Race: The Power of Illusion, III

In part three of Race: The Power of Illusion, it illustrates historical data that represent how blacks became racialized in modern society. A person described race as being an assumption of historical meaning, and that even though it is not a biological truth it is always present and prevalent in society. The biggest problem with race in the early to mid 1900’s is that privileged white scientist who were part of the majority, believed false characteristics based on stereo types were hereditary with the black community. Because whiteness was a key to citizenship the whites were able to define hierarchy and social construction. The problem with the US being a highly racialized country was that it farced outsiders to fit in with the privileged whites, yet the whites worked to prevent this from happening.
The largest occurrences in which minorities tried to fit in with white culture, was in the housing market. Since the whites held most political positions they were able to make the laws. This is a big reason why physical differences didn’t make race in the 1900s it was based on laws which created a new explanation for it. White was a privilege by law and science, and along with it came power and opportunity. Citizens were denied citizenship based on color not beliefs, whiteness was what whites said it was. Governments created redlining in neighborhoods to keep the blacks from entering into self proclaimed “good-white” neighborhoods. These laws forced all the blacks into a concentrated neighborhood which created little motivation for improvement both for the landowner and for the renters. More than 90% of the housing developments involved in the urban renewal projects were not replaced. Yet once the fair housing contract came to pass in the 1950s, it spread panic in the white neighborhoods. As blacks moved in and tried to “fit in” with white society, they were still cast with negative stereotypes based on color. As the blacks moved in the whites moved out in fear of loosing property value and net worth. Because of the laws and beliefs of the realtors during this time a colored neighborhood was a cheap neighborhood. This denied next generation opportunity for the black families. Their net worth could not increase due to housing restrictions.
What made it possible for the housing market to decrease value just because someone with a different skin color moved next door? These people were able to fit in and provide for their families better in many cases than the whites were. Yet with in only a few years the value of their house went below what it used to be worth when they purchased it. Even with a fair housing act how it was possible for the real estate agency to decide value.
This video helps you realize that race will always be an issue. Even when the white privileged found a way to say it was ok to be black and that you can be equal, they found a way to work around it and create a new form of racial segregation based on color but with a more subtle way of discriminating.