Ethnic Relation Theories
Berenize Almanza
Chabot College
The second section of the reader starts by explaining three terms that some people may use in their everyday language. The three terms are race, racial formation, and racism. The reading "Racial Formation" starts by describing what race is. There are some articles that say that race is determined biologically, but in this reading it clearly says that race is something that society created to categorize or refer to "different types of human bodies." With this definition of race it helps to understand the concept of racial formation which is the second term. In the article by Winant and Omi racial formation is described as a process that is connected to history and that racial categories change, transform, and are even destroyed as time progresses. Another idea or approach that can help understand racial formation are racial projects. Racial projects link the meaning of race and "both social structures and everyday experiences are racially organized."
There are two ways in which racial formation is used. The first way is in the political spectrum. In the neoconservative politics it is said that our society is color- blind, which means that our society does not care what race people are. There is also the liberal view which says that in fact society does judge according to a person's race. The second way in which racial formation is used is in everyday experiences. An example of this is when we want a person to act how they racially appear. Also the way in which we view race is describes as common sense. The third and last term is racism. There are many types of racism described in this article. Expulsion is a type of racism which is when a dominant group makes a community's...