CRD 002: ETHNICITY AND AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
FALL QUARTER 2015
INSTRUCTOR: TOMETI K GBEDEMA, PhD
Office: 2328 HART HALL
Office Hours: Mon. 3-4pm
E-mail: tkgbedema@ucdavis.edu
TEACHING ASSISTANTS
Name: Dustin Tsai
Office Hours: Tues. 3-5pm
TA Office: 2420 Hart Hall
Email: dytsai@ucdavis.edu
COURSE SCHEDULE
Location: WELLMAN 106
Day & Time: MONDAY, 4:10-7PM
Name: Annemeike Farrow
Office Hours: Thurs. 3-5pm
TA Office: 2420 Hart Hall
Email: amfarrow@ucdavis.edu
CLASS DISCUSSION SECTIONS, MEETING DAYS, LOCATIONS & TIME:
#47538 Section A01:TA/ Dustin Tsai
T 5:10-6:00P
Wellman 211
#47539 Section A02:TA/ Dustin Tsai
T 6:10-7:00P
Wellman 211
#47540 Section A03:TA/ Dustin Tsai
T 7:10-8:00P
Wellman 211
#47541
#47542
#47543
Section A04: TA/ Annemeike Farrow
Section A05: TA/ Annemeike Farrow
Section A06: TA/ Annemeike Farrow
R
R
R
5:10-6:00P
6:10-7:00P
7:10-8:00P
Wellman 107
Wellman 107
Wellman 107
COURSE OBJECTIVES, DESCRIPTION AND FORMAT
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course is designed to introduce students to the critical analysis of race and ethnicity in US society,
i.e. American communities. It is created to study the past of multicultural US, and to help us understand
the sociological concepts and theories that constitute the foundations of racial and ethnic relations in the
US. The course is intended to allow students to take lively parts in the day-to-day in class discussions
and activities about the developments of race and ethnicity that have since defined our communities since
the beginning of US history. It is also designed to create a learning environment for all to understand the
factors that have influenced race and ethnic relations and social identities in the US, and to comprehend
the structures of domination put in place to maintain these relations and identities.
This class will be used to explore race and its derivatives as social constructs and examine the privilege
and disadvantages that racial identity issues bring upon individual social and ethnic groups in our
communities. We will use the opportunity presented to us in this class to discuss the systems of
oppression through a scrutiny of both the privileges and disadvantages. We will engage in dialogue,
teach, and learn from each other and those we identify differently from ourselves. We will pay special
attention to minority social groups and communities, i.e. African Americans, Asian Americans,
Chicano/Latinos, and Native Americans, Moslem Americans... We will additionally utilize this chance to
develop our written and oral skills necessary in dismantling oppression. All will be done to for us to
appreciate who WE are as a diverse community.
REQUIRED TEXT BOOKS:
● COURSE READER: Davis Copy shop, Davis Text Books, 236A St.
● Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. Harper/Collins. 2003
● Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror – A History of Multicultural America. BBB. 2008
● Helfand, Judy and Laurie Lippin, Ph.D. Unraveling Whiteness, Kendall/Hunt. 2009
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DESCRIPTION AND FORMAT OF COURSE:
Through lectures and organized class activities we will together delve into the past/history of the US. We
will listen to one another’s racial/ethnicity experiences, participate in small group discussions and
activities, listen to guest speakers, learn from course materials – videos and students’ presentations, etc. to
develop a better sense and understanding of ‘who we are’ within this multicultural nation of the United
States. Because we are all here to acquire knowledge about race and ethnicity issues in our American
communities, we will endeavor to give each and everyone the opportunity to express his/her thoughts,
ideas and feelings about topics that we discuss and share his/her experience and knowledge in this area
with us to learn from one another. This will help us to relearn an inclusive history of the US.
Due to the importance of the core subject of this course, discussion sections are scheduled to enhance the
course experience and to create opportunities for more personal sharing and in-depth discussion in a
consistent smaller group. Thus, each student’s attendances in both lecture and discussion sections
are VERYIMPORTANT because they ALL count toward student’s final grade.
CLASS ATTENDANCE/ PARTICIPATION/ READINGS:
Students are expected to come to lecture having done all readings, except where specified differently.
The required readings for each lecture are on the syllabus. It is better to read in several sittings due to the
amount of readings per week.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Also available on the course SMARTSITE in the Assignments folder
All written papers must be typed, double-spaced, proofread, 1-inch margins, and should be in font size 11
or 12. Late papers are sanctioned by 2 point DEDUCTION per day).
READING/CLASS RESPONSES ASSIGNMENTS (RCRs)
Students will be assigned 2 Reading/Class Responses (RCRs) during the quarter. The RCR’s are for you
to integrate your thoughts and feelings about material assigned in the class Reader and in the two (2)
books (Zinn’s history and Helfand and Lippin’s Unraveling Whiteness) with the experiences you are
having in classroom activities. Each RCR should be 4-5 pages and double-spaced. Unlike your papers for
this class, the RCR’s do not have to be formal or centered on a thesis. At the same time, it also shouldn’t
be a stream of consciousness that is hard for someone besides you to understand. The course syllabus
will identify when you need to answer specific questions in the Unraveling Whiteness (UW) book.
Make sure that you demonstrate in your work that you have thought and reflected on the readings
and are able to integrate those with the dialogue and activities happening in class.
READING/CLASS RESPONSES (RCRs) ARE DUE IN SECTIONS, WEEKS 3 AND 9.
SOCIAL IDENTITY PAPER: (5-6 pages).
In multicultural societies, racial/ethnic identification is a significant component of one's own individual
identity and intersects significantly with other social identities such as gender, socioeconomic class,
religion, and sexual orientation. One can be a target of oppression in one identity, and a person of
privilege in another, e.g. a gay, white male. Using Bobbie Harro's Cycle of Socialization or Beverly’s
Tatum Identity Formation Theory, discuss your own social identity. How do structural and institutional
forces shape your intersecting identities, such as race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic class, religion and
sexual orientation? How are these various identities constructed as privileged or oppressed? Identities are
embodied through daily and public practices and can be conscious or unconscious. If you don’t know
your own family history, this is a good time to find out.
DUE DATE: OCTOBER 26TH IN CLASS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF LECTURE
ETHNICITY INTERVIEW PAPER: Write a 5 to 6 page paper (citations not included) on your
interview with a person of a different racial/ethnic group than you, and who is not in this class. Choose
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CRD 002_Fall 2015
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an ethnic group you would like to understand better, along with the forces of institutional and structural
dominance or oppression that apply to this group. Using Zinn or other references, historically situate the
experience of this ethnic group in the United States and how their historical experience has shaped the
current conditions of that ethnic group. You are required to interview someone from that ethnic group -use “primary data” -- to supplement your interview. You must include citations to document your
research. DUE NOVEMBER 9TH IN CLASS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF LECTURE.
FINAL RESEARCH PAPER (PERSONAL CLASS EXPERIENCE):
Write a well-organized research paper using library and Internet resources with full citations. The paper
should be between 7and 8 pages without the citations/references/bibliography.
1. Select an ethnic or racial, disability, sexual orientation and gender related topic on your own and
that you very interested in. Discuss this topic with your TA (or the instructor if necessary) for
approval. Your topic should be based on your own interests, previous experiences, and/or
personal goals. It should be a topic that you have some passion around and relate to current issues
in race and ethnicity within our US society.
OR
2. Select a topic that you have read about in a book, magazine, newspaper or somewhere in an
article but that is related to the themes of the course and which you are passionate about or
interested in.
Discuss this topic with your TA (or the instructor) for approval first. For this work, you are
required to provide quotes from the book, magazine, newspaper or article to stimulate your points
and arguments in your work. Do not copy the book but simply provide at least four (4) citations
or quotes from your reading to support these points and arguments you make in your essay.
Discuss and analyze your topic as it pertains to the realities of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation
and gender related issues developments as we live them in present-day US society. Connect and evaluate
your problem(s) to its (their) effects/impacts on race and ethnic relations, disability, sexual orientation and
gender issues (i.e. social identities) in the US. Tell us why you think this topic is important and must be
given due consideration in the debates surrounding these issues in this nation and in our individual
communities, why you think we should take your topic into consideration for better understanding of
people’s identities, diversity and the racial and ethnic composition of our society and each other. Ensure
that you apply the necessary and appropriate terms, concepts and theories as we have studied, learned
about and discussed in this class to discussions in your paper, and show how this topic or issue relates to
the identities of people in our cities and communities.
THIS FINAL RESEARCH PAPER IS DUE NO LATER THAN NOON (12:00PM) ON EXAM
DAY IN MY OFFICE. There is no Final Exam. Therefore, it is each student’s responsibility to
ensure that his/her research paper is submitted on time day. Late papers are to be deducted 2pts.
GRADING SCALES AND PLAGIARISM POLICY:
Class & Section Attendances
10%
Reading/Class Responses & Group Presentations 10%
Social Identity Paper
15%
Midterm Exam
25%
Ethnicity Interview Paper
15%
Final Research Paper (Personal Class Experience) 25%
Students are required to submit only their own original work and to be familiar with the rules and
policies regarding plagiarism, see below.
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CRD 002_Fall 2015
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SPECIAL NOTATION: THE STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT
Students should be familiar with the Student Code of Academic Conduct, located at
http://sja.ucdavis.edu/cac.html. Please review this carefully and ask your instructor, if you have any
questions. Remember the instructor is obliged to refer you to Student Judicial Affairs in all cases of
violation or suspected violation. In addition to the well-known problems of plagiarism and cheating on
examinations, it is also a violation of the Code of Conduct to use your own written materials from papers
prepared for other classes, unless you take the following points into consideration. It is permissible to use
materials and texts from other class projects, within CRD or in other departments, under the conditions
that:
(1) You inform the instructor beforehand.
(2) You clearly identify the portions where you quote yourself (or collaborative work)
(3) You provide a copy of the previous work you have submitted in the other class to the
instructor.
(4) To ensure that you receive a good grade, make sure that the quoted or reused parts fit
seamlessly into the assignment for THIS class.
(5) If you have any doubts about the extent to which you can use already written materials, please
speak with the instructor or the TA prior to making any submission.”
SCHEDULE OF COURSE ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Week 0 Sept. 21, 2015: Quarter begins – No class
Week 1 Sept. 28, 2015: INTRODUCTION – EARLY YEARS AND FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPTS
READINGS: Cornell & Douglas (1998) ‘Race and Ethnicity Definitions’
Donald Noel (1968) ‘A Theory of Origin of Ethnic Stratification’
Feagin & Feagin, Ch. 1, Basic Concepts in the Study of Racial & Ethnic Relations
Feagin & Feagin, Ch. 2, ‘Adaptation & Conflict: Racial & Ethnic Relations in
Theoretical Perspective’
Helfand/Lippin Introduction
Week 2 Oct.5, 2015: HISTORY OF RACE & ETHNIC RELATIONS IN US COMMUNITIES
THEORIES AND CONCEPTS – DEFINING THE TERMS
** Film: Slavery & The Making of America
READINGS: Zinn, Chapters 1-3
Ronald Takaki (2008) Chapters 1-3
Omi & Weinart (1994) ‘Racial Formation’
Judith Martin (2001), ‘Understanding Whiteness in the US’
Helfand and Lippin, “Section I, WHITENESS”
Week 3 Oct. 12, 2015: SOCIAL IDENTITY: SOCIO-POLITICAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACE
** Film: The Difference Between Us
READINGS: Zinn, Chapters 4 & 5
Steven Olson (2001), ‘A Genetic Archaeology of Race’
ABC News (2009), ‘‘Gangsta Gene’ Identified in US Teens’
Bobbie Harro (2000), ‘The Cycle of Socialization’
Beverly Daniel Tatum (2000), ‘The Complexity of Identity: “Whom Am I”’
 READING/CLASS RESPONSE 1 (RCR 1) DUE IN SECTIONS
Week 4 Oct. 19, 2015: WHITE PRIVILEGE: EUROPEAN AMERICANS/DOMINANT GROUPS
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CRD 002_Fall 2015
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Guest Speaker: Dr. Laurie Lippin, co-author of Unraveling Whiteness ****
READINGS: Zinn, chapters 6-8
Cornell (2006) ‘A Constructionist Approach’ in Ethnicity and Race, SAGE
Helfand and Lippin, Section IV “FEAR”
Week 5 Oct. 26, 2015: DOMINANCE & MARGINALIZATION: PRIVILEGED &
DISADVANTAGED ETHNIC GROUPS
**Film: The Color of Fear
READINGS: Zinn, Chapters 9-11
Aurora Levins Morales (1998), ‘The Historian as Curandera’
Requel Cepeda (2010), ‘What’s a Latino’, CNN, New York
Helfand and Lippin, SECTION II, “WHITE PRIVILEGE”
Microaggressions article (in Resources file on the course Smartsite)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a-daily-basis
 SOCIAL IDENTITY PAPER DUE IN CLASS BEFORE START OF LECTURE
Week 6 Nov. 2, 2015 MIDTERM EXAM (Bring your bluebook, scantron, pen and pencil)
Week 7 Nov. 9, 2015: TAKING APART OPPRESSION IN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
** Film: Cracking the Code
READINGS: Zinn, chapters 12-14
Karen Roth (2002), Retail Racism
Helfand and Lippin, Section III, “VOICES”
ETHNICITY INTERVIEW PAPER DUE IN CLASS AT THE BEGINNING!
Week 8 Nov. 16, 2015: MINORITY/MARGINALIZED GROUPS
**Film: Ancestors In Americas – Chinese In The Frontier West
READINGS: Zinn, Chapters 16, 18 &19 (includes coverage on Vietnam War)
Stanley Sue (2001) ‘Conflicting truths fuel racial, ethnic difficulties’
Cheng Imm Tan (1994?) ‘Thinking about Asian Oppression and Liberation’
Helfand and Lippin, Section V, “GUILT AND SHAME”
 CLASS GROUP PRESENTATION PANELS: AFRICAN & ASIAN AMERICAN
Week 9 Nov. 23, 2015: MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES
**Film: Ancestors In Americas – Struggles In The Fields
READINGS: Zinn, chapters 21-24 (to be split in sections)
Tim Wise Articles (April 27, 1999; February 17 & May 5, 2001; May 3, 2002)
Bill Proudman (2005?) ‘White Men as Full Diversity Partners’
Feagin & Feagin (2003) Ch. 12, ‘Arab Americans’ in Racial & Ethnic Relations
 GROUP PRESENTATION PANELS: LATINOS/CHICANOS & ARAB AMERICAN
 READING/CLASS RESPONSE 2 (RCR 2) DUE IN SECTIONS
Week 10 Nov. 30, 2015: CLOSING THE CURTAINS: FINISHING UP WITH REMAINING
PRESENTATIONS
READINGS: Helfand and Lippin, VI”ACTION”
Zinn, Afterword

Gbedema.
RESEARCH PAPERS DUE IN INSTRUCTOR’S OFFICE ON MONDAY,
DECEMBER 7TH, 2015 BY 5:00PM PROMPT.
CRD 002_Fall 2015