Spring 2006
Color Lines: 20th Century Race and Ethnic Relations
African American Studies 3390, Chicano Studies 4350, History 3390
Professor: John D. Márquez, Ph.D.
Office: Liberal Arts, 332
Telephone: 747-7063
E-mail: jdmarquez@utep.edu
Office Hours: T-TR: 9:00am-10:20am
Course Description:
Despite popular assumptions of the “assimilation” of immigrants, the “extinction” of
indigenous peoples, and the emergence of a “color-blind” society,” race and ethnicity
continue to shape many aspects of our lives. It often determines the neighborhoods in
which we live, the jobs open to us, the kinds of education we receive, and other
opportunities in society at large. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the
basic social and theoretical issues in the field of 20th century race and ethnic relations. We
will focus on the emergence and persistence of racial stratification in areas of the U.S. legal
system, health and medicine, the environment, popular media, and military conflict.
Special attention will be paid to how racially aggrieved communities have resisted
inequality through cultural production, grass roots organizing, and revolutionary struggle.
While the experiences of all racial and ethnic groups will be examined, this course will
focus primarily on the history and plights of nation’s two largest minority groups, African
Americans and Mexican Americans.
Required Texts: (1-5 Available at the UTEP Bookstore)
1) Americo Paredes. 1958. With His Pistol in his Hand: A Border Ballad and Its Hero.
Austin: University of Texas Press.
2) George Lipsitz. 1995. A Life In the Struggle: Ivory Perry and the Culture of
Opposition (Revised Edition). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
3) Robert D. Bullard. 2000. Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality
(3rd Edition). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
4) Michael Eric Dyson, 2005. Is Bill Cosby Right: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its
Mind? New York: Basic Civitas Books.
5) Jael Silliman, Marlene Gerber Fried eds. 2004. Undivided Rights: Women of Color
Organizing for Reproductive Justice. Boston: Southend Press.
6) Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. 2003. Racism Without Racists: Color Blind Racism and the
Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. New York: Rowman and
Littlefield.
7) Color Lines Course Reader: Available at Copy Mine. UTEP Library, 1st Floor
Course Requirements:
All students are required to attend class, to do the assigned readings, to master the material
on quizzes and exams, and to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the UTEP
Principles of Community and the standards of courtesy and etiquette that govern academic
inquiry. All of the course requirements must be completed in order to pass the course.
Each student will take two mid-term exams, a final exam, and five quizzes. For purposes
of the final grade, each midterm, the final, the cumulative score on the quizzes, and
lecture/discussion attendance and participation each will count 20%.
Note: All of the course requirements must be completed in order to pass the course.
Reading and Lecture Schedule:
Week 1. Making Race and Nation
Ernest Renan. “What is a Nation?” CR.
Week 2. White Supremacy and the U.S. Racial State
“U.S. Declaration of Independence.” CR.
Thomas Jefferson. “Notes on the State of Virginia.” CR.
Reginald Horsman. “Introduction” & “Race, Expansion, and the Mexican War.”
CR.
Week 3. Ethnogenesis: The Roots of Anti-Racist Struggle
Haunani-Kay Trask. “Politics in the Pacific Islands: Imperialism and Native SelfDetermination.” CR.
Joane Nagel “Introduction: American Indian Ethnic Renewal” & “Constructing
Ethnic Identity.” CR.
Film: Ethnic Notions
Week 4. Alternative Academies: Turning Hegemony on its Head
Américo Paredes. With His Pistol in His Hand: A Border Ballad and Its Hero
Week 5. Democracy or Hipocracy?: The Fight for Reform and Inclusion
George Lipsitz. A Life in the Struggle: Ivory Perry and Culture of Opposition.
Week 6. Black Power and Brown Pride: Resistance in the
Post Civil Rights Era.
Huey Newton, “Revolutionary Suicide,” “To Die for the People.” CR.
Mickey Melendez: “We Took the Streets.” CR.
Film: A Huey P. Newton Story
Week 7. Women Activists & the Trials of Manhood
David Román. “Teatro Viva! Latino Performance and the Politics of Aids in Los
Angeles.” CR.
Mary Pardo. “Becoming and Activist in Eastside Los Angeles.” CR.
Week 8. Poisoning the Well: Race and the Environment
Robert D. Bullard. Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality.
Week 9. Race, Medicine, and Health
Paul Farmer. “Aids and Racism: Accusation at the Center.” CR.
Charles Briggs. “Stories from a Time of Cholera: Racial Profiling Surviving a
Medical Nightmare.” CR.
Week 10. Spring Break
Week 11. Race and Reproductive Justice
Jael Silliman, Marlene Gerber Fried eds. Undivided Rights: Women of Color
Organizing for Reproductive Justice
Week 12. Globalization, De-Industrialization, & the Prison System
David Theo Goldberg “Surplus Value: The Political Economy of Prisons and
Policing.” CR.
Robin D.G. Kelley “Looking to Get Paid: How Some Black Youth Put Culture to
Work.” CR.
Film: Get Rich or Die Trying
Week 13. Neo-Liberalism and Its Discontents
Kevin R. Johnson, “The Huddled Masses Myth.” CR.
Yen Le Espiritu, “Home Bound.” CR.
John D. Márquez, “Race and Globalization.” CR.
Film: New World Border
Week 14. The Myth of Color Blindness
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. Racism Without Racists
Week 14. Hating the Player or Hating the Game: Race and the Politics of Blame
Michael Eric Dyson. Is Bill Cosby Right: Or Has The Black Middle Class Lost Its
Mind?
Final Exam: TBA
Color Lines Survival Kit
Fall 2006
Every student admitted to UTEP has the ability to succeed, but not everyone does. The
difference between success and failure is almost never a matter of intelligence, but almost
always a matter of attitude, effort, and initiative. It is important to figure out what is
needed to succeed at this level, and not to assume that the skills required for success in high
school guarantee success in college. There is a difference between reading general
textbooks and reading the findings of researchers. There is a difference between learning
facts and learning concepts, between being tested on what you know and being tested on
how you know. Successful college students embrace change and growth. They overcome
self-defeating behavior, learn how to make use of available resources, and turn freely to
others for help. They set high standards for themselves and work hard. They develop
effective strategies for learning and problem solving.
This course requires you to read carefully, to write clearly, to listen attentively to
lectures, to take good notes, and to make constructive contributions to class discussions.
But most of all, it asks you to work successfully with your teachers and fellow students to
create a climate where ideas, evidence, and argument matter, where everyone is respected
for the part of the truth that they can contribute, and where we learn to agree and to
disagree intelligently and productively. This process will work best if we cooperate to
create the following:
1) A culture where ideas count, where we can be reflective and thoughtful, critical,
contemplative, and creative.
2) A culture of work and achievement. We must believe that there are important things to
learn and that we must learn them. Following the path of least resistance by doing as
little work as possible poisons the well out of which we all must drink.
3) A culture of courtesy, collegiality, and cooperation. We know more together than any
one of us knows individually. If you want people to see your part of the truth, you have
to show respect for what they know. We come to this inquiry with different opinions
and we will leave it with just as many different opinions. But they will be better
opinions, if they are grounded in ideas, evidence, and argument, if they come from a
process that makes use of what we can learn from one another.
On a practical level this means:
1) All work in the course should be your own original creation. You should not
plagiarize from written sources or from other students.
2) You should complete assigned readings for each week BEFORE your class meets.
You should come to class prepared to discuss readings and lectures.
You should attend all classes, pay attention in lectures, take careful notes, and respect
the needs of others who are trying to learn.
Color Lines Reading Guidelines
Fall 2006
Your ability to read, comprehend, and analyze written text is imperative to this course
These questions are designed to help guide your reading of assigned books and articles.
1)
2)
3)
4)
What is the object of study in this book/article?
What is the key research question raised in this book/article?
What is at stake in this question? Why does it matter?
What conversation/debate is this book/article participating in? Who is answering
it? What disciplinary context exerts the most influence on it?
5) What are the sources of evidence used to support arguments in the book?
6) What new questions does the book generate? What questions does it leave
unanswered?