Political Science 172FS.01:
Racial Attitudes and Politics in the U.S.
I do not imagine that the white and black races will ever live in any country upon equal footing. But I believe the difficulty to be greater in the United States than elsewhere. An isolated individual may surmount the prejudices of religion, of his country, or of his race, …but a whole people cannot rise, as it were, above itself. – ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, Democracy in America (1835)
We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff’s argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it… The argument also assumes that social prejudice may be overcome by legislation, and that equal rights cannot be secured except by an enforced commingling of the two races… If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.– MAJORITY OPINION, PLESSY VS. FERGUSON (1896)
That Americans of African origin once wore chains of chattels remains alive in the memory of both races and continues to separate them. Black Americans are Americans, yet they still subsist as aliens in the only land they know. Other groups may remain outside the mainstream… but they do so voluntarily. In contrast, blacks must endure a segregation that is far from freely chosen. So America may be seen as two separate nations… in most significant respects, the separation is pervasive and penetrating. As social and human division, it surpasses all others–even gender–in intensity and subordination. – ANDREW HACKER, Two Nations (1992)
Course Description
The definitions, meanings, and consequences of race and ethnicity have been, and continue to be, shaped by U.S. political and legal institutions. Hence, politics, public policy, and race in the United States have been inextricably intertwined. This course examines the history of race and racial attitudes, and their impact and consequences for American politics and public policy. We consider how institutions, political actors, historical factors, and individuals have defined race over the past century. We also take up the way in which our own psychological processes and biases interact with these factors to powerfully influence the trajectory of racial attitudes and racial conflict. Reviewing work from sociology, social psychology, and political science, we learn what different academic disciplines can tell us about racial conflict, and what are the major debates in this field across these disciplines.
