The novel Bifocal, a fictional young adult novel that examines the racist backlash that occurs at a high school after a male Muslim student is arrested on terrorism charges, was published in 2007 and has received wide critical acclaim for its portrayal of issues of racism. Working from an anti-racist framework, this research interviews two teachers who have used the novel in their classrooms, and considers the value and limitations of the book as an anti-racist teaching tool. Through discussions about specific themes in the novel and its overall presentation of racism, I argue that, while Bifocal presents some useful interventions, it also reflects a simplistic and individualistic perspective on racism and how racism can be addressed. I also examine the ways that Bifocal – and young adult literature in general – can be read in order to encourage more critical discussions about systems of racism and privilege.

This thesis provides an integrated overview on the historical and contemporary literature dedicated to the study of within-country income inequality in Latin America. The central hypothesis of this report is that there are underlying factors that drive the persistent levels of high within-country inequality experienced by Latin American countries. We study two countries, Brazil and Bolivia, through the process of reform and growth, and note the effects on the labor markets. Using all available statistics and the wealth of knowledge compiled since the early 1980s, this study identifies those trends, and the factors that cause them to reappear in numerous cases across South America. Focusing on periods of recession and post-stabilization growth in countries with rising or consistently unequal distributions of wealth, this report identifies viable trends in unemployment, linking them to external events and the social climate of Latin America. Employing case-study methodology (see Chapters 6 and 7) this thesis builds a framework with which to study national and regional inequality, then applies it to two cases: Brazil and Bolivia. This thesis’ main findings are that the political and economic reforms and restructurings during the crisis in the 1980s, and the post-1980 era of stabilization and growth, generally perpetuated or worsened the levels of income inequality for countries in Latin America. Further analysis concludes that unsustainable external debt, boom-and-bust cycles, more deeper-seated cultural factors cannot be overlooked. Low government spending on social and educational development is the unfortunate consequence of copious external debt and public interest payments in Latin America; instead of promoting long-term growth, Latin American regimes are instead forced to focus on high interest rates and protecting wildly volatile currencies. Ethnic composition, entrenched class-structure, and cultural norms each play significant roles in income disparity, the extent of which varies by case. The limitations of this research are firstly, that regression analysis is inconclusive; no strong correlation between growth and inequality can be observed, even within the highly unequal region of Latin America.. Further, tax data, which provides the basis for measurements of income inequality, varies from country to country, making cross-country statistical meta-analysis difficult. Lastly, data was not collectible until the early 1980s, and has missing observations, further complicating the task of statistical analysis. Thus, this study bases its findings on empirical evidence, data, and basic economic theory, in explaining the factors and causes of inequality.

The goal of this paper is to explore the origins of modern-day racism and to discuss ways to reduce discrimination in the United States. Research on bilingualism and bilingual education indicates that bilingualism can be one method that helps reduce racism and increase cultural acceptance. For example, bilingual education can help establish multicultural identities in school children by providing better educational opportunities for English learners, teaching a new language and culture to native-English speakers, and integrating diverse cultures in classroom settings. Therefore, bilingual education can be a powerful tool in facilitating cultural awareness and reducing racial tensions in the U.S.

In 2004, a French law went into effect banning girls in state sponsored schools from wearing the hijab, a Muslim head covering. While the law also banned the Jewish kippa and large cross necklaces from being worn in public schools, the hijab took center stage in what became a worldwide media frenzy. The ban of the hijab as well as more recent laws that banned full face veils in all public spaces and a ban on Muslim prayer being performed in the street show a growing divide in the French populace. This thesis argues that these recent laws, as well as the rise in popularity of the far rightwing political party the National Front are evidence that France is moving away from its civic nationalist traditions and adopting a more ethnic based nationalism.

This thesis offers an analysis of how white women experience racial privilege in the international development arena. Based on post-structuralist ideas of identity construction and subjectivity formation, I examine the narratives of six white middle class female development workers in order to gain a deeper understanding of white privilege. Using grounded theory to examine the data, I find that the development arena offers an occasion for white women to fulfill their socially mandated subject position and therefore reproduce hierarchical relations across race. Furthermore, the data indicates that white female development workers resist engaging in critical self-reflection that would compromise the “helping” and “good” narrative of self as a development worker, which portrays the self in heroic terms. The lack of critical self-reflection suggests that the performance of whiteness and denial of white privilege exists within the everyday lived experience of white female development workers. I argue that this performance of white subjectivity is problematic because it maintains inequality in the development arena by sustaining white dominance and non-white subordination. This pattern must be broken in order to re-establish relationships in the development arena that reflect equality and justice.

This study examined the relationship among implicit and explicit measures of prejudice (against African-Americans, homosexuals, and Muslims), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Religious Fundamentalism (RF), and Christian Orthodoxy (CO). The implicit measure of prejudice was Facial EMG, which is the measurement of the activity of key facial muscles when participants were exposed to pictures of members of the minority groups, as well as to pictures of the corresponding group. The explicit measure of prejudice was the Social Distance Scale, which measures how willing people are to have someone in a variety of close relationships. The primary hypothesis was that one’s score on the implicit (and some of the explicit) measures of prejudice can be predicted using RF, CO, and RWA. The analyses revealed that RWA was predictive of prejudice against homosexuals and Muslims, but not against African-Americans.

Does birth order influence our attitudes? The present study examined the effects of birth order on attitudes toward climate change and racism. Three hundred and two par- ticipants from two American universities completed a questionnaire about climate change, family constellation, and racism. The results showed initially no significant correlations but after controlling for gender, age, sibship size, parent’s education, and conflict with parents the results showed that lastborns had significantly higher racial prejudice than only children and firstborns. Moreover, the results showed that gender and age influenced our attitudes. For the former, men were less concerned about cli- mate change and had a higher racial prejudice toward immigration compared to women. For the latter, the older we become, the less conservative attitudes we will hold.

Recently in the psychological field, attitudes are being recognized as existing on the explicit and implicit level (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). Aversive racists have been defined as people low in explicit prejudice but high in implicit prejudice (Son Hing, Li, & Zanna, 2002). The purpose of this study was to determine what distinguishes those who are low in prejudice from aversive racists. Participants were compared on eight different constructs: authenticity, moral judgment development, moral identity, nonprejudice, social dominance, authoritarianism, empathy, and social desirability. No differences were found between low prejudice people and aversive racists. People high in explicit prejudice were found to differ from people low in explicit prejudice on authenticity, moral judgment development, moral identity, nonprejudice, social dominance, and authoritarianism.

This essay examines the uses of the grotesque in Alice Walker’s novel The Third Life of Grange Copeland. Published in 1970 the novel has been subject to various readings by diverse scholars. However, previous research has failed to take into account the displays of the grotesque in the novel. This essay argues that not only does Walker use the grotesque prominently throughout the novel, but also that Walker constructs an intricate critique of U.S. society through her depictions of the grotesque. Resting largely on the theoretical perspective of Mikhail Bakhtin this essay examines the following grotesque images: the female spectacle, the female adolescent, the hysteric, pregnant death, monstrosity, and whiteness. By exposing Walker’s uses of the grotesque, this essay offers an analysis that exposes the relationship between Walker’s grotesque images and her womanist objective. The aim of The Third Life of Grange Copeland is to critique the oppressive regimes of patriarchy and U.S. white supremacist culture and society. It is argued here, then, that the grotesque is strategically used in different manners when addressing womanist and racial issues. Walker uses the grotesque in order to alter confining gender binaries and expose and criticize the destructive aspects of patriarchal and white supremacist ideologies. Through her narrative and the diverse characters of The Third Life, Walker exposes the repercussions of oppressive white supremacist and patriarchal orders.

My research is a qualitative study about the Asian American experience. Studies have shown that Asian Americans obtain high levels of educational attainment and household income, but these figures are misleading. Asian Americans are getting a lower financial return on their education compared to their white counterparts. They suffer higher rates of suicide and depression than all other racial groups. Little quantitative and no qualitative research exists addressing these issues. My research explores Asian American life experiences with a focus on what role systemic racism plays in their lives and how this connects to the health disparities. This analysis utilizes thirty-six in-depth interviews to discuss the types and frequency of racist events. Respondents revealed a plethora of discriminatory incidents and shared various coping strategies that they use to deal with the stress of discrimination and to combat future racism. The analysis concludes that the great efforts that Asian Americans go to in order to protect themselves from white racism are costly. Respondents have to combat feelings of isolation, inadequacy, and inferiority. The analysis also utilizes interview data to discuss the ways in which respondents attempt to conform to the white racial frame in hopes to find relief from discrimination. By conforming, some adopt negative racial stereotypes about themselves and other people of color. Even after going to great lengths to conform, interviewees still struggled with feeling excluded by whites. Eventually, some respondents became hopeless that they would ever be accepted. This work also explores alternative methods some Asian Americans are using to combat systemic racism. Some respondents revealed an alternate mindset to those who have chosen to conform to the white racial frame. This group of respondents challenged white racist ideologies, and some even discussed methods in which they actively resist in hopes to improve the racial situation for all Asian Americans. This work is an attempt to fill the large gaps in research about the unique Asian American experience. There has been no other similar analysis in the past. My data reveal the complexities of the Asian American experience and the need for further research.