Regardless if you agree or disagree, your job is to explain Melamed’s argument and demonstrate your understanding the concepts she introduces. What follows is a list of points that your paper should cover. Do not answer each of these questions separately. These points are all interconnected, so it makes sense to write in standard essay format. Again, you are not making an argument in this paper; you are simply summarizing Melamed’s ideas. Your finished paper should be approximately 4-5 double spaced pages.
• Provide a synopsis of her main argument, citing sections of the text that support this position;
• Identify the three historical phases of U.S. history that she goes over. Be specific about the years that each period spans. Identify the significant events or cultural shifts that mark the end of one period and entry into the next. Explain why that event triggered a transition into the next phase;
• Explain the nuances that distinguish each of these three phases from one another and the extent to which racial politics is simply the terrain on which economic ideologies are enforced domestically or globally. Phrased another way, how do the racial politics change in order to promote the U.S.’s economic agenda? The racial politics are somewhat different in each of these phases;
• Connect the U.S.’s economic agenda as the defining attribute of nationalism/national belonging, and as the basis of our claims to moral character, which we then export abroad. This point is about understanding how the U.S. talks about itself and justifies the role it takes on the global stage.
