Multiple questions and answers

1. Physical differences and biology don’t make race- according to the documentary, what makes race?

Race is made up of the laws and practices that affect chances and opportunities in life based on the differences in physical appearances such as skin color.

• When did large scale immigration originally start in the US? (approx. time limit will do).

Between 1880 – 1920

• How many people (approx.) immigrated doing that time period?

Approximately 23 million

• Where did the majority of these immigrants come from?

They came from Eastern and Southern Europe

• What were some of the reasons that prompted the first wave of immigrants to come here?

Seeking economic opportunities, freedom, and a stable future for their households

• What kinds of jobs did they typically do?

They did the hardest, poorest paid, and dangerous jobs.

• What were some stereotypes associated with the immigrants along with other non -Whites? – why were they feared?

They were seen as promiscuous, lazy, and stupid. They were feared as they were seen as an advent of racial invasion with possibility of the white race being turned darker in pigment, the stature smaller, and predisposed to the crimes including theft, murder, kidnappings, and sexual immorality.

• Were European Ethnics (Italians, Jews, Slavs for example) treated like the pre existing Whites immediately after immigration?

No, These groups were seen an in ‘transition’ hence not exactly fitting with the other ethnic groups considered inferior and also not as privileged as the white groups pre-existing in America. They were not fully white.

• Who did the ‘melting pot’ leave out? What then was common to the people assumed capable of ‘melting’ together into one whole?

It left out people of color including blacks, Latinos, Chinese, and similar groups. The common aspect of tos who ‘melted’ in the ‘pot’ was the white color of their skin.

1. Pre-Civil war, who could be a Naturalized Citizen? Post-civil war, who else was this extended to?

In the pre-civil war, only free white immigrants could become naturalized citizens. Post-civil war this was extended to persons of African decent.

1. What were some of the benefits of American citizenship that Whiteness alone granted?

The ability to vote, sit in juries, get elected to public office, and get better jobs

1. How is race a politically constructed reality? In other words what was the relationship between legal laws and ‘Blackness’? as well as the courts and Whiteness?

The courts decided on who to confer which racial identity and how to do it. It this was a constructed reality since just moving across state lines could change your race especially for black people. It was also for socially-inspired motives.

1. On what grounds did the American Supreme Court deny Japanese immigrant Ozawa’s quest for citizenship?

The court argued that he was not white as far as the statute was concerned. He was not Caucasian but of the Mongolian race.

1. What was Bhagat Singh Thind’s argument regarding his application for Citizenship? How did it differ from Ozawa’s?

Thind argued that he was of Indian decent that scientifically Indians were Caucasians. His case differed from Ozawa’s since he invoked the Caucasian race which had seemed as the yardstick for measuring whiteness.

1. What was the court’s opinion regarding Whiteness- who could be considered White? (taking into account the failed citizenship applications of both Ozawa and Thind.)

The court in both cases of Ozawa and Thind refused citizenship even on scientific grounds. The definition of whiteness was thus considered that which a common person understood as white regardless of any other evidence. Whiteness was what a common white man said it was.

1. If you were a Non- Citizen, what was denied to you/not allowed or taken away from you?

The ability to purchase or lease land (hence to stay in business) were taken away. Also civil liberties.

1. Which year was the racial requirement for Naturalization finally removed?

1952

1. What did the 1924 Johnson Reed Immigration Act do?

It banned the Asian immigration until 1965. It also reduce immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe to a very small number.

1. Who did the New Deal Social security measures leave out (occupation and race?)

It excluded farmworkers and domestic servants. A majority of these workers were non-white.

• What were the changes in FHA policies and regulations that enabled an average person town a home in the 1940’s?

The FHA allowed people to pay a 10% deposit on the home and made banks finance the balance at low interest rates over a 30 year period.

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• What was Levittown? Who were the people it was built for?

It was a suburban community built on a previous potato field. It was built mainly for Ex G.I.’s who were concerned about making things better for themselves after the war. 

• Levittown, synonymous with the development of new suburbs denied applications to which group of people? What rationale did they use for that?

It denied application to people of color. The argument was that presence of non-whites could undermine the real estate value.

• How did the FHA discourage realtors from selling suburban new developments to Black people?

It allowed the inclusion of race as a factor in appraisal of property value.

• How did the FHA rate properties and locations? And what consequences did that have for racial integration.

Properties with predominantly white residents and located far from those of people of color were rated as prime and highest valued while those properties with people of color were rated poorly and color-coded red. This laws implied integrated neighborhoods were a financial risk to real estate developers hence it held back racial integration.

• Between 1934 and 1962, the Federal Government approved loans worth __________________ in new Housing. What percentage of it went to Non- Whites?

$120 billion dollars and less than 2% went to non-whites.

• How did FHA policies contribute to the generalized idea of ‘Whiteness’?

It constructed the idea of whiteness through the persistent policies that favored white people and, in a way, superior to other races in America. This created the notion of whiteness as superior. In their case, whiteness meant living in the suburbs.

• Geographically where was ‘public housing’ by and large located?

In the central city.

• What was urban renewal supposed to do? What did it end up doing?

It was meant to make cities more livable. It ended up replacing large groups of people (two-thirds) from houses that were not replaced.

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• When was the Fair Housing Act signed? What changes did it aim to bring about?

In 1968. It removed racial language from federal housing policy.

• What was ‘Blockbusting’?

 A concept where real estate owners convinced white owners to sell their homes quickly and for less than market value. These real estate firms then resold the homes to non-whites at inflated prices.

• What is ’White Flight’? and how is that linked to reduction in the average home cost? What’s the role of banks in this?

A phenomenon where white people would leave a neighborhood when it started to get integrated. They did so in a competitive way where the struggle was which white household would sell first – in a calculated move to avoid loss of value on property. The banks offered loans to regions that were white but frustrated access to loans to integrated and black neighbourhoods.

• What eventually happens when White families and businesses flee from a neighborhood?

The tax base goes down, the amenities and facilities degrade, and eventually the lack of resources degrades the neighborhood making it welfare-dependent.

• How is the racial wealth gap linked to housing and geography?

Homes in white neighborhoods appreciated in value hence growing the net worth of the white families. Non-white families lost a chance at wealth as they were largely exposed to rental properties that do not gain equity. Location of housing hence is a determinant of wealth. Also whites moving into suburbs were being subsidized on their road to wealth while at the same time divesting black families.

• And how does that tie in with Upward Economic mobility as well as White Privilege?

The racial wealth gap compounds over generations with white people having high upward economic mobility on the basis of their access to housing, loans, and consequently to opportunities. White privilege developed from the fact that recent generations of white households have never had to do anything – in addition to what their ancestors did – to enjoy the benefits of racial inequalities.

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