Week 5 DQ 1

In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education desegregated schools in the United States

and deemed desegregated schools separate but unequal. Do you think the
legislation was an appropriate reaction to segregation in schools? Do you think
the legislation is still relevant? Explain your response.

I have been trying to read up on Brown v. Board of Education describing the
desegregation of schools in the United States. I understand that it a result of "separate"
schools for black and white people but was described as "Separate but Equal". This
seemed a way that our society could justify the segregation in public areas. They would
separate them out but they would provide equal services for both races. The part that
confuses me is when it is listed in the question "Separate but Unequal" I have been trying
to find information about the definition of unequal but have not hade much luck. On page
75 it states that "Discrimination involves the unequal treatment of various categories" so I
am a bit confused. If it was in fact stated that schools were separate but unequal I would
assume it is referring to social standing. The only thing that made any since as to why it
would be listed as separate but unequal to me is on page 77 that states:"Why do the
various racial and ethnic categories of the U.S. population have unequal social standing?
The following discussion draws answers from sociologys three major theoretical
approaches: structural-functional, symbolic-interaction, and social-conflict analysis of
people. If I understand the reading it is simply stating that we are not all equal but we
should not be discriminated against because of our differences. To be honest, Im not sure
I completely understand.

Week 5 DQ 2
Your texts say that according to sociologists, racial categories are misleading and
are harmful ways to divide human groups. Do you agree or disagree with this
statement? Why?

I automatically think that we need to categorize people and racial groups because that is
all I know. I am not saying it is right but my first thought is that I disagree with the
statement that racial categories are misleading and are harmful ways to divide human
groups. I do realize that there is very little good things that have come out of doing this in
the past. I can in fact say that virtually nothing good has come from racially categorizing
people in our nations history. The feeling of agreement with what the sociologists say
about racial categories gets stronger when I watched the video called "Save our History:
voices of civil rights. The stories made my heart ach for what some of those people in the
video had to go through. That was all brought about by the racial categories placed upon
the African American community. To sum up my feelings, after this course so far I do
agree with the statement.

Week 5 DQ 3
Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, racial, or
national group, such as the Turkish killing of Armenians after WWI, the Nazis
slaughter of 6 million European Jews during WWII, or the mass killings in
Rwanda in 1994. Has genocide ever been practiced or condoned in the United
States? Explain your response.

I do believe that genocide has been practiced and condoned in the United States.
According to Macionis (2012), Genocide is the systematic killing of one category of
people by another. Genocide is mass murder; even so, it has taken place time and again in
human history, often tolerated and sometimes even encouraged by governments and their
people. (pp.61). One situation where it was encouraged by the United States government
is found on page 64 of the text and talks briefly about the systematic killing of one
category of people by another in the 1800's. The story is brief and mentions thousands of
deaths but many more stories can be found in other sources. At first, the U.S. government
viewed native peoples as independent nations and tried to gain land from them through
treaties. But the government was quick to use superior military power against any who
resisted. Soldiers forcibly removed the Cherokee from their homelands in the
southeastern United States, causing thousands of deaths along what came to be known as
the Trail of Tears. By 1800, few native people remained along the East Coast. (Macionis,
2012, pp.64).