Academic Activisms
Struck by Lightning? Interracial Intimacy and Racial Justice by Rachel F. Moran
Book reviewed by Kevin R. Johnson and Kristina L. Burrows
Introduction:
History of legal regulation of racial mixture in the U.S. and its modern day repercussions
Offers support that race is a social and legal construct
Author contends that interracial marriage is inextricably linked to quest for racial justice
Low interracial marriage is a result of lack of diversity in schools, housing, employment (segregation and social isolation)
Importance of connections between race, class, and marriage
Part II: “The Anti-miscegenation Laws and the Complexities of Race: Perez v. Sharp – Are Latina/os ‘White’?”
Little known 1948 California Supreme Court decision declaring ban on interracial marriage unconstitutional (19 years before Loving v. Virginia)
Latina/os legally defined as white
Disparities between legal identification and social reality
Perez fought on grounds of Freedom of Religion and later Equal Protection Clause of 14th Amendment
CA Supreme Court Justice Roger Traynor ultimately found that the law was unconstitutionally vague, drawing on sociological and anthropological research, effectively acknowledging that race is a social construction. Traynor also pointed out the contradiction of only barring white intermarriage (Blacks and Asians could intermarry) – clearly invested in maintaining white supremacy.
Additional discussion of Latino/a assimilation versus separatism
Exigence:
- Are Latina/os white? How do we account for differences between legal identification and social realities?
- Latina/os have not enjoyed all of the privileges of whiteness; many are physically identifiable as non-white.
- Has partial ability to “pass” granted access to white privileges that other racial minorities have not had?
- Should Latina/os be eligible for affirmative action and other ameliorative programs designed to promote racial equality?
- Discussions about racism between Latina/os and Blacks is relatively unexplored
- Tensions between Black communities and Latina/o communities – arguments that Latino/as have a less persuasive argument than African-Americans for affirmative action programs.
Example: There are parallel questions of privilege, legal status, and assimilation/integration/separatism in the queer community. The next two articles draw these connections and comparisons. Some ask, is it fair to draw parallels between racial equality and queer equality?
Part III: Interracial Intimacy: A critical Analysis
Exigence:
This argument is crucial because it points out how our society, as well as the legal system deliberately makes a conscious effort to support ani-miscegenation, even though they claim not to. Moran challenges the notion and argue in effect that race matter in selecting a partner and that structural factors like segregation deeply influences the finding of a spouse. This is due to our unconscious decisions because we are conditioned by our won personal histories. Moran argues that people are socialized to “like” certain qualities in potential marriage partners. Nevertheless, anti-miscegenation is rooted deeper than that and is connected to our political histories, that still tends to persist years later. Also, Moran fails to mention any argument pointed towards interracial same-sex relationships. Johnson and Burrows complaints are that Moran’s book is disturbingly heterosexist and by excluding from the analysis same-sex relationships that cross racial lines, Interracial Intimacy limits its analysis to on category fo intimate relationships between people fo different races.
● Society view white men as more desirable, successful, and more educated, which makes African American men less desirable marriage material. Do you agree when Moran believes that we are conditioned by our personal histories and are taught to look for certain qualities?
● Marring into a particular race can lower your status and or socioeconomic status.
● Beauty and sexual attractiveness affect our choice.
● Marrying a non-white immigrant. Do you think this is done on purpose? Does it try to discourage interracial marriage?
● Laws that have been recently banned that were still supporting anti-miscegenation.
● Child Custody and transracial adoption.
● Can you think of reasons for interracial marriages?
● What within the bounds of the law can be done to change the prevalence of same-race marriages?
“The Miscegenation Analogy Revisited: Same-Sex Marriage as a Civil Rights Story” - Kevin Mumford
University of Iowa’s professor Kevin Mumford is the Academic Coordinator of the school’s program in Sexuality Studies and his intellectual interests include modern African American history, the Civil Rights movement, race and sexuality, sexuality formation and political culture. He believes that same-sex couples should have the legal choice to marry; however, he is frustrated with the movement’s narrow vision.
Mumford critically examines the arguments posited by Evan Wolfson and his text entitled, Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry, and George Chauncey’s Why Marriage: The History Shaping Today’s Debate Over Gay Equality—not to undermine the movement’s struggle for gay liberation; rather, his purpose is to “reimagine a wider spectrum of possibilities for social change in American culture.”
Exigence:
Examines the connections between neoliberalism and marriage
Those who evoke the analogy rarely specialize in African American history and their comparisons sometimes lack historical detail and/or accuracy
The miscegenation analogy equates racial and sexual discrimination, in support of both legal and moral arguments for same-sex marriage
People should interrogate whatever analogies they locate across or between categories of difference
This article should be read by groups/people who either respond positively or critically to gay marriage equality
Making Connections to What Matters:
“Both Chauncey and Wolfson deploy social science research that validates gay and lesbian families with children, while at the same time portraying them as practically living in a state of social jeopardy.”
Wolfson argues that marriage can provide children with “protection and security.” He explains that “children deserve to know that their relationship with both of their parents is stable and legally recognized.”
o Critique: Does not address non-traditional families (ie: single parent households)
o Implication(s): Possible backlash of political expediency
Philosophy of liberal individualism
o Promote relative equality
o Demonstrate a key insight made by Nancy Cott: “Marriage powerfully operationalizes the historical project of national assimilation.”
o At the heart of neoliberalism: gay marriage and global restructuring
Suggested Readings:
Duggan, Lisa. The Twilight of Equality? Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy. Massachusetts: The Beacon Press, 2003.
Hutchinson, Darren Lenard. “Out Yet Unseen: A Racial Critique of Gay and Lesbian Legal Theory and Political Discourse,” 29 CONN. L. REV. 561 (1997).
Somerville, Siobhan B. “Queer Loving,” GLQ 11:3, Duke University Press, 2005. pp. 335-370.
Strathern, Marilyn. “The Tyranny of Transparency,” British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2000.
Street, John. Mass Media, Politics and Democracy. New York: Palgrave, 2001.
General Questions/Concepts to think about throughout the semester:
Even though groups advocate the same issue/position, it doesn’t mean they have the same politics. Which differences make a difference? (Katie King)
What does visibility conceal? (Marilyn Strathern)
Re-presentation v. Representation (See Gever p. 199 footnote #5)
Identity Politics
Neoliberalism
“Citizenships, Sexualities, and Education”
by Lisa W. Loutzenheiser & Lori B. MacIntosh
Argument
- This article discusses how the queer student body is approached in schools, and uses queer theory as a starting point for curricular reform.
- Main points:
1. Queer bodies are read in school settings as “Other”
2. Naming can “either be enabling or paralyzing”—the mere inclusion of LGBT issues into the curriculum may just reinforce difference.
3. Current approaches to difference focus on the individual and do not explore underlying dominant ideologies or heteronormative infrastructures.
4. Queer theory can be applied to curricular reform to disrupt discrete, fixed notions of identity and allow room for intersections of identity.
5. Critical race theory (CRT) and queer theory can inform each other and provide alternatives to assimilation and essentialist inclusions.
Exigence
- Article concerned with providing a safe, open space for queer students and making queer citizenship part of curricular theory.
- Its audience is mainly educators, especially at the middle school and high school level.
Application to our course and questions
- One of the things the article takes for granted is that the assimilationist approach fails to create real progress. However, the concept of assimilation is one-way in its direction—it assumes the minority group alone changes by conforming to the standards of the group in power. If minority groups assimilate into the majority group, how much can they change it from within? Also, given that high schools have become more focused on testing and assessments, is it realistic to expect them to devote classroom time to question power hierarchies and discuss heternormativity? What other options are available?
