This dissertation examines the rhetorical strategy by which groups unite against common enemies as it appears in a series of judicial cases between 1878 and 1952 deciding whether petitioners for naturalization in the United States were "free white persons" as required by the United States naturalization act at the time. Beginning in 1870, the naturalization act limited racial eligibility for naturalization to "free white persons" and "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." Based on the conclusion that Asians were neither "white" nor African, many courts interpreted these provisions to reflect a policy of Asian exclusion. As the distinction between "white" and Asian became increasingly disputed, however, the racial eligibility requirements of the act raised difficult questions about the boundaries of whiteness. I examine the rhetorical strategies adopted in a series of these cases between World War I and the early cold war involving Asian Indian, Armenian, Kalmyk, and Tatar petitioners who were represented as political or religious refugees at risk of becoming stateless if they were denied racial eligibility for naturalization in the United States. I argue that by representing the petitioners in the cases as victims of persecution by the nation's adversaries, the cases reflect a rhetorical strategy of uniting against common enemies which is also prevalent in the legislative, executive, and judicial discourse surrounding the act. I argue that the prevalence of this rhetorical strategy in racial prerequisite discourse suggests that a martial ideal of citizenship often influenced racial classifications under the act and that by recognizing the ways in which this discourse adapted to the rapidly changing enmities of the early twentieth century, a rhetorical interpretation of the cases offers advantages over other interpretive approaches and highlights the value of a rhetoric of law. / text

This qualitative study examined 45 education speeches presented by President Obama and leaders of the U.S. Department of Education from January 2009 through December 2010. These speeches were interpreted with the use of critical discourse analysis and reviewed through the lens of interest convergence theory. The first aim of the researcher was to uncover the underlying ideologies represented in the Obama Administration’s education speeches. The second objective was to understand how those ideologies impacted the Administration’s proposed reform ideas. Specifically, the researcher was interested in how the underpinning ideologies and proposed solutions affected the education of poor students of color. The researcher found four primary ideologies in the education speeches. First, every speech was coupled with an economic agenda. Second, the speakers displayed great concern over America’s ability to remain a global economic leader. Third, there was an emphasis on the role of education in promoting equal opportunity and a belief in the American Dream. Finally, the speakers showed a deficit‐oriented perception of students of color. The researcher discovered that economic ideologies inspired the Obama Administration’s proposed solutions. As such, the author argues that the Obama Administration utilized interest convergence by focusing on the economic self‐interests of white policymakers. This study concludes with the author’s recommendations for change in the education of poor students of color. The author calls for strategic alliances throughout group identities in order to achieve educational equity.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was a significant court case fought to provide equal educational opportunities for African-American students. Though the case was fought with good intentions, there may have been unintended consequences that occurred due to the policy implementation. The purpose of this research was to explore the policy, its implementation, and assess the extent to which the goals of the original policy were met. This study used a mixed-methods approach and was set within one large urban school district. The qualitative portion of the study included interviews with a small group of educators who were directly impacted by Brown and its implementation. The data from both the interviews and the selected focus schools indicated that the initial goals of Brown, equal educational opportunities and integrated schooling, were not met. This research provided information from key areas that may serve as a guide to help make future policy implementation successful.

No description available.

In recent years, there has been a significant amount of new attention to white dominance and privilege (or whiteness) as the often unmarked inverse of racial oppression. This interest has spawned the academic domain called Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS). While the critical investigation of whiteness is not new, and has been pioneered by Black scholars beginning at least since the early 1900s in the work of W. E. B. Du Bois, what is notable about this new interest in whiteness is its advancement almost exclusively by white scholars. The paucity of literature centering the Black voice in the study of whiteness both suggests the lack of appreciation for the importance of this perspective when researching the phenomenon of racial dominance, and raises questions about the manner in which racial equity work is approached by some Whites who do work that is intended to advance racial equity. This study investigates the context of racial equity collaborations between Blacks and Whites, responding to this knowledge deficit in two ways: a) it centers the Black voice, specifically and intentionally seeking the perspectives of Blacks about racial equity collaborations b) it investigates the nature and effects of the relationships between Blacks and Whites in these collaborative endeavours. This qualitative research study uses in-depth interview data collected from ten Black racial equity workers who collaborate with Whites in doing racial equity work. The data makes evident that the Black participants find these collaborations to be necessary and strategic while at the same time having the potential to undermine their own agency. The study examines this contradiction, discussing several manifestations of it in the lives of these Black racial equity workers. It outlines the importance of Black embodied knowledge to racial equity work and to these collaborations, and outlines an epistemology of unknowing and a politics of humility that these Blacks seek in their white colleagues. The study also outlines the collective and individual strategies used by these Black racial equity workers to navigate and resist the contradictory terrain of their collaborations with Whites in racial equity work.

A implementação de políticas de Ações Afirmativas no ensino superior do Brasil comemorou seu aniversário de 10 anos em 2013. O presente antecipado da comemoração foi a decisão de Abril de 2012 do Supremo Tribunal Federal que declarou em a constitucionalidade daquelas Políticas mesmo em face das críticas. As teses dos requerentes e requeridos no processo majoritariamente apoiaram-se na experiência Norte Americana de Justiça Racial. Reconhecendo que naquele país as políticas raciais de ações afirmativas foram desconstruídas e a desigualdade racial permaneceu, segundo alguns igual ou pior a que existia nos anos de legislação Jim Crown, entende-se de significativa importância observar e analisar a implementação das leis e normas de promoção de igualdade racial e combate ao racismo no Brasil a partir das lentes que buscaram explicar a desconstrução do uso de raça como categoria jurídica nos EUA. Quais elementos jurídicos viabilizaram a ocorrência do que chamam de ressegregação da sociedade americana? Quais elementos desse processo de ressegregação se fazem presentes no nosso processo de implementação de políticas de inclusão? As declarações dos Judiciário, Executivo e Legislativo reconhecendo a legalidade e fazendo uso da categoria raça, espelham uma conjuntura doméstica e Internacional a qual não permanecerá ad eternum. Tal conjuntura constitui se num momento em que é possível a intervenção em instituições, buscando a redução das desigualdades raciais e do racismo. Contudo, conforme mencionado, tal conjuntura não se manterá e surge a pergunta sobre a maneira pela qual se pode garantir que ao fim desse momentum tais conquistas permanecerão? Utilizando o princípio de convergência de interesses, cunhado por Derick Bell, analisamos as decisões do Tribunal de São Paulo e do STF que aplicam leis de combate ao racismo e de promoção de igualdade racial. O objetivo foi identificar a presença de leis e julgamentos álibis os quais são uteis para o Estado no cenário Internacional de Direitos Humanos, contudo, sem possibilidades de execução que possibilite mudanças estruturais sem possibilidade de retrocesso, como ocorreu nos Estados Unidos. Acreditamos que analisar o judiciário com tal ferramenta nos permitirá a visualização lúcida deste momentum e uma intervenção mais consciente por parte do Movimento Social Negro para a conquista da Justiça Racial. / The implementation of affirmative action policies in higher education in Brazil celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2013. The early gift of this celebration´s was the April´s decision of the Supreme Court declaring the constitutionality of those policies even in face of criticism. Claimants and defendants´ rationale in the case relied mostly on the experience of North American´s history of Racial Justice. Recognizing that race based affirmative action policies were deconstructed by the American Supreme Court and racial inequality remained the same or even worse to that existed in the Jim Crown´s years, we believe of significant importance to observe and analyze the implementation of laws and regulations to promote racial equality in Brazil using lenses that sought to explain the deconstruction of the use of race as a legal category in the U.S. What legal elements made possible the occurrence of what they call ressegregation of American society? What elements of this ressegregation´s process are present in our implementation of inclusion policies? The statements of the judiciary, executive and legislative recognizing the legality of making use of race as a category reflects a domestic and international momentum which will not remain ad eternum . Such a situation is in a time when intervention seeking to reduce racial inequality and racism in institutions is possible. However, as mentioned, this situation cannot be maintained for too long like we learned with the American experience and the question about the way in which we can ensure that this momentum won´t be over before achievements of the black movement goals? Using the principle of Interest convergence, coined by Derick Bell, we analyze the decisions of the Court of São Paulo and the Brazil´s Supreme Court application of laws to combat racism and promote racial equality. The objective was to identify the presence of laws and judgments \" alibis \" which are useful to the State in the International scenario of Human Rights , however, without the possibility of implementing structural changes that would provide no possibility of backsliding, as occurred in the United States . We believe that analyzing the judiciary with such a tool will allow us to lucid viewing this momentum and a more conscious intervention by the Social Movement for the conquest of the Black Racial Justice.

A implementação de políticas de Ações Afirmativas no ensino superior do Brasil comemorou seu aniversário de 10 anos em 2013. O presente antecipado da comemoração foi a decisão de Abril de 2012 do Supremo Tribunal Federal que declarou em a constitucionalidade daquelas Políticas mesmo em face das críticas. As teses dos requerentes e requeridos no processo majoritariamente apoiaram-se na experiência Norte Americana de Justiça Racial. Reconhecendo que naquele país as políticas raciais de ações afirmativas foram desconstruídas e a desigualdade racial permaneceu, segundo alguns igual ou pior a que existia nos anos de legislação Jim Crown, entende-se de significativa importância observar e analisar a implementação das leis e normas de promoção de igualdade racial e combate ao racismo no Brasil a partir das lentes que buscaram explicar a desconstrução do uso de raça como categoria jurídica nos EUA. Quais elementos jurídicos viabilizaram a ocorrência do que chamam de ressegregação da sociedade americana? Quais elementos desse processo de ressegregação se fazem presentes no nosso processo de implementação de políticas de inclusão? As declarações dos Judiciário, Executivo e Legislativo reconhecendo a legalidade e fazendo uso da categoria raça, espelham uma conjuntura doméstica e Internacional a qual não permanecerá ad eternum. Tal conjuntura constitui se num momento em que é possível a intervenção em instituições, buscando a redução das desigualdades raciais e do racismo. Contudo, conforme mencionado, tal conjuntura não se manterá e surge a pergunta sobre a maneira pela qual se pode garantir que ao fim desse momentum tais conquistas permanecerão? Utilizando o princípio de convergência de interesses, cunhado por Derick Bell, analisamos as decisões do Tribunal de São Paulo e do STF que aplicam leis de combate ao racismo e de promoção de igualdade racial. O objetivo foi identificar a presença de leis e julgamentos álibis os quais são uteis para o Estado no cenário Internacional de Direitos Humanos, contudo, sem possibilidades de execução que possibilite mudanças estruturais sem possibilidade de retrocesso, como ocorreu nos Estados Unidos. Acreditamos que analisar o judiciário com tal ferramenta nos permitirá a visualização lúcida deste momentum e uma intervenção mais consciente por parte do Movimento Social Negro para a conquista da Justiça Racial. / The implementation of affirmative action policies in higher education in Brazil celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2013. The early gift of this celebration´s was the April´s decision of the Supreme Court declaring the constitutionality of those policies even in face of criticism. Claimants and defendants´ rationale in the case relied mostly on the experience of North American´s history of Racial Justice. Recognizing that race based affirmative action policies were deconstructed by the American Supreme Court and racial inequality remained the same or even worse to that existed in the Jim Crown´s years, we believe of significant importance to observe and analyze the implementation of laws and regulations to promote racial equality in Brazil using lenses that sought to explain the deconstruction of the use of race as a legal category in the U.S. What legal elements made possible the occurrence of what they call ressegregation of American society? What elements of this ressegregation´s process are present in our implementation of inclusion policies? The statements of the judiciary, executive and legislative recognizing the legality of making use of race as a category reflects a domestic and international momentum which will not remain ad eternum . Such a situation is in a time when intervention seeking to reduce racial inequality and racism in institutions is possible. However, as mentioned, this situation cannot be maintained for too long like we learned with the American experience and the question about the way in which we can ensure that this momentum won´t be over before achievements of the black movement goals? Using the principle of Interest convergence, coined by Derick Bell, we analyze the decisions of the Court of São Paulo and the Brazil´s Supreme Court application of laws to combat racism and promote racial equality. The objective was to identify the presence of laws and judgments \" alibis \" which are useful to the State in the International scenario of Human Rights , however, without the possibility of implementing structural changes that would provide no possibility of backsliding, as occurred in the United States . We believe that analyzing the judiciary with such a tool will allow us to lucid viewing this momentum and a more conscious intervention by the Social Movement for the conquest of the Black Racial Justice.

In recent years, there has been a significant amount of new attention to white dominance and privilege (or whiteness) as the often unmarked inverse of racial oppression. This interest has spawned the academic domain called Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS). While the critical investigation of whiteness is not new, and has been pioneered by Black scholars beginning at least since the early 1900s in the work of W. E. B. Du Bois, what is notable about this new interest in whiteness is its advancement almost exclusively by white scholars. The paucity of literature centering the Black voice in the study of whiteness both suggests the lack of appreciation for the importance of this perspective when researching the phenomenon of racial dominance, and raises questions about the manner in which racial equity work is approached by some Whites who do work that is intended to advance racial equity. This study investigates the context of racial equity collaborations between Blacks and Whites, responding to this knowledge deficit in two ways: a) it centers the Black voice, specifically and intentionally seeking the perspectives of Blacks about racial equity collaborations b) it investigates the nature and effects of the relationships between Blacks and Whites in these collaborative endeavours. This qualitative research study uses in-depth interview data collected from ten Black racial equity workers who collaborate with Whites in doing racial equity work. The data makes evident that the Black participants find these collaborations to be necessary and strategic while at the same time having the potential to undermine their own agency. The study examines this contradiction, discussing several manifestations of it in the lives of these Black racial equity workers. It outlines the importance of Black embodied knowledge to racial equity work and to these collaborations, and outlines an epistemology of unknowing and a politics of humility that these Blacks seek in their white colleagues. The study also outlines the collective and individual strategies used by these Black racial equity workers to navigate and resist the contradictory terrain of their collaborations with Whites in racial equity work.

No description available.

No description available.