Module 8 Overview: Racial Wealth Gap

To-Do Date: Feb 23 at 11:59pmTo-Do Date: Feb 23 at 11:59pm

Introduction

In the first half of the course, each week we studied the experiences of different core historically marginalized BIPOC communities and their struggles for liberation, and how they intersect with other axes of oppression such as gender.  For the remainder of the quarter, we will be looking across these communities through the lenses of concepts and issues.

This week we examine: 

Chapter 9: The Racial Wealth Gap

Wealth inequity has become an increasingly important identifier of who can and who can’t access quality housing, education, food, physical health, and mental health. It is critical to contextualize wealth inequity as an intersectional reality.  In this module, we explore how intersectional identities and bank accounts are connected, including:

• Testimony as Decolonial Methodology
• Racial Wealth Disparities
• Why Wealth is so Unequal in the U.S.
• Counternarratives in Racial Wealth Disparities

inks to an external sLearning Outcomes/Goals

• Describe and apply the decolonization methodology of testimony, a major theory of Ethnic Studies;
• To understand the historical roots and contemporary consequences of racialized wealth disparities in the U.S.;
• To identify and analyze some of the counternarratives and social movements that have combated the increasing gap of racial wealth disparities.

Required Materials

• Chapter 9: The Racial Wealth Gap, Introduction to Ethnic Studies textbook. Libretext, 2023Links to an external site.
• Video: Does My Neighborhood Determine My Future?
• Video: Explained—Racial Wealth Gap

Lectures

• W08-1
• W08-2

Supplemental Materials

• The Opportunity Atlas Tool

This Week's Assignments

• READING QUIZ 3 (due Friday - NO LATE SUBMISSIONS) covers the required materials for:
  • Week 6 - Intersectionality & Centering Women of Color and
  • Week 8 - The Racial Wealth Gap 
• DISCUSSION FORUM 8
• Answer - Please respond to two Discussion Forum prompts, courtesy of Group 3: (due Friday)
  • One prompt from Section A
  • One prompt from Section B
  • NOTE: Responses must include in-text MLA citations.  Responses without in-text citations will receive 0 credit.  This applies to all Forums going forward.
• Comment - Respond to two classmates' forum posts. (Due Sunday)

 Answers will be shown after your last attempt

Score for this attempt: 20 out of 20

Submitted Feb 27 at 7:58pm

This attempt took 54 minutes.

 

Question 1

3 / 3 pts

Caribbean American feminist writer, poet, and activist Audre Lorde explains how the practice of othering stems from an idea she calls the mythical norm.  The mythical norm refers to the cultural standardization or privileging of which of the following characteristics:

  

White

 

  

Thin

 

  

Male

 

  

Young

 

  

Heterosexual

 

  

Christian

 

  

Financially secure

 

  

All of the above

 

Correct!

 

Question 2

3 / 3 pts

The Combahee River Collective's "A Black Feminist Statement" put forth a commitment to struggle against which of the following forms of oppression?

  

Racial

 

  

Sexual

 

  

Heterosexual

 

  

Class

 

  

All of the above

 

Correct!

 

Question 3

3 / 3 pts

Muaddi Darraj critiqued the coloniality of "a brand of white feminism" that didn't represent her experiences because of which of the following reasons:

  

It mistakenly portrayed all Arab women as oppressed by an inherently patriarchal Islamic or Arabic culture.

 

  

It mistakenly portrayed Arab women as in need of rescuing by "assertive, liberated" western women.

  

It ignored aspects outside of gender that play major roles in the oppression of Arab women, such as war and western imperialism.

 

  

It exoticized and "othered" Arab women through an Orientalist lens.

  

All of the above

 

Correct!

 

Question 4

3 / 3 pts

In the twentieth century, eugenic "science" was used by the dominant racial group in the U.S. to blame social issues on supposed genetic inferiority.  This was used to justify the targeting of certain populations at the intersection of race, gender, and class for mass sterilization.

Which of the following are true:

  

A) Investigation of the forced sterilization of the Relf Sisters revealed that up to 150,000 sterilizations were forced annually using federal dollars.

 

  

B) In Puerto Rico, Latina/x/e women were targets of experimentation and sterilization starting in the 1930s, and by 1965, 35% of Puerto Rican women had been sterilized.

 

  

C) Through the federally funded Indian Health Service, it is estimated that the sterilization rate of Indigenous women is as high as 80% on some reservations.

 

  

D) The sterilization rate of poor white women exceeds that of all BIPOC women combined.

 

  

E) All of the above

 

  

F) A, B, and C

 

 

Question 5

3 / 3 pts

The reproductive justice movement seeks:  

  

A) Access to abortion and legal contraception, above all else

 

  

B) Bodily self-determination

 

  

C) Access to health care and housing and living wage jobs

 

  

D) The right to live "free of racism" and without worry of police violence

 

  

E) B, C, and D

 

 

Question 6

3 / 3 pts

According to a 2020 study by the U.S. Federal Reserve System, median net worth varies dramatically by race:  White ($188,200), Hispanic ($36,100), Black ($24,100).

Which of the following is the greatest contributing factor to the racial wealth gap?

  

A) Educational Attainment

 

  

B) Choice of Profession

 

  

C) Residential Racial Segregation

 

  

D) On average, white people work harder than Black or Latinx/e people

 

  

E) None of the above.

 

 

Question 7

2 / 2 pts

Racial inequity in housing is a key contributing factor to the racial wealth gap because:

  

A) Housing access is the biggest component of wealth for many families

 

  

B) Racist redlining not only segregated housing access and value, but also educational access

 

  

C) Zip code determines the funding and quality of schools and access to wealth through education

 

  

D) Education alone is insufficient to overcome systemic racism in employment and wealth accumulated over generations

 

  

E) All of the above

 

Quiz Score: 20 out of 20

Due Mar 1 11:59pm

Available until Mar 8

15 points possible

46 Replies, 46 Unread

46 Replies, 46 Unread

Discussion Topic: Discussion Forum - Week 8Discussion Forum - Week 8

Initial Reply Due by Friday @ 11:59 p.m. | Reply to Two Classmates Due by Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.

Purpose

To critically apply the ideas and information from this week's course materials in a productive discussion with fellow classmates to learn from each other and build community.

Discussion Guidelines:

**To earn an 'A' in this discussion please follow these guidelines**

• Complete This Week's Readings before responding to the prompts.
• When responding to the discussion prompts please follow these netiquette guidelines.
• Please respond to two (2) prompts with at least five (5) complete sentences.
• Cite specific examples or concepts from required course materials to demonstrate your understanding of the material.
• Please use MLA in-text citations of course materials.  i.e. (Author's Last Name section #) (Espinoza-Kulick and Acevedo 6.2)
• Respond: post a two-sentence comment to two of your classmates' posts separately after answering the discussion prompt.

NOTE:  In-text MLA citations are REQUIRED to receive credit on this assignment.  Posts without in-text MLA citations will receive 0 credit.  This applies to all Forums going forward.

Instructions

After completing this week's reading, please:

1. answer one (1) reading prompt from Section A and then
2. answer one (1) reading prompt from Section B, and then
3. respond to two (2) of your classmates' posts

Prompts

Section A  

1. What is the significance of using testimony as a decolonial methodology when studying the racial wealth gap, and how does it differ from relying solely on statistics? Support your claims with evidence from the course materials, and cite sources using in-text MLA format.
2. In what ways have historical systems like slavery, colonization, and redlining shaped current racial wealth disparities, and how do those systems persist today under new forms? Support your claims with evidence from the course materials, and cite sources using in-text MLA format.

Section B

1. How does residential segregation continue to reinforce educational and economic inequalities, and what would it take to dismantle those structures? Support your claims with evidence from the course materials, and cite sources using in-text MLA format.
2. In your own words, explain what racial capitalism refers to.  What is the relationship between racial capitalism and modern labor practices, and how do these connections shape opportunities for wealth accumulation across racial groups? Support your claims with evidence from the course materials, and cite sources using in-text MLA format.
3. What arguments do proponents of reparations make, and what social, political, or economic conditions might explain why reparations have not been implemented in the U.S.? Why do you think that the U.S. granted reparations to Japanese Americans but not to African Americans? Support your claims with evidence from the course materials, and cite sources using in-text MLA format.

Respond to two classmates

Grading Rubric

To view grading criteria, select the gearbox in the upper right and select Show Rubric.

Netiquette

• Be kind and respectful to others
• Use full sentences
• Avoid jargon and acronyms
• Use language that supports others

Additional Resources

Embed an image to your discussion postingLinks to an external site.

View and sort discussion postsLinks to an external site.