Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the US

EXPERIENCING RACE CLASS AND GENDER IN THE US Name: Course: Professor Name: (February 28, 2012) Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the US Introduction From the beginning, race, gender and social class coupled with white supremacy has been the main force affecting radical practice and theory of many minority groups in America. The most important point is the idea that race and class being well comprehended within the advanced contexts of race, gender and social class. To begin with, the two ethnic minorities of my choice are the Black Americans and an American Indian group of the Cherokees (Sturm, 2002). The Cherokees This band of the American Indian group was once a powerful group in America. Before the arrival of the white man, this group occupied a large area in South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and some other parts of America. By the time the revolution came to an end, this group had lost most of their territory. Around 1785, they only remained with very small land. The treaty of New Echota in 1835 allocated all the territory on the south of Mississippi to the Federal Government. The Federal Government broke all the treaties it had made with the Cherokees. The state of the people who remained within the state was difficult. Their link with the major tribe of Cherokee that had relocated to fields on the west of Mississippi was very severe. They began being administered by the state of North Carolina laws. Additionally, they lacked the citizenship rights. All the interests of this group had been interfered by the treaty. Also, self-governance rights also ended. However, the state of North Carolina offered them a charter which gave them the authority to exercise little self governance power. Their funds were held by the Federal Government until they removed the Indian Territory (Lusane, 1997). The Eastern Band of Cherokees had to purchase agents. Hence, they got the right to own land in North Carolina. On the basis of culture, the majority of the ancient culture remains. It consists mainly of material elements. The majority of this group speaks and comprehends English. On the contrary, their native language is studied in schools and homes. This group was forcefully removed from their land by the white explorers. They almost became extinct as a result of the tribulation by the white explorers. The scenario could be compared to a culture that was initially balance but which was then on the destruction threshold. The whites nearly eradicated them. On the basis of gender, the association between different categories of gender among the Cherokees including activities and powerful forces of civilization affected their social class. Both the church and the Federal Government had programs which promoted agriculture and husbandry among Cherokee men and domestic art among the women. Some men among the Cherokee got new power forms during the period. On the contrary, the power among women was very circumscribed. Hence, the shifts were related. There were little changes in the character of women compared to changes in the neighboring framework. Additionally, there was a shift on the basis of the market economy, the increasing significance of private property and the rising individualism value. This gave some men among the Cherokees new power sources. Among the Cherokees, there existed many trends which included power centralization, outlawing of polygamy and many others which made possible the passing of property including identity from fathers to kids. The changes contained vast negative effects upon the women’s traditional powers. Despite the alterations within the gender system, the narrative of women among the Cherokee is normally not described as cultural transformation. On the contrary, it is described as cultural persistence. Women among the Cherokee had the responsibility of organizational continuity in the villages which they inhabited. On the other hand, some men were among them. They had been moved by kinship ties, marriage, warfare and trade. In some Cherokee groups, women were responsible for appointing and removing male leaders. This was instead of being the leaders themselves. This trend kept women to be responsible to maintain and reproduce the political system. They also kept men within a state of enacting policy. These differences between continuity and structure on one side and change and process on the other side shaped the relations and gender roles of the Cherokees. The Cherokees had gradually evolved as a result of various ways of interaction with their surroundings, distinct identities and customs. There were also distinct gender relationships. These patterns in culture had a relationship with reproduction and production of strategies developed through associations with one another and with nature. On the contrary, the significance of both female and male practices for the existence of the community meant that women had more value and contained increased levels of input upon community-based decisions than in most white cultures which emerged afterwards. The structure of class was enhanced within the urbanized Cherokees. Ethnic identity brought about differences between groups and gave each group identity to a given geographical location. The Cherokees were matrilineal. This meant that there was occurrence of descent through the female line. They were also matrilocal whereby upon marriage, men entered the clans belonging to their wives. In some instances, women played significant roles as far as group-decision making and family are concerned. This included military sometimes issues. The contact with the Whites was the start of a systematic devaluation as far as public roles and property ownership among women was concerned. Black Americans They represent the largest racial minority group in America. They are mostly the followers of Africans who were forcefully transported to America during the era of slave trade. On historic grounds, many of them inhabited the southeastern and south central Alabama states, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and North Carolina. After the Second World War, there was the Great Migration among the black Americans in rural areas towards the industrial Northeast and other areas. On the contrary, since the 80s, the movement from the South was reversed. The majority of them including the well educated are moving towards metropolitan regions in the South. Recently, most of them inhabit the southern region of America. Additionally, they also inhabit urban areas but are constantly moving towards the suburbs (Jones, 1985). The revolutionary nationalism among the Black Americans began in the late 1960s. Also, the problems of the African Americans have not been only on the nature of racial activities. The advanced class, race and th...