Black America (pp. 1112-136). LIBRARY RESERVE
Monday, December 1
Presentations
Monday, December 8
Presentations
SOCY3303.01 Piatelli
7