Rachel’s Tavern- Shakesville Comment on Whiteness and Racial Awareness
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- Bottles, Breasts, and Mothering “Choices”
- NAACP Class Action Lawsuit on Subprime Loans
- We Have a Future Blogger
- I’m Afraid President Obama, Himself, is a Bit of Coward on the Race Issue
- Highly Skilled US Immigrants are Emigrating: What’s the deal?
- Troll Comments Galore
- Mark’s Spinach Face
Feb
12
The Im About To Catch On Fire List of Racial Trends for 2007
Filed Under Black/African American Issues, Race and Racism, Uncategorized by Rachel
(Second time typing this post; digital goblins must have eaten it the first one.)
Last month I posted a list of what I thought were the hot and not so hot racial trends for 2006.? At that time, I promised to post a list of what trends I think will be popular in 2007.? Here is my list.
1. Asia/Asians are Hip and Cool–Africa was hip in 2006, and I think Asians will be hip in 2007.? I expect to see more attention given to Asian Americans and Asians on TV and in the movies.? 2007 will be like the so called Latin invasion of the late 1990s.? Get ready to hear about the “Asian Invasion.”? Whether or not there really will be any substantive gains (or a lessening of stereotypes)? for Asian Americans in politics, media, or other prominent positions is a different question, but I think media is going to frame it that way.
2. End of Voluntary Desegregation Plans–I’m not really going out on a limb here.? The Supreme Court is reviewing voluntary desegregation plans in Seattle and Louisville, and I expect to see them to rule these plans unconstitutional, which really shouldn’t surprise anybody given the conservative bent of the current Supreme Court.? This will continue the trend of resegregation, moving schools back to the segregation levels of the 1960s.
3. Biological Notions of Race– Not that this isn’t already popular, but I think the “health disparities” research and the current obsession with DNA testing are going to combine to make biological notions of race very popular. Even though mainstream biologists and most health disparities researchers don’t necessarily believe in biological notions of race, their research will be spun this way by media outlets and advocacy groups.
4. Latinos Becoming White– I guess I am going out on a limb here especially since I said in my last post that the anti-immigrant backlash will continue until the presidential election in 2008.? What I think is going to happen is that we will see two competing frames one that discusses how “illegal immigrants are ruining the US” and another that discusses how “todays immigrants are just like the immigrants of the past.”? I know some people will be critical of me on this one, so I should make it clear that? I don’t really expect Latinos to become white in a year, but I think this will be the beginning of a trend where those Latinos who are lighter will be seen as whiter.? There may be a backlash against this from radical and progressive Latinos who see themselves being aligned more with Black, Asians, and American Indians, but this is a big issue to watch out for.
5. Non-African American Blacks are Popular–? Maybe it can be called the Barack Obama phenomenon.? This will be the year that Americans discover that black people are diverse.? I know it should be more obvious, but it’s not.? I expect Black immigrants in the US to get tons of attention, and I expect to see them? set up as “model minorities” compared to their American born black counterparts.? Nowhere in this discussion will people discuss how immigration policy helps select the most educated and wealthy people (regardless of race).? This will be part of a divide and conquer strategy that challenges traditional Civil Rights models of African American organizing, and I have a feeling that civil rights leaders really won’t know how to respond.
6. Anti-Racism/Pro-Racial Equality Blogs Blow Up– Call me optimistic, but I have been noticing an increasing number of blogs that focus mostly on race related issues. I think 2007 is the year of the anti-racist/pro-equality blog.? These blogs are reaching a critical mass, but whether or not this will translate into on-line activism is unclear.
What do you think?? What trends did I leave out?? Where do you think I”m right/wrong?
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31 Responses to “The Im About To Catch On Fire List of Racial Trends for 2007”
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I predict that blackface parties that “make fun of blackface parties” will be this spring’s college fad, and Spring Break will be the ultimate blackface party.
Hmm, #5. Let us see what happens during the Dem. primary season. I predict several CNNMSNBC20/20 news stories on “African Americans who are literally African Americans!!!!!!!!!!” as tag along pieces on the huge Obama story (which should remain huge through 08, since he will end up as Edwards’ running mate). I do not see it becoming the trend, like some African immigrant character becoming a semi-regular on “Two and a Half Men(s).”
While I concur with the prediction that many of the reports will attempt to turn the group into a model minority, it wont be long before links will be made to the Nigerian organized crime on the West Coast and there will be a lot of I told you sos and head shaking and old white dudes pointing at the tv and going “See!”
#1 — Late pass! Step! This one is soooo 2003. What you may be seeing is a trend that will reach critical mass after the Oscars (Letters from Iwo Jima, Rinko Kikuchi); the explosion of Japan’s “gross national cool” overflowing. I’m wondering just how much BABEL (aka The tower of crap) increased the employment applications in English teaching schools in Japan.
I agree with everything you said, but for #2 should be “End of Voluntary Desegregation Plans and End (decrease) of Affirmative Action.
4.) Latinos Becoming White
I see this occurring in the near future, however 2007 seems too early for this trend to take rise.
(Also with Latinos becoming “white”, black progressive groups will finally stop aligning themselves with people of color and focus solely on the needs/ rights of Black Americans.)
6.) Anti-Racism/Pro-Racial Equality Blogs Blow Up
In addition, Racist/ Anti-Racial Equality Blogs will blow up.
Looks like a good trend list to me . . . makes a lot of sense. However, I would note too, that Latinos are also diverse: go fig.
Great list, Rachel. I definitely agree with you about the revival of biological notions of race. And I can also see how black immigrants could become a new model minority – we’ve already seen quite a few articles gushing about their academic and economic achievements.
I think 1, 4, 5 and 6 are all good prognostications. When I was watching the Grammys last night it occurred to me I couldn’t name a single Asian pop star, going back when pop music started (and “Pink Lady and Jeff” don’t count, and Don Ho barely does). Zippo Asian rock stars. What I did see, and what I think will continue as a trend, was a lot of interracial bands, and a lot of mixed-race folk, and I think mixed-race celebs will continue to be “hip and cool” as well.
On the issue of other groups of blacks being “model minorities”, even in this article you posted, that was sort of the underlying theme.
Already this year, Social Scientists in Minnesota have noted that Somalis get of welfare before African-Americans.
Besides, “non-African American” blacks, I would probably add biracial (black/white) people to this “model minority” mix. I think that that is part of the fixation upon Barack too.
1. Asia/Asians are Hip and CoolAfrica was hip in 2006, and I think Asians will be hip in 2007: I doubt this. I dont think that Asians have the political capital to capitalize. I think that Hispanics will make the greatest gain in popularity and become “hip”
2. End of Voluntary Desegregation Plans: True in the short term. I predict that in the next few years, segregated urban charter schools will make enormous gains in performance. This will cause a reversal of white flight in to certain areas. There are several isolated examples of this already in Boston and parts of Los Angeles. I am optimistic on the long term about desegregation of schools.
3. Biological Notions of Race: True. The big debate won’t be over whether there are biological differences, instead it will be over how to classify these differences. Broad race categories will start to be broken down into small groupings. The word race will be replaced with “population”. Scientists will do everything they can do to down play their findings.
4. Latinos Becoming White: Because of the diversity of Hispanics, I predict their will be a split. Hispanics with European ancestry will be assimilated, while Hispanics with Indian ancestry will get a raw deal. I think it will mirror the “light skin – dark skin” issue within the black community.
5. Non-African American Blacks are Popular: 100% right
6. Anti-Racism/Pro-Racial Equality Blogs Blow Up: I think blogs addressing race/ethnicity will increase in number, but will have much more diverse opinions. I also think that Hispanic and Asian oriented blogs will make the greatest gains.
Thanks for the great comments everyone…
Gandolph said, “…the Nigerian organized crime on the West Coast and there will be a lot of I told you sos and head shaking and old white dudes pointing at the tv and going See!”
Yep, already happening. Did you see the CNN special on identity theft featuring numerous Nigerian Americans?
Gandolf said, “#1 Late pass! Step! This one is soooo 2003.”
LOL!! I guess I should elaborate a little because I think this year is going to be less about Asia, and more about Asian Americans, who have been largely invisible in American mass media. But I agree with you that this is going to be a peak year for “Asianness” broadly defined, and that the cool hip Asia thing has been around for a while. I just don’t think it has been extended to Asian Americans..
Debbie said, “agree with everything you said, but for #2 should be End of Voluntary Desegregation Plans and End (decrease) of Affirmative Action.”
Yeah good point. It will be interesting to see if more states vote on anti-affiramtive action ballot iniatives.
Debbie, “I see this occurring in the near future, however 2007 seems too early for this trend to take rise. (Also with Latinos becoming white, black progressive groups will finally stop aligning themselves with people of color and focus solely on the needs/ rights of Black Americans.)”
Maybe so. There may be a big divide between various Latino ethnic groups with groups like Puerto Ricans alinging themselves with African Americans, and Mexican Americans aligning themselves with whites. One piece of evidence, very antecdotal, but still evidence. Check out the X Latinos in the Senate:
http://martinez.senate.gov/public/
http://menendez.senate.gov/
http://salazar.senate.gov/
I think all of them can easily pass for whites, and there is a little part of me that finds it very interesting that there are more Latinos in the Senate than African Americans. There are also more Asians than African Americans.
I know that was a little detour, but I find it interesting.
Debbie said, “In addition, Racist/ Anti-Racial Equality Blogs will blow up.”
Yeah, unfortunately, they will increase, but I also think they beat us to the punch in the blog game. White supremacists have been cyber organizing for years. The top white supremacy blogs/message boards get way more hits that the anti-racist blogs. But I agree that this trend will continue.
Elayne said, “What I did see, and what I think will continue as a trend, was a lot of interracial bands, and a lot of mixed-race folk, and I think mixed-race celebs will continue to be hip and cool as well.”
Yeah, that’s a good point–about the multiracial people and bands. I wonder if music will follow different trends than TV/movies.
Tariq said, “On the issue of other groups of blacks being model minorities, even in this article you posted, that was sort of the underlying theme.”
Yeah it could be taken that way. I should make it clear that I do not agree with that aspect of the article, but it is still there. I do think that we should pay more attention to the diversity of black ethnicities (April makes the same point for Latinos) in part because it really helps to undermine racial essentialism, but it should not be used in a way that disparages native born African Americans.
Tariq said, “Already this year, Social Scientists in Minnesota have noted that Somalis get of welfare before African-Americans.”
I guess that goes along with Gandolf’s earlier points.
Rory said, “2. End of Voluntary Desegregation Plans: True in the short term. I predict that in the next few years, segregated urban charter schools will make enormous gains in performance. This will cause a reversal of white flight in to certain areas. There are several isolated examples of this already in Boston and parts of Los Angeles. I am optimistic on the long term about desegregation of schools.”
I almost added a sentence about the reversal of white flight–moving back into the cities. I do think this will be a long term trend. As cities become more crowded, and we rely more on public transportation. I think the suburbs, especially inner ring suburbs are going to become poor and disproportionately people of color.
Rory said, “The big debate wont be over whether there are biological differences, instead it will be over how to classify these differences. Broad race categories will start to be broken down into small groupings. The word race will be replaced with population.”
Yeah I agree with you on this one. I suspect “population” will become a colorblind way to talk about race.
Rory said, “Because of the diversity of Hispanics, I predict their will be a split. Hispanics with European ancestry will be assimilated, while Hispanics with Indian ancestry will get a raw deal. I think it will mirror the light skin – dark skin issue within the black community.”
Yep, I agree with this. I’m not so sure it will hold for the long term, but April mentioned this above, and I do agree.
Rory said, “6. Anti-Racism/Pro-Racial Equality Blogs Blow Up: I think blogs addressing race/ethnicity will increase in number, but will have much more diverse opinions. I also think that Hispanic and Asian oriented blogs will make the greatest gains.”
I think there are quite a few Asian race related blogs right now. I don’t know if it will grow or not, but I do think that there is going to be a long term trend (GOING WAY OUT ON LIMB HERE–drum roll)……of Blacks and Asians coming together on race related issues. This will be especially pronounced among second and third generation Asian Americans, who are more keenly aware of the nuances of racism. Perhaps this will give hope for the Pan-people of color alliance some are predicting. If you go through my blog roll, you can find several Asian American run/themed blogs that are anti-racist and definitely pro-black (or atleast not anti-black). Examples include Poplicks, Zuky, Racialicious, Angry Asian man, Reappropriate, Jeff Chang, C.N. Le. I have also noted several Asian American commenters–Donna Darko (I’m pretty sure is Asian) who are consistently anti-racist and very sympathetic to African American issues. Maybe there is someone else I’m forgetting, but I’m hopefully about this trend.
Rachel said :
. End of Voluntary Desegregation PlansIm not really going out on a limb here. The Supreme Court is reviewing voluntary desegregation plans in Seattle and Louisville, and I expect to see them to rule these plans unconstitutional, which really shouldnt surprise anybody given the conservative bent of the current Supreme Court. This will continue the trend of resegregation, moving schools back to the segregation levels of the 1960s
Rachel , how would you apply constitutional law to this case ? I suggest one rule on this matter without regard to politics , although I understand it often clouds judgment . But going strictly as a matter of law absent your own bias , apply the law . Also , how do you think the court will vote on the matter . Will it be close ?
yeah, I was going to elaborate re: Asians vs Asian-Americans. This will be something very difficult for the general populace to suss out, however. White America (and Black America) assumes the Asian American story is always that of a 1st gen immigrant story (Where are you from? No, WHERE were you BORN?).
Rachel, I am a bit scared that you agreed with me so much. I will work on that.
I will start by saying that I think you missed the boat with your prediction about a Asians and African Americans working together. My brother is Half Vietnamese and he never thinks about his race except when he checks the race block on a form. (Note: He usually chooses pacific islander since he was born in New Zealand). I also note that Affirmative Action policies tend to negatively affect Asians (witness the law suit against Princeton). Stereotyping of Asians I suspect is more likely to positively affect Asians than it is to discriminate against them. i.e. hire the Asian they work hard; give the apartment to the Asian, because they won’t cause any trouble.
There has been animosity between Asian-American and African American communities in Los Angeles for years (stemming back to the LA riots at least), so I am not sure that Asian-Americans and African-Americans will have enough issues in common to create the partnership that you imagine.
I think that Hispanic and African-Americans are going to be much more likely to work together on issues (school reform being one). The danger is that there might be some who seek to divide and conquer the two communities, so to speak.
Good point on Asian-American blogs. Question: Are there very many Hispanic oriented blogs? Most of my blog surfing centers on education issues so it’s very likely I am missing them.
Last Point: My prediction is that immigrants of all races will become more of an more of an issue. I predict more talk about limiting immigration to certain groups that are perceived to bring more to the table that others (Indians, Asians, Eastern Europeans), and of strengthening requirements for education levels of immigrants. This will be used by anti-illegal immigrant activists especially to counter their racism. It will allow them to state that its not “race” that is an issue, but just quality of people that they worry about.
[...] The Im About To Catch On Fire List of Racial Trends for 2007 – Rachels Tavern “Last month I posted a list of what I thought were the hot and not so hot racial trends for 2006. At that time, I promised to post a list of what trends I think will be popular in 2007. Here is my list.” (tags: race racism) [...]
#1 is never going to happen because we’re too busy kissing up to the white majority rather than be proud of ourselves. Additionally, Asian Americans tend to be very socially apathetic when it comes to fighting for social issues and don’t understand the value of being portrayed correctly by mass media.
#1 won’t even happen if Asian Americans were 90% of the American population.
Regarding #1, “Asia/Asians” should be replaced with “Homosexuals.”
White society, while male dominated, has an automatic revulsion to Asians for one reason, Asian men.
Rob, what does that have to do with race? Maybe you have some hidden message I’m not getting, but I really don’t know what you’re getting at.
regarding the whitening of white-skinned latin@s, this is something that has been going on for a long time already, within other ethnic groups as well (i’m thinking specifically of arabs, because there is a similiar diversity of skin color). many people that can pass for white *have* denied their ethnic identity and passed for white long before this year. there is also the issue of entire national or ethnic groups “becoming white” through assimilation (irish, italians, jews, etc.). where do you think this prospective trend fits in relation to this history?
Nadia said, “where do you think this prospective trend fits in relation to this history?”
I think this is really a continuation of earlier trends. It is hard to say whether or not skin or national origin will be the main factor in the Latinos becoming white issue.
>I think this is really a continuation of earlier trends. It is hard to say whether or not skin or national origin will be the main factor in the Latinos becoming white issue.
My gut says skin will still be the factor… I’ve seen it firsthand w/ my PR inlaws. Their notion of the “paper bag” test is vaguely defined at best, but it was enough to almost make my husband’s father not marry his mother (she’s all of a shade darker than her husband, it’s hardly noticeable).
A majority of Americans think of all Latinos as having black/brown hair and eyes, tan skin, MAYBE broader facial features. They don’t have as much experience indentifying Latinos that have more African descent, or even Asian-Columbians, etc. The colorism within many Latin/South American countries also reinforces this – the lower socioeconomic classes in many countries still tend to be those with more African and/or more Native ancestry, and that lower status means that they are less likely to emmigrate to the US and become part of our national vision of what it means to be “Latino”.
It’s exatly what it sounds like.
Saying that Asia or Asians are going to be the newest “hip” thing couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I believe you’re way off.
If anything, though they’re not a racial catagory, I believe gays will be the next “hip” thing.
I predict that desis, middle easterners, pacific islanders, native americans, and latinos will network together to challenge the white/black dialectic that privileges both voices (and in the case of desis and pacific islanders, to get out from the “asian” label that privileges east asians). I’m not sure how southeast asians will align with that. But I think the aforementioned groups will coalesce under a “brown” identity for those who are phenotypically ambigious according the white and black (male) archetypes.
I predict a major controversy/battle about what the racial categories will be and if there will be ancestry/ethnicity categories on the 2010 census occuring in the next 6 weeks (by the April 1st deadline for submitting them to Congress). Whether there should be a multiracial box in addition to checking multiple boxes may be part of that battle. I suspect Middle Easterners who want their own racial category and latinos who would prefer to check something more specific than “latin american indigeneous” than “some other race” to lead the debate on the “change” side.
I predict greater skepticism by brown people of elite white academics who advance narratives like “whites have the power and blacks are the worst off, others fall in the middle”. I think such narratives will be seen as privileging those two groups in the national discourse (blacks by framing them as the most desrving non-white group to receive telescopic philanthropy from white elites), and this point will specifically be made, probably in a law review article, before 2007 is over. A similar point will be made about elite white academics who try to sort latinos exclusively into the “white” and “black” categories, who ignore latino self-perceptions of brownness, mixed raceness, and indigenous heritage, including in latino sub-communities such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban Americans.
Finally, I predict an Asian American Senator or Governor (thus probably from Hawaii) will enter the Presidential race on the Democratic side in the next few months.
Yeah, I think you’re right about number 4. I’m Italian, and it’s kind of weird because, while my grandparents weren’t considered to be white at all, most people would consider me to be. Just shows you that race is a social construct, really.
I have to disagree with one point made by raciallyambigiousbrown american – i don’t think black voices are “privileged” or that we are considered “worthy” or “deserving” at all. Our “privilege” is restricted to the right of our leaders to comment on news stories that are painted “black” and often they are placed in a defensive position from the outset (i.e. Katrina, the Duke rape case, Congresswoman McKinney’s hair/ID scandal, etc.). And as for being “deserving,” new immigrants have long beaten us on that one in the social discourse, we are seen as “deserving,” the disproportionate imprisonment, poor health, poor education, etc that characterize many of us.
That said, I hate racial victim contests – I agree with your point that brown people are often left out of the dialogue entirely. I just don’t want you to think/suggest that the absolutely critical attempts of black people to be heard are part of the problem…
“I just dont want you to think/suggest that the absolutely critical attempts of black people to be heard are part of the problem.”
Many people view it as causing a casualty of war. Since blacks have the biggest voice, their cries are gaining the most attention and drowning out the voices of Latinos, Asians, and others.
Thus, the effect is unintentional but it messes up others’ voices regardless. Now, if blacks included others to shout at the same time and making the original voice even louder, we’d be golden.
while Muslims aren’t a race per se, I am surprised that we have been left out of the predictions here. War on Terror bull honkis will whip everyone into such a fervor that things are just going to keep getting worse and worse for us. Internement camps? Deportations? Racial profiling? Hate crimes? Alread happening and just gonna get worse and worse and worse.
[...] where was I right and wrong? The original post is up here. You can go there and read the details of the predictions, but for the purposes of this post [...]
[...] Rachel at Rachel’s Tavern predicts what will be hot in racial trends in 2007. [...]