Over the course of this semester we have looked at several ethnic groups and their adversities. Although we have seen them separately that is not to say that their challenges have solely affected them as a single group. In actuality we have seen similarities in the ways that the oppressed are marginalized, across both time and space. This ushers in the notion that races are relational to each other, these groups although seemingly having different histories can actually show more resemblances than what is on the surface. Using the works of, Sylvia Yanagisako & Karen Sacks, this essay will show how the use of a relational lens deepens our understanding of race.
In the Karen Sacks’ essay “How did Jews become White Folks?” she attempts to dispel the common American myth of equal opportunity, specifically in terms of how Jewish people saw it. She starts off by introducing her parents’ frame of mind that their upward mobility …show more content…
The model minority myth allows the further hindrance of other races, as Yanagisako explains: “…thinly disguised behind the celebration of Asian American achievement in the myth is both the legitimization of White privilege and the reinforcement of racist beliefs about African American failure” (Yanagisako 284). This myth celebrates Asian Americans for being so successful and consequently supports the myth of equal opportunity in America, which makes people think that a minority’s failure to succeed is their own fault. Here we clearly see how these two races are set in relational to each other. Whilst the Asian American is set on a pedestal the exploited African American is thrust to the
In the Karen Sacks’ essay “How did Jews become White Folks?” she attempts to dispel the common American myth of equal opportunity, specifically in terms of how Jewish people saw it. She starts off by introducing her parents’ frame of mind that their upward mobility …show more content…
The model minority myth allows the further hindrance of other races, as Yanagisako explains: “…thinly disguised behind the celebration of Asian American achievement in the myth is both the legitimization of White privilege and the reinforcement of racist beliefs about African American failure” (Yanagisako 284). This myth celebrates Asian Americans for being so successful and consequently supports the myth of equal opportunity in America, which makes people think that a minority’s failure to succeed is their own fault. Here we clearly see how these two races are set in relational to each other. Whilst the Asian American is set on a pedestal the exploited African American is thrust to the