Final Paper InstructionsUtilize the documentary “Race, The Power of an Illusion” to write about the idea of “structural racism” to describe and analyze the ways in which racism becomes embedded in our society over time by analyzing a contemporary issue or problem. (The Full Documentary is in the week 8 folder)Final Paper: 20 pointsMy expectation is for you to reflect on the elements of the documentary to use its historical and ideological explanations of racism to describe ongoing/contemporary forms of racism that are embedded within our current social structure as an example of structural racism. The essay must utilize examples of racism from the documentary to explain how the social construction of race as a historic and ongoing process has become rooted in our society as expressed through consistent and ongoing forms of racial inequality. A strong essay:
- Will utilize the documentary, class readings, and other sources to define and explain the term structural racism. (Be wary of just googling “structural racism” as this is an opportunity to utilize course materials to explain your own conceptualization of the term as discussed in those materials.)
- Will not just summarize the documentary!
- Will utilize examples from and analysis of the documentary to connect to some current issue (current issues are listed below)
- This is what will allow you to describe the “embeddedness” of racism over time
- Will utilize sociological concepts learned in class such as socialization, social institutions, norms, ideology, material realities, criminalization, intersectionality etc…
- Will utilize additional sources from class besides the documentary (videos and readings)
- Will utilize additional resources not utilized in class (prioritizing academic sources and journal articles) (There is no set amount of resources you must use, either from class or not, but these are suggestions for a stronger essay.)
- Will ultimatly analyze a contemporary issue of structural racism as a means of explaining and defining structural racism by utilizing the documentary as a frame and guiding point for the essay.
Papers must be uploaded via blackboard. Your paper must be typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12 point Times New Roman or Calibri font only. Your paper should be between 4-6 pages in length. Along with the documentary the essay must utilize two of the articles and or book chapters from class and can also utilize videos from class as well as other academic sources. Using outside sources will lead to a stronger paper. Format your citations using ASA or APA style. You should be familiar with proper citation, as well as the appropriate use of quotations. Papers that excessively use quotations will lose points. Your paper should be in your own voice, which means using quotations selectively and only when necessary. Any type of plagerism including presenting work as yours that was not written by you will result in a zero grade. THIS INCLUDES ANY USE OF CHAT GPT OR SIMILAR SOFTWARE. Please proofread your paper. The question is broad enough to allow you to discuss issues discussed in class as well as a whole world and history of other topics and themes not addressed in class. Use what you have learned in class to write about something that interests you. Remember that, some of the themes that may interest you for this essay will be discussed later in class such as class/stratification and issues of immigration. Possible topics include but are not limited to: (Haiti/Dominican Republic conflicts).
Below I will leave you the three links into which the documentary is divided. If you are going to use an external source of information, it should be only and exclusively to search for information on the conflicts between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
