Theatre of the Oppressed Augusto Boal h Interactive
Theatre of the Oppressed (Augusto Boal) h Interactive theatre with usually some oppressive content h Specta-actors can intervene in the play and propose a new solution or direction by taking on a role h The other actors are supposed to improvise and illustrate the difficulties with the new solution 1
The Social Construction of Race 2
Some statistics h Black unemployment is twice as that of whites h Schools are more segregated today than they were before the civil rights act. h Schools in low income communities are underfunded and work as dropout factories h Young black males are 21 times more likely to be killed by the police than their white counterparts h Black incarceration rates are 5 times that of whites and in some states 10 times that of whites h Median household worth – White: 142 K, Black: 11 K 3
Skin color map 4
Genetics of skin color 5
Biology of Skin Color h Europeans were black until about 8, 000 years ago. h Warmer climates: Melanin protects you from UV radiation disrupting processes associated with folic acid which could cause birth defects h Colder climates: lack of sunlight causes vitamin D deficiency. Lighter skin color absorbs more sunlight and is good for you. h Skin color does not have other biological significance 6
What is race? h A social construct. Unlike skin color, there isn’t a group of genes that represents race. h Hypodescency – counting one’s race based on socially subordinate person’s race (so called “one drop rule”) h If human history was a 200 page book, race begins in the last line of the last page h The notion of ‘white’ has changed over time in the US – The Irish, the Italians, and the Jews, were not considered white at various points of history 7
A definition of White (1921) “A White person has been held to include an Armenian born in Asiatic Turkey, a person of but one-sixteenth Indian blood, and a Syrian, but not to include Afghans, American Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Hawaiians, Hindus, Japanese, Koreans, negroes; nor does white person include a person having one fourth of African blood, a person in whom Malay blood predominates, a person whose father was a German and whose mother was a Japanese, a person whose father was a white Canadian and whose mother was an Indian woman, or a person whose mother was a Chinese and whose father was the son of a Portuguese father and a Chinese mother. ’’ 8
“Blackness was Invented in Virginia” h Growing tobacco was labor-intensive h Native Americans were not reliable h Indentured servants from home country only offered temporary solution h They hit upon the idea of kidnapping Africans h The language changed from “free/slave” to “white/black” h Skin color became a mark of degradation and slavery that cannot be washed off 9
The origins of white supremacy h Bacon’s Rebellion 1676 h Whites and black slaves and indentured workers deposed their governor and rebelled against their masters h Eventually the rebellion was put down h The white people were given new rights that blacks were denied: own property, own guns, participate in juries, in militia h US constitution (1776) declared it is self- evident that all men are equal 10
Racism as an Ideological Framework h Races are given characters – “uncivilized, ” “violent, ” “lazy, ” “smart, ” … h Used to explain wars h Explain discriminatory laws that subjugate people of color h Explain discriminatory practices outside of the law h Explain massive inequalities in privilege, power, and wealth 11
Patterns of Racism h The statistical effects of racism are undeniable h But the courts want to see racist intent h Racism is punished when people are not clever enough to hide it 5 “We only kill black people, right? ” h Day-in-and-day-out denial of opportunities is ignored h Pathologizing black parenting practices – victim blaming? 12
Affirmative action h Need to take race into account when making decisions about employment, education etc. 5 To restore a modicum of equity and fairness 5 Undermines “property interest in whiteness” h Michelle Alexander in The New Jim Crow 5 Black success stories undermine Jim Crow but reinforce the system of mass incarceration 5 Pump the few black success stories to denigrate everyone else h Left: Maintains artificial scarcity and does not address fundamental inequalities. h Right: Uses colorblindness to attack the marginalized 13
State of Oregon 2015 Statistics h Households who own their home 5 Black: 32. 3% vs. White: 65. 2% h Individuals living below poverty line 5 Black: 29. 3% vs. White: 11. 7% h Oregon unemployment rate 5 Black: 16% vs. White: 9% h Children below poverty line 5 Black: 33. 9% vs. White: 16. 3% 14
Education and Criminal Justice h Students who meet reading benchmark: 5 Black: 49% vs. White: 85% h Students who graduate on time 5 Black: 57% vs. White: 71% h Suspension/expulsion rates of students 5 for blacks is 2 times that of white students. h Incarceration rates 5 for blacks is more than 6 times that of whites 15
Health Disparities in Oregon h Low Birth Weight 5 Black babies 45% more likely than white babies. h Infant Mortality 5 Black babies 33% more likely than white babies. h HIV/AIDS 5 Black people 3. 8 times more likely than whites. 16
- Slides: 16