Are minorities fairly characterized or assessed?

We are going to start this week with an overview of minority rights within the context of an ever-changing United States of America. In the attached PDF, David Whippman offers both a concise history of minority rights and solid trajectory for emerging ways of viewing minorities and how they can empower themselves as distinct citizens and members of larger society. As Whippman notes, the U.S. and U.N. agree that minorities should be able to maintain and grow their own ideology and lives within the confines of each nation.However, such an act is definitely easier said than done. For example, think about your daily lives and your interactions with your family, friends, community, etc. What distinct minority communities do they represent or personify? Now, I ask that you reflect personally because the field of Minority Studies is vast. As your course description makes clear, “topics may include race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, and religion” (State of Texas CB), and within those areas, lives, existence, etc., what part of Minority Studies interested you the most and why? As a course, we will endeavor to explore and better understand each type of minority community, but your responses and especially larger projects should focus on your own concerns and ideas about how minorities are represented or not represented in greater society. Does misunderstanding occur within these communities and/or society? Are minorities fairly characterized or assessed?The National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act states thatThe term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study and interpretation of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life (U. S. Congressional Act that created the National Endowment for the Humanities).Thus, in this course, we have the advantage of being able to address various aspects of Minority Studies and, more importantly, respond to the past, present, and future of those peoples we hope to better understand. In other words, the course is more than a simple overview of minorities in the United States; it asks you to comprehend why and how minorities exist or are viewed within the context of the nation and culture.Discussion 1: Read the attached Wippman article and comment on a specific sub-topic of his argument. Then offer your classmates a concise direction for your studies in this class. To accomplish these tasks well, note a definite idea or contention by Wippman and explain how it pertains to what you would like to learn in this course. Cite this article appropriately, and ensure that you are NOT simply summarizing his key points. We need to focus on application of the materials, rather than reiteration. Next, explain to your area of interest to your classmates. (Yes, this initial notion will probably change, but we need a place to begin.) For example, you might be interested in Chicana/o communities, or you might want to better understand Gender Studies and the LBGT community. It is your choice. Now that you have an overview of minority struggles in a broader context, we can turn our attention to specifically American minorities and how both the existence and label creates a space or place that is equally unique and oppressive. Many of you have probably already taken a “history” course, but I intentionally misuse the term here because history is nothing more than a record of the those who conqueror and dominate a culture and society.In other words, subjected peoples do not have the opportunity to tell their story in fashion that is considered “true” because they have no voice—they only exist in the margins. And it is here that we hope to explore who these people are and how to help them speak. Thus, we will address texts by ‘double minorities’ in order to ground our examination in a sub-group within a sub-group. Gloria Anzaldua defines such a label as both a woman and woman of color. Therefore, the person is placed in a position that implies two types of inferiority within the greater social context: they are not male and not Caucasian. Where then does Our/Their America exist? Does it exist? For some, it can only occur within the confines of literature and theory. With that idea in mind, the required readings this week include a primary and secondary pieces on Leslie Marmon Silko and an interview with Ana Castillo. Furthermore, the theoretical article included this week is specific to how stories can heal, but we need to think more complex than “healing”; we need to think in terms of communal catharsis: the ability to not just purge but deal with pain, subjection, etc. via its appearance in art—literature, in this case.Discussion 2: For your additional discussion board assignment this week, you are required to respond to one of the required readings and evidence your argument with ONE other scholarly source. This assignment serves two purposes. First, it tests your analysis of the material, and two, it sets you up in a solid direction for creating your Final Paper. Exact criteria will be given the last week of the course, but the syllabus already clear indicates the assignment requirements.Before you respond, ask yourself some guiding questions: what do the authors want the audience to learn, and how can we review the information as a cultural artifact—i.e. how is Silko’s excerpt or Castillo’s interview a representation of their own peoples’ experiences in America? In other words, are they providing the audience with a new and specifically minority “history”? (Remember, think within the context that narratives can be cathartic.)Assignments must be written and cited in MLA style and format. At least one additional scholarly source is required to support students’ initial claims each week, and each source must be correctly cited in-text (as a parenthetical reference) and in the Work Cited in MLA style and format.