Rescripting Race: An Analysis of Racism in Current News Story

Task:

1) Choose a current story in the news (less than 1 year old) that deals explicitly or implicitly with racism.
2) Write a fictional script of four people discussing the issues in the news story: one person mentioned in the news story, two social analysts whose work you have read in class, and yourself.

1.Decide the context of the conversation (conference panel, train ride, dinner party, etc) and what your role is in the discussion (moderator, interloper, host, etc).
2. What are the five points of convergence and tension in the various perspectives? Write them out before starting.  Even where there seems to be general agreement on the broader issues, the conversation should tease out the finer points where the discussants challenge, depart from, or deepen one another’s views.  I will provide an in-depth worksheet (see assignment page) for you to develop these ideas and to see how you understood the material from the class.  (See the worksheet for the Race Interview below-- it will be just as rigorous).

3. Use direct passages or quotes from the social analysts' work and cite the page number to show proof that you are directly engaging with the material.   
2.This script should be roughly around 5 pages double spaced.  That may sound like a lot but in script format it is not.  I am less interested in page count and more interested in the way you use the material to seriously engage in the course material.  If you can show that you have really dug into the readings to juxtapose the various ideas, you will do better than a very long, generalized script. 

Worksheet for the Rescripting Race Project

1.Which is the name of the news story and source: (Be sure to cite your source — for ex:  Morrison, Malcolm. "TSX Recovers on Greece News." Toronto Star, 23 June 2011, www.thestar.com/business/economy/2011/06/23/tsx_recovers_on_greece_news.html. Accessed 7 June 2016.)
2.How does it deal with racism — implicitly or explicitly? Explain your answer. (Refer to the  Bonilla-Silva article in Week 6 to properly answer this question).
3.List your characters here and in one paragraph for each, write out their viewpoints on race or “race-thinking” that will help you analyze your news story.  Cite the course material (points will be deducted if this is not included— ie, your material should not be coming from wikipedia). If you cite Dr. Carter’s video lectures, use the following format: (Carter 2019: “The Color of Love: Eugenics as a Nationalist Project in Brazil”).  When you are discussing yourself, you can reflect on the way you were socialized to think about race or how your thinking has shifted (if at all) after reading through some of the material in class.
4.In each of the five points above, discuss why those people disagree or agree with each other.  Be sure to cite the page numbers of the material from class from which you are drawing your material. (For example, Baker 15). I am that professor who will actually go and look up the page numbers if it seems made up).