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YlianaHuidor
ProfessorLo
RaceandSocialJustice
10Oct.2015

KeyConceptSummary#1:WhitebyLaw:TheLegalConstructionofRace
Intheessay,
WhitebyLaw:TheLegalConstructionofRace
,lawprofessoratUC
Berkeleyandauthor,IanHaneyLopez,delvesintothelegalandsocialbeginningsofwhiteracial
identityintheUnitedStates.LopezfurthermoreexaminesaplethoraofinfamousU.Sracial
prerequisitecasesinordertoconstructanunambiguousanswerfortheperplexingand
controversialquestion:whatmakesapersonwhite?Thekeyconceptoftheessay,law
constructsrace,helpsconnecttotheoverallargumentofhiswork.
Beforerevealingthemainkeyconcept,thatlawconstructsrace,Lopezbeginsby
blatantlystatingthatuntil1952beingwhitemeantbeingaU.Scitizen(Lopez3).Beingan
Americanmeantsomuchmorethanjustfreedom.BeinganAmericanmeanttheabilityto
expressopinionsfreely,democracy,liberty,rights,andarguablythemostimportantfactor,
opportunity(atleastformen).Thusitisevidenttoseehowbeingwhiteessentiallymeantpower,
becausewiththatpowercamefreedom,aconceptthatmanydidnothaveandmuchlesseven
knowpriortoenteringAmerica.However,whethersomeonewasorwasnotwhitewasnotas
transparentasitappeared.
Theauthorcontinuesbydiscussingandexaminingthecriteria,capriciousandbemusing,
ofwhiteness.Lopezpointsouthowthereadermightnotrealizethe[surprising]complexityof


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whitenessthecriteriaextendedfarbeyondtheobviousskincolor.Thecriteriaofwhiteness
spreadasfaroutasfacialfeatures,ancestry,nationalorigin,language,culture,scientificopinion,
andthemostimportantandcumbersomepartofthecriteria,popularopinionorcommon
knowledge(23).Thelawreliedonpopularopinionitmeantthatthecriteriawouldconstantlybe
evolvingmakingitevenmoredifficultandproblematictodeterminewhatwhitewas,putting
thosewhowereimmigratingtoAmericainanuncomfortablepositionandstateofdistress.
Becausethelawwascontinuouslyevolvingitmeantthatatanypointintimethoseofficialsin
chargeofthesematterscouldchangewhowasorwasnotwhite,essentiallywheneverthey
wantedorwhenlegitimateevidencefororagainstthegroupofpeopletryingtoenterthe
countrypresenteditself.
Moreover,Lopezdisplayshowtheracialprerequisitecasesdeterminedanddefinedrace
andhowtheselawswereoftenunclearandfickle.Asanexamplein1910thecourtsdecidedthat
AsianIndiansareWhitebecauseofocularinspectionofskin.Thisservedasasighofreliefanda
blessingforAsianIndiansitmeantthattheywerenowcitizensandhadaccesstoawholenew
worldofopportunitiesandfreedoms.However,in1923thecourtsagaindecidedthatdueto
commonknowledgeandcongressionalintent,AsianIndianswerenolongerWhite,stripping
themoftheircitizenship(207).Thispersistentchangecontinuedwelluntil1952andaffectedall
foreignerswhodesiredtobecomeU.Scitizens.
DuetothefactthatthecourtswereresponsiblefordecidingnotonlywhowasWhite,
butwhysomeonewasWhiteLopezskeyconcept,thatlawconstructsrace,becomesevenmore
soevidentandpredominantforhisoverallargument.Byusingexamplesfromthepast,Lopez
showshowrace,specificallywhiteness,issomethingthathasbeencreatedbythelaw.One


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wouldthinkthatheorshehasasayoverhisorherownracialidentitybutthroughcourtroom
accountsitisclearthatracialidentityissomethingthathasbeenconstructedbysocietywhich
basicallywasthelawsinceitsvoiceoverruledeveryoneelses.Furthermore,thiskeyconcept
presentsitselfthroughtherationalesthatthelawprovided.Thecourtroomdecidedwhowas
whiteandwhysomeonewaswhite,againprovingthatraceandwhitenessissomethingthathas
beenconstructedbylaw.Themerefactthatlawmanufacturesraceisimportantbecauseitshows
howmuchpowerthelawhasoverindividuals.Evenifsomeonebelievedtheywerewhiteifthe
lawsaidthattheywerenot,thatwastheendofdiscussion.Thiskeyconceptissignificant
becauseitnotonlydemonstrateshowmuchpowertheAmericanjudicialsystemshavealways
hadbutalsobecauseitdemonstrateshowarbitrarytheboundariesforraceare.Thearbitrary
natureofraceisstillrelevanttodayinthe21stcenturywhichalsoaddstotheimportanceofthis
keyconcept.Race,orrathertherationalesbehindit,isvolatileandisclearlysomethingthathas
beenconstructedthroughthelaw.
Lawconstructsraceshouldbeconsideredakeyconceptnotonlybecauseofitsstrong
relevanceinIanHaneyLopezsessaybutalsobecauseofitslingeringpresenceinpresentday
society.
YlianaHuidor
ProfessorLo
RaceandSocialJustice
23Oct.2015


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KeyConceptSummary#2:WhitenessandEthnicityintheHistoryofWhiteEthnicsinthe
UnitedStates
Intheessay,
WhitenessandEthnicityintheHistoryofWhiteEthnicsintheUnited
States
,AmericanStudiesandhistoryprofessoratKansasUniversityandauthor,DavidRoediger,
investigatesthesocialbeginningsofwhiteracialidentityintheUnitedStates.Roediger
furthermoreexploresandexaminesseveralaccountsfromU.SHistorytobringattentiontothe
equallyperplexingandcontroversialquestions:whatiswhiteandwhatmakesthemwhite?
Thekeyconceptoftheessay,
racialidentityandethnicidentityaredistinct,helpspiece
togetherhisoverallargument.
Beforerevealingthemainkeyconcept,thatracialidentityandethnicidentityarenotthe
same,Roedigerbeginsbysettingthestageforhiscentralargumentbyexplaininghowin1790in
ordertobecomeanaturalizedcitizenoftheU.Sonehadtobewhite(Roediger325).Beingan
Americanmeantfreedom,liberty,rights,democracy,therighttoexpressone'sopinionsfreely,
andaboveallitmeantopportunitysomethingthatpriortoAmerica,manydidnothaveoreven
knowwaspossibletoobtain.Thereforeitwasquiteblatantthatbeingwhitemeantpower,soitis
nowonderthatsomanynonwhitesdesiredtobewhitewithwhitenesscameaplethoraof
privileges.ItwasalsonosurprisethattheseaspiringU.Scitizenswerewillingtoabandontheir
culturesinordertofitintoandbecomeandAmerican.However,whethersomeonewasorwas
notwhitewasnotasperspicuousasitseemed,thiswasdueinparttothefactthateven
Americanswerebefuddledontheconstituentsofwhiteness.
Theauthorcontinuesbyscrutinizingthevolatilestandardsofwhiteness.Roediger
exemplifiestheconfusingnatureofthewho/whatiswhitedebatebypointingoutthat,color


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differencesweresovariedwithinsocalledracesastoprecludethepossibilitythatwhiteness
couldhaveliterallybeenmeasuredby(absenceof)pigmentation(326).Hepresentshoweven
thecourtswereclearlyunsureofwhatitmeanttobewhitebecauseoftheconstantchangeof
whowaswhiteasanexamplegiveninthetext,atonepointAsianIndiansandMexicanswere
consideredwhite(327).Theauthorusesthisprimeexampletopreludetooneofthemainkey
concepts,thatraceandethnicityaredifferent,andalsoonasidenotetoshowthereaderthat
overwhelmingpowerwhiteshadandtheoverwhelmingpowerthatcamewithbeingwhitein
America.
Althoughitisnotconsideredacentralpointofhisessay,itiscriticaltonoteanother
pointthatRoedigermakesthroughouttheessayforitdoeshelpconnecttothekeyconcept.By
givingexamplesoftheseraces/ethnicities(i.e.Mexicans,AsianIndians,Polish,Jewish)
constantlychangingfromwhitetononwhitehedemonstratesaveryinterestingpoint:
black/beingblackwasneverevenconsideredtobewhiteandsinceapersonhadtobewhite
inordertobecomeanaturalizedcitizenoftheU.Sitdirectlyshowstheeverlastingstruggle
BlackpeoplehadtoendureinAmerica.ItalsoexhibitshowbeingBlackinAmericahasalways
comewithaheavysetofbaggageandwasdefinitelyburdensome[inthesensethatones
naturalizationdependedonrace].
Duetothefactthatthecourtswereconstantlychangingtheircriteriaforwhiteness
Roedigerskeyconcept,racialidentityandethnicidentityaredistinct,becomesevenmore
obviousandcrucialforhisoverallargument.Hebeginsaddressingthekeyconceptbypointing
outthatmanypeoplethroughouthistoryhaveusedbothterms(raceandethnicity)
interchangeably,butRoedigerquicklyindicatesthatthatisafallacy.Heexplainsthattypically


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ethnicityismadepossiblebysocialstatusassignedtothoseimmigrantswhothoughslottedinto
lowwagejobswerenotreducedtotheslaveryorsystematicdiscriminationthatracial
minoritiessuffered(329).Roedigerillustratesthatethnicityhasmoretodowithasocialstatus
andevenincertaincircumstanceswhereonecamefromandhisorherculturesandheritages.In
addition,theauthoralsoaddsthatethnicityalsomeantthatonewasawareofadistinctidentity.
Theauthorcontinuesbythenexhibitinghowraceisdifferentfromethnicitybyshowinghow
Blacks(orpeopleofadarkerskincoloringeneral)havealwaysbeentreatedasinferiors.Races
seemtobegeneticallyrecognizablydifferentpopulations.Themostobviousdifferencewouldbe
skincolorandthatexplainswhyskincolorismostoftendirectlylinkedwithrace.However,and
almostcontradictorily,isalsoimportanttonotethattheseethnicities,Greek,Polish,andItalian,
typicallyhadlighter/fairerskin,butnonethelesstheconceptsofethnicityandraceare
unmistakablydifferent.Roedigercontinuesbypointingouttheimportanceandvalueofknowing
thedifferencesbetweenethnicityandracehelpeliminatesomeoftheignorancewovenamongst
thealreadycontroversialtopic.
Racialidentityandethnicidentityaredistinctisimportantandshouldbeconsidereda
keyconceptnotonlyduetoitscompellingrelevanceinDavidRoedigersessaybutalsodueto
itsabidingpresenceinpresentdaysociety.