Constructing Whiteness
Scenario: A 17th-century Virginia landowner offers legal protections and land to poor European laborers but not to African laborers. Question: How does this reflect the strategic invention of whiteness as a tool for social control?
It shows how whiteness was strategically created to divide laborers and secure loyalty to elites by granting privileges to Europeans.
A research team collects DNA samples from an Indigenous community without formal consent or benefit-sharing. What ethical principles are violated?
Autonomy and informed consent are violated; Kim Tallbear critiques this as scientific colonialism that disregards Indigenous sovereignty.
During a 1933 Toronto baseball game, a swastika banner is unfurled, provoking a mass response. What does this reveal?
It highlights how symbols of hate can incite collective resistance and expose racial tensions in public space.
A modern textbook defines “Caucasian” as a scientific racial category with geographic origins. What critique applies?
The term “Caucasian” masks the arbitrary and invented nature of racial categories, lacking true geographic or cultural specificity.
A museum refuses to return ceremonial artifacts to an Indigenous nation, citing scientific value. What ethical dilemmas arise?
It raises issues of cultural ownership, stewardship, and the misuse of scientific authority to justify colonial possession.
After Joe Goldstein is injured during the Christie Pits Riot, rumors of his death spread rapidly. What does this suggest?
The rumor mobilized marginalized communities, showing how collective identity and shared trauma can drive social action.
Italian and Jewish youth join forces to resist hate symbols in 1930s Toronto. What anthropological concept does this reflect?
It reflects solidarity among marginalized groups and resistance to dominant power structures through communal action.