Race, Race Relations and Racism
In the wake of nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer, Texas athletes presented a statement demanding, among other things, the replacement of The Eyes of Texas with “a new song without racist undertones.” The response to the demands has been mixed. In this essay, articulate your understanding of race, race relations, and racism as it relates to these incidents and critically analyze the response of the Institution and the athletes to them. In your response, be sure to discuss the origins of anti-Black racism; biological and cultural racism; and the relationship between implicit bias, individual racism, internalized racism, and institutionalized racism as they relate to this controversy. Use articles linked below as the basis for your critical analysis.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-eyes-of-texas-song-ut-football/ (Links to an external site.)
https://apnews.com/article/college-football-football-racial-injustice-texas-longhorns-football-david-anderson-ced5a2c90f2f847fb58be59971d7a494 (Links to an external site.)
This prompt is designed to test your understanding of Racism in their different forms and apply that understanding to the interpretation of contemporary events. Your answer should demonstrate your working understanding of most or all of the following concepts:
Anti-Blackness
Different types of racism
Biological
Cultural racism
Individual/interpersonal racism
Institutionalized racism
Implicit Racism/Implicit Bias
Internalized Racism
White privilege
Racial Hierarchy
Adequate essays will in one way or another demonstrate an understanding of most of these concepts.
Good essays will relate these concepts to one another and bring in analysis of the evidence.
Excellent essays will demonstrate understanding, synthesize, and relate these things directly to the evidence provided. They will also make use of the readings in their discussions.
Overall fluency with the conceptual categories and demonstration of a critical approach in utilizing conceptual categories presented in class in relationship to the everyday evidence provided in a well written essay is what we are looking for. There are no completely right or wrong answers. We are looking for thoughtfully analytical answers that use the class materials to understand the issues involved in and behind the prompt.
Be sure to use and properly cite materials from the class lectures, class discussion, and readings in formulating your answers. In addition to the course lectures and readings, cite and reference all other information that you use to help construct your essay such as articles from major newspapers, demographics, scholarly articles or texts.
This essay should be a page and a half, single spaced. (12 font, standard margins).
