Active Outline

General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
SOCD029.
Course Title (CB02)
Sociology of Structural Racism in the United States
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
Sociological investigation into the socio-historical development of race and ethnicity as analytical categories and organizing principles in the U.S. Emphasis on the impact of racialized public policies and structural practices on past and contemporary structures in U.S. society. Analysis of socio-legal effects of the Civil Rights Movement, public policy and its impact on diverse racial and ethnic populations in the U.S. Demographic implications of race and ethnic relations on major social institutions in the United States. Historical and sociological assessment of majority–minority relations with emphasis on the experiences of African-Americans, Hispanic/Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans and the indigenous Native American tribes, and mixed-race populations. Exploration of intersectional relationships between categories of labor, race, ethnicity, and gender.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course is a major preparation requirement in the discipline of Sociology for at least one CSU or UC. This course is CSU and UC transferable and fulfills general education and breadth requirements for °®¶ą´«Ă˝, CSUGE AND IGETC. This course is also part of the Associate In Arts In Sociology for Transfer (A.A.-T.) degree. This course provides students in sociology with an understanding of classical sociological theories in minority-majority relations, race, ethnicity and migration.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶ą´«Ă˝ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GDX°®¶ą´«Ă˝ GE Area D - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGDYCSU GE Area D - Social SciencesApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG4XIGETC Area 4 - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
C-IDArea(s)StatusDetails
SOCISociologyApprovedC-ID SOCI 150

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Homework and extended projects

Quiz and examination review performed in class

In-class essays

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

Discussion of assigned reading

Lecture and visual aids

Guest speakers

Field observation and field trips

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Collaborative projects

Assignments

  1. Required readings and preparation for in-class discussion
  2. Essay question responses based on course readings
  3. Critical thinking/analytical essays
  4. Individual and/or group projects requiring students to investigate through sociological theory or methodology a course topic of their choice.
  5. In-class quizzes/exams

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Ability to synthesize, evaluate, and integrate course readings in class discussions.
  2. Essays requiring students to employ critical thinking skills such as analysis of current or historical racial and ethnic patterns, the evaluation or application of sociological theory, the critique of concepts and point of view, and the synthesis of various sources and ideas.
  3. In class essay examinations requiring students to apply, critique, synthesize and critically evaluate course concepts, theories and ideas.
  4. Group or individual presentations or projects that require students to demonstrate familiarity with the contemporary experiences of one or more major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S., and/or to assess the implication of current demographics or policies on the future of specific racial and ethnic groups.
  5. Multiple choice, short answer and matching questions on quizzes and examinations that require students to compare and contrast experiences of major racial and ethnic groups, identify specific historical information having to do with race and ethnic relations in the United States, and apply various theories and concepts to historical or contemporary instances of race and ethnic relations in the U.S.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Andersen, Margaret L. and Patricia Hill Collins. Race, Class & Gender: An Anthology. 8th ed. Cengage Learning, 2016.
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism Without Racists, 4th ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2014.
Feagin, Joe R. and Clairece B. Racial and Ethnic Relations, 9th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 2012.
Ferrante, Joan and Pierce Browne Jr. The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in The United States, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 2000.
Gallagher, Charles A. (Eds). Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity. 5 ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2011.

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Almageur, Thomas. Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994.
Andersen, Margaret L. and Elizabeth Higginbotham (Eds). Race and Ethnicity in Society: The Changing Landscape. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
Bonilla-Silva . White Supremacy and Racism In the Post Civil-Rights Era. Boulder, Co. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc, 2001.
Bonilla-Silva . White Supremacy and Racism In the Post Civil-Rights Era. Boulder, Co. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc, 2001.
Hayes-Bautista, David E. La Nueva California: Latinos in the Golden State. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2004.
Lowe, Lisa. Immigrant Acts. On Asian American Cultural Politics. Duke University Books, 1996.
Massey Douglas S. and Nancy A Denton. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States: From The 1960s to the 1990s, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 1994.
Perea, Juan F. (Eds). Immigrants Out! The New Nativism and the Anti Immigrant Impulse in the United States, New York: New York University Press, 1997
Rothenberg, Paula S. (Eds). White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism. New York: Worth Publishers, 2008.
Stephen Steinberg (Eds). Race and Ethnicity in the United States. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, Inc, 2000
Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York, NY: Back Bay Books Little, Brown and Company, 2008.
Williams, Patrick and Laura Chrisman (Eds). Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory. New York: Colombia University Press, 1994.
Yetman, Norman R. (Ed). Majority and Minority: the Dynamics of Race and Ethnicity in American Life. Norman R. Yetman (Eds), Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Explain the ideological and historical origins of racism in the U.S.A.
  • Apply sociological theories toward the analysis of contemporary and historical inter-group relations.
  • Assess the impact of racialized policies, institutionalized practices, and racial ideology on racial and ethnic groups in the United States.
  • Compare and contrast the experiences of racial and ethnic populations with an emphasis on European Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic/Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans and indigenous peoples.
  • Analyze internal and international migration processes and the specific experiences of migrant populations using sociological theory.
  • Explain the intersectional relationships between the social structures of race, social class, ethnicity, labor, sexual orientation and gender.
  • Interpret the relationship between ideological and structural racism
  • Evaluate the implications of current demographic trends with regard to racial and ethnic groups for future societal relations.
  • Discuss significant historical and contemporary social movements for racialjustice.

CSLOs

  • Explain processes of social construction with regard to race and ethnicity.

  • Apply sociological theory to an analysis of majority-minority relations and/or migration.

  • Describe the impact of racialized public policy on contemporary structure of U.S. society.

Outline

  1. Explain the ideological and historical origins of racism in the U.S.A.
    1. Discussion of the historical development of European colonization and English contact with indigenous peoples in the Americas.
      1. The economic context of mercantilism and incipient capitalism

        in England in early contact.
      2. The role of the development of seafaring technology on European exploration and conquest
      3. The European slave trade
    2. Examine the ideological underpinnings of colonialism and the social construction of racism in the United States.
      1. The role of the Enlightenment in justifying European colonization.
      2. The creation of scientific racism through the rise of positivism and the pseudo-sciences in the classification of human difference.
      3. The formation of “racial templates” of “savagery” and “slave” established through European colonization and participation in Trans-Atlantic Slave trade.
  2. Apply sociological theories toward the analysis of contemporary and historical inter-group relations.
    1. Robert E. Park's Assimilation Theories.
      1. Anglo conformity model of assimilation.
      2. Melting pot model of assimilation.
      3. Pluralist model of assimilation
    2. Conflict theories of race.
      1. Marxist theory, or class-based theory of racial conflict.
      2. Race conflict theory.
      3. Robert Blauner's internal colonial model of racial conflict.
    3. Theory of racial formation (Omi and Winant)
    4. Theory of Colorblind or “Post Racial” racism (Bonilla-Silva)
  3. Assess the impact of racialized policies, institutionalized practices, and racial ideology on racial and ethnic groups in the United States.
    1. Federal Indian Policy
      1. Indian Removal
      2. The Reservation system
      3. Boarding schools and forced assimilation.
      4. War crimes against and genocide of Native tribes
    2. Slavery and Jim Crow statutes.
      1. Hypodescent or "one drop" rule
      2. Fugitive slave act
      3. 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson
      4. Anti-miscegenation statutes
      5. Segregation
      6. Voting restrictions
    3. Nativist policies, past and present
      1. 1790 Naturalization Act
      2. 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
      3. 1924 National Origins System.
      4. 1908 Japanese Gentleman's agreement
      5. 1917 Asiatic Barred Zone
      6. Foreign Miner’s Tax in California
      7. Operation Wet Back
      8. 1984 Immigration Reform and Control Act
      9. Operations Gatekeeper and Hold the Line
      10. 1994 California's Propositions 187
      11. Arizona’s SB 1070
    4. World War II era policies
      1. Executive order 9066 (Japanese Internment)
      2. The bracero program
      3. Housing discrimination
    5. Civil Rights Era Policies
      1. 1954 Brown v. Board
      2. 1964 Civil Rights Act
      3. 1965 Voting Rights Act
      4. Executive order 10925 establishes affirmative action
    6. The creation of "whiteness" and the ideology of white supremacy and its impact on early Americans.
      1. The colonial "othering" of Native peoples as savages.
      2. Policies of extermination, containment (reservation system) and assimilation (boarding school systems)
      3. Focus on the development of "white" and "black" as legal categories under colonial legislatures
      4. 1790 Naturalization Act and the racialization of American citizenship and identity.
      5. Development of the hierarchy of “Euro races” and discrimination against Irish and immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.
      6. The legal construction of race and whiteness under Federal law
  4. Compare and contrast the experiences of racial and ethnic populations with an emphasis on European Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic/Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans and indigenous peoples.
    1. The use of a racial template established through European relations to Native Americans and Africans to categorize subsequent racial and ethnic groups.
    2. Similarities and differences between the treatment of early 20th century

      immigrant and contemporary immigrant populations.
    3. Contemporary differences in wealth and income based on historical treatment of different groups.
    4. Disparities with regard to life chances for dominant and non-dominant groups.
    5. Institutional disparities between dominant and non-dominant groups
  5. Analyze internal and international migration processes and the specific experiences of migrant populations using sociological theory.
    1. Neo-classical or "push-pull" models of migration
    2. Network model of migration
    3. World Systems Theory of international migration
    4. Global Migration Theory (Saskia Sassen)
  6. Explain the intersectional relationships between the social structures of race, social class, ethnicity, labor, sexual orientation and gender.
    1. Sociological concepts in labor and work
      1. occupational segregation by race and gender
      2. “productive” vs. “reproductive” labor or public/private sphere labor.
      3. split labor market theory
      4. gender and racial wage/wealth gaps
    2. Labor and racialization
      1. Unfree vs. free labor
      2. Rail roads
      3. Dual wage systems
      4. The bracero program
      5. Racially exclusive labor unions
    3. Gender, race and labor
      1. Sojourner Truth—Female slave labor
      2. women of color workers vs. white women’s “cult of domesticity”
      3. The gendering of Chinese labor (Chinese Launderies)
      4. Irish and Mexican domestic servants
  7. Interpret the relationship between ideological and structural racism
    1. The role of specific racial discourses in creating and maintaining unjust social arrangements
      1. “savagery” v. “civilization”
      2. the "happy slave" discourse ("sambos" and "mammies")
      3. nativism and the “wrong kind of immigrants”
      4. “deserving” and “underserving” poor.
      5. from orientalism to the “model minority”
      6. manifest destiny
      7. patriotism v. terrorism
    2. The difference between prejudice, inter-personal and institutional discrimination
  8. Evaluate the implications of current demographic trends with regard to racial and ethnic groups for future societal relations.
    1. Majority-minority implications of 2000 Census figures
    2. Current patterns of immigration to the United States
    3. Intergenerational mobility
    4. High school and college completion rates for Blacks and Latinos
    5. Rates of incarceration for racialized populations.
    6. Age structure of the populations of major racial groups
  9. Discuss significant historical and contemporary social movements for racial

    justice.
    1. Different kinds of social movements
      1. Radical/militant/anti colonial and revolutionary movements
      2. reform movements
      3. separatist movements
    2. Abolitionism
    3. Civil Rights Movement
    4. Nationalist Movements
    5. Immigrant solidarity movements
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