Pop Culture Presentations (day 2); Introduction to Race

Period 1:

A moment of silence for Ursula LeGuin.

We will continue our Pop Culture presentations today. We left off with Karina's "Mothman" presentation.

What to consider/how to use these presentations:

• Part of the use for popular culture in writing is to reference it. Alluding to pop culture in our stories, poems, plays, essays, can help stress similarities and connotative symbols/semiotics by way of compare/contrast and analogy. To do this, reference pop culture by:
• stating the reference directly by mentioning the source (a reference to McDonald's, for example)
• stating the reference to the topic through a well-known line or quote (a quote from Shakespeare, a quote from a Beatles song)
• Compare/contrast or parody a character or setting from the original source (Zak Effron's character from High School Musical, or taking a setting from the show--naming your school after East High School, for example)
• Using/parodying plot events/tropes from a popular song, show, or film 
• Commenting on current society through reference/allusion to the pop culture topic
• Take notes as you watch. Consider how these pop culture items/topics connect, comment on American (or your own) culture(s)/hegemonies. Write about your findings. Use them for story ideas, theme or topic ideas, character ideas, setting ideas, etc.
• Combine two or more topics to create a story, memoir, or play discussing the topic.
• Parody often uses pop culture to exaggerate (hyperbole) or poke fun at well-known or popular topics (Kellywise sketch from SNL)
• Here's an example how you might use pop culture in dialogue: from the film Donny Darko (2001) with a young Jake Gyllenhaal (PG warning for language content...)
• Be ready to write--note what moves you, excites you, what angers you, saddens you, etc. about the topic or what it means to you (or possibly fictional characters). 

When we are done with the presentations, let's move into our next unit officially: Race.

Race: Define it in your own words.
Ethnicity: Define it in your own words.
Minority: Define it in your own words.

Let's start with this crash course video: Race & Ethnicity: Crash Course Sociology. Pay attention. Take notes as a writer. Consider what you can do creatively with the information you learn. 

Galton, (remember him?) the biological determinist who coined the idea of nature vs. nurture, supported the idea of eugenics: The belief (and practice) of improving the genetic quality of the human race through selective breeding, extermination, (or sterilization in some cases), separating the superior from the inferior. Eugenics was practiced in the US years before Hitler got his claws into the idea to exterminate the Jews (and others). During the Progressive Era, eugenics was seen as the best way to preserve and improve the dominant Hegemony in our population. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, the American eugenics movement received funding from various corporate foundations (the 1%) including the Carnegie Institution and the Rockefeller Foundation. The Eugenics record office (ERO) was located in Cold Spring Harbor, NY by Charles Davenport. The ERO was one of the leading organizations to promote eugenics in seeking a solution to the problem of the "unfit" members of our society.

Before we throw stones, even prominent Black scholars and writers like W.E.B. Du Bois and Thomas Wyatt Turner believed "the best blacks were as good as the best whites (the talented tenth) of all races should mix", the idea of which is supporting eugenics. W.E.B. Du Bois stated that "only fit blacks should procreate to eradicate the race's heritage of moral iniquity..." see article for more information. Even "Better Baby" contests were held.

• Discuss

More short videos to consider as inspiration/knowledge for your writing:

• The Twisted Logic Behind America's Shameful Eugenic History (6 min)
• The History of Eugenics in America (video series) (about 130 minutes, broken into 10 min videos)
• Infowars: Special Report on Eugenics (30 min.)
• Further race/ethnicity info (Kahn Academy lecture, 6 min)

Things to research (in the lab, on your own, during this unit, etc.):

• One drop rule
• Better Baby contests
• Beauty contests (& beauty pageant history)
• Nature versus Nurture
• Immigration
• Jim Crow laws
• The Negro Motorist Green Book 
• Current events regarding immigration

Articles:

• "More Than Skin Deep"
• "In Living Color"
• "Grey Matter"
• "Color Lines"

HOMEWORK: Please complete your reading of The Distance Between Us by the end of next week. Bring your articles back with you & ideas for this topic by reading/noting the linked sources above.