Question

1.)Contemporary historian Ronald Takaki suggests that in the United States, “[r]ace . has been a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups.”(6) Explain how this adds to social construction. Give examples. Do you Agree/Disagree with this statement?

Answer 1

Social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups:

Skin color, eye color, food, language, dress. All of these factors are related to the concepts of race and ethnicity. This lesson will look at how these two important categories shape social life and life chances in the United States. But first, we should talk about how sociologists view these categories as socially constructed. What do we mean by that? While we might think of certain things, like race, as given or natural phenomenon, sociologists think of many things as products of our society. That is, categories can take on meaning because of the way that they are shaped by society. It's kind of like we collectively assign things meaning. It comes from a perspective known as constructivism, which suggests that we come to an understanding of certain ideas in our society because we made them exist. Race and ethnicity are two great examples of socially constructed ideas in our society.

Ronald Takaki begins A Different Mirrorwith the assertion that "race has been a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups". He goes on to argue that this construction does not accurately reflect the "rich and complex mosaic" of American diversity. The project of his book, then, is to reflect more authentically the multicultural, multiracial, and multiethnic American character. An exhaustively detailed history, A Different Mirror is an essential primer for anyone interested in American history and its profoundly multicultural nature.

Takaki begins with the "discovery" of America and proceeds through World War II, devoting chapters of each section to the different experiences of Native Americans, African Americans, Chicanos, Jews, Chinese, and Japanese. Each section reflects carefully on the intertextuality of the separate narratives, and each chapter points out general divergences as well as overlap, coalition, and shared experiences of different groups. For example, he points out that after the Civil War many Southern plantation owners attempted to replace African American laborers with Chinese, whom they believed could teach Black workers to be more industrious. Similarly, he points out that Mexican and Japanese laborers struck together in California in 1903, complicating common perceptions of interracial competition. In fact, the overriding motive of Takaki's project seems to be to confound stereotypes and historical accounts which stress violence and tension, rather than coalition and exchange. Takaki does not ignore the more conflictive aspects of multiculturalism, but he shows that they are only part of the story of America.