Racial and Ethnic Minorities Statement
2007
Melinda Messineo, Ball State University
With contributions from Leonard Gordon, Arizona State University
Our division’s vision of a just society is one where racial and ethnic minorities are empowered to live their lives without facing discrimination, biases, or prejudices. We see a world where racial and ethnic differences are no longer sources of oppression and the contributions of minorities are not merely “tolerated” but are instead embraced, supported, and celebrated. Our division sees a just society as one in which world leaders can no longer ignore genocide and instead respond by ensuring that resources are used to support the education and health of all.
Historically we can look to a number of models that demonstrate the objectives of our diverse membership. The social revolutions inspired by the work of Karl Marx reflect many of our members’ desires for an egalitarian society. These revolutions also highlight our belief that theory must be put into practice in order for a just society to be realized. The union movements and the support of labor at the turn of the last century also demonstrate our member’s interest in addresses the oppression that results at the confluence of race and class. The Civil Rights movement is illustrative of our belief that racial and ethnic minorities must have opportunities to lead and that amazing things are possible when racial and ethnic minorities are not excluded from change processes. Today the beliefs of many of our members are reflected in the efforts against genocide, fascism, and globalization. Our members also find connections with the advocates of the environmental movement, and its links to environmental racism.
The sheer breadth of the inequalities racial and ethnic minorities encounter is the key difficulty that our division faces in realizing a just society. There are the challenges of access to education, health care, equal pay, political power, an independent and fair judiciary…and the list goes on. However, we can address these issues by authentically supporting democratic and egalitarian processes. This applies not only nationally but globally as we identify ways to support minorities, increase access to vital institutions, distribute resources equally, and make decisions that promote sustainability. Our division seeks to identify, support and participate in these efforts through scholarship, financial contribution and advocacy.
Suggested Readings:
Andersen, Margaret L. & Patricia Hill Collins. 2006. Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology. Wadsworth Publishing.
Cornell, Stephen and Douglas Hartmann. 2006. Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a Changing World. Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Crenshaw, Kimberle; Gotanda, Neil; Peller, Garry and Kendall Thomas. 1996. Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement. New Press.
Doane, Ashley. 2003. White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism, Routledge.
Feagin, Joe R.. 2001. Racist America: Roots, Current Realities and Future Reparations, Routledge.
Fox Piven, Frances. 2006. Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America (Polemics), Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc
Gallagher, Charles A. (Ed.) 2006. Rethinking the Color Line. New York: McGraw Hill.
hooks, bell. 1999. Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism, South End Press.
Royster, Deirdre. 2003. Race and the Invisible Hand: How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-Collar Jobs (George Gund Foundation Book in African American Studies), University of California Press.
Arredondo, Aida Hurtado, Gabriela F. Arredondo, and Norma Klahn. 2003. Chicana Feminism: A Critical Reader (Post-Contemporary Interventions), Duke University Press.
Vo, Linda Trinh and Rick Bonus. 2002. Contemporary Asian American Communities: Intersections and Divergences (Asian American History and Culture), Temple University Press.
Purkayastha, Bandana. 2005. Negotiating Ethnicity: Second-Generation South Asian Americans Traverse A Transnational World, Rutgers University Press.
West, Cornell. 2005. Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism, Penguin Press.