INSTRUCTIONS :
Structure and Format
Accepted document formats: pdf, doc, docx
Read the handouts in the writing module before you start.
Please structure this assignment as an essay, with a short introduction, an arguable thesis statement, and paragraphs that begin (or end) with a clear topic sentence claim. Your essay should be at least 6 paragraphs long.
One reason to assign an essay topic is for students to actively engage with course readings. Please use class sources to define key concepts and to support your points. Please include quotes and specific evidence to support your points. All information should be cited with the author, year, and page number. Essays without concrete evidence from class sources, or without citations, will earn a failing grade.
It should be between 1000 and 1400 words
Use 1” margins and 12 point font.
Please double space the text.
You do not need a title nor a title page. Please include the name of the menu item selected.
Please include a reference page. List all the sources used in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Please see the handout on formatting for more information.
Please cite the book using parenthetical references. If you mention his name in the text, put the year published after his name and the page # at the end. Otherwise, put all of the information in the parenthesis. For example:
According to Michael Omi and Howard Winant (2022), “ . . . .” (p. 33).
OR
“. . . . .” (Omi and Winant 2022: 33).
You do need a reference page. Each reading needs its own citation. Here is an example:
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. 2022. “Racial Formations” Pp. 32-38 in Rethinking the Color Line: Readings in Race and Ethnicity, 7th Edition, edited by Charles Gallagher. Los Angeles. Sage Publishing.
Social Change
Many changes have occurred since George Floyd’s death in May 2020, largely due to protests staged and attended by average people like us.
President Biden declared Juneteenth, which commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States, a national holiday.
People — both protestors and city workers — took down statues. Those statues included European explorers such as Christopher Columbus, who initiated the colonization of the Americas; Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis, who owned slaves and fought for African American Slavery; missionaries such as Father Junipero Serra, who enslaved and tortured Americas first peoples; and even local settlers such as Sacramento’s John Sutter, who also enslaved hundreds of local native peoples.
Protestors have called to create a more just policing force, as well as to “defund the police” and use the money to create services and outreach programs instead. People have continued to question decades of mass incarceration and the effects that it has on our communities, particularly the most vulnerable ones.
And major corporations and sports teams have finally addressed racist branding and racist mascots. Quaker Oats removed their iconic Aunt Jemima pancakes and syrup, replacing it with Pearl Milling Company, which is the name of the company that originally produced the pancake mix. Likewise, Dryers Ice Cream rebranded its Eskimo pie, which had an Eskimo on the wrapper, as Edy’s Pie. Similarly, the Washington Redskins finally decided to change their name and mascot, following years of protests and similar changes in sports teams across America. For instance, Calaveras High School retired their “Redskins” mascot and identity in June 2019, and Stanford retired their “Indian” mascot in 1970.
ESSAY TOPIC:
Racist Brands and Mascots
Frank “What is in a Name? For Some Brands, a Racist History Primed to be Toppled” (in the Gallagher book starting on p. 300), Merskin “Winnebagos, Cherokees, Apaches, and Dakotas: The Persistence of Stereotyping Indians in American Advertising and Brands” (in the Gallagher book starting on p. 336) and the George Floyd biography, particularly chapter 14 “American Hope” are required. Be sure to cite the author for any information you use. Cite Frank and Merskin, not Gallagher.
You should address these questions in your essay:
How and why did racist branding and mascots happen in the first place? What is the history of this?
Why were the brands and mascots removed? What was the logic behind it?
What do corporations and sports teams have to gain by removing racists brand and mascots?
How and why do the authors think will this help improve race relations and create a more just society?
How and why do you think will this help improve race relations and create a more just society?
What are some of the limitations of this approach for making social change? Limitations can be defined as a limiting condition, a weakness, or an inability to make change. Here, I am asking for you to think about what the approach cannot change or improve. . Please do not discuss obstacles, such as people being unwilling to make reforms or not having a budget for them.
