Institutionalizing Counter‐Memories of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement: The National Civil Rights Museum and an Application of the Interest‐Convergence Principle

During the post–Reconstruction era in the United States, white southerners marked the cultural landscape with monuments and memorials honoring the Confederate cause and its heroes. These racialized symbols enjoyed an undisputed claim to public squares and parks throughout the South. It was not until the late twentieth century that commemorations to the black freedom struggle were publicly supported. This analysis examines the institutionalization of counter‐memories of the civil rights movement in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Motel, the site of the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The author draws on collective memory, cultural trauma, and social movements research as well as critical race theory to explain the creation of the National Civil Rights Museum. Using primary and secondary data sources the author examines how social memory agents, a changing political culture, and the passage of time mediated the cultural trauma of King's assassination and influenced the institutionalization of oppositional collective memories. Relying on Derrick Bell's interest‐convergence principle, the author concludes that the creation of this major memorial museum was a result of the convergence of white and black interests, specifically the economic and political interests of white elites and the cultural and political interests of black symbolic entrepreneurs.     

Expanding Boundaries of Whiteness? A Look at the Marital Patterns of Part‐White Multiracial Groups

Using a boundary perspective (Alba and Nee 2003 ), I examine the marital behavior of three self‐identified multiracial groups: black/whites, American Indian/whites, Asian/whites. With a focus on marriage with whites, I assess whether the boundaries of whiteness are expanding to include these part‐white multiracial groups. Marrying whites at a large scale may signify that part‐white multiracial Americans are in the process of being accepted as “white.” At the same time, due to differences in the racial identity experiences of multiracial groups, marital patterns may differ by racial combination. Based on analysis of 2008–2012 American Community Survey data, I find that the majority of all three groups are married to whites, suggesting that most members in these groups are on the path to whiteness. On the other hand, multinomial logistic regression analysis demonstrates that American Indian/whites and Asian/whites are more likely than black/whites to have a white spouse, relative to spouses of another race/ethnicity. Moreover, separate regression analyses by multiracial group reveal gender differences in their likelihood of marrying whites for black/whites and Asian/whites. These results indicate racial stratification in the marriage market among part‐white multiracial Americans, with further stratification by gender for some groups.     

‘Keeping the story alive’: is ethnic and racial dilution inevitable for multiracial people and their children?

This paper explores how multiracial parents with White partners articulate narratives of ethnic and racial ‘dilution’ and cultural loss in relation to the socialization of their children. In our broader study of how multiracial parents raise their children, we found that parents commonly spoke of concerns around dilution and generational change in relation to four key themes: the loss of cultural knowledge and diminishing practices that connected parents and their children to a minority ancestry; the embodiment of White‐appearing children and the implications of this for family relationships; the use of biological or genetic discourses in relation to reduced blood quantum; and concerns amongst Black/White participants about whitening and the loss of racial consciousness. Parental understandings of dilution varied greatly; some expressed sadness at ‘inevitable’ loss; others were more philosophical about generational change; and others still proactively countered loss through strategies to connect their children to their minority heritages. We show that despite growing awareness of the social constructedness of race and an emergent cosmopolitanism among these parents, discourses of genetics, cultural lineage, and the ‘naturalness’ of race continue to hold sway amongst many multiracial parents.     

道家寓言与"夸父逐日"神话

寓言是中国古代神话形成的一个重要途径。战国时期形成的"夸父逐日"神话是由道家寓言故事演化而来的,寓意在于讥讽夸父式违背天道不自量力的愚者行为。用进化论和自然神话论解释而来的原始社会父权制确立的反映和自然现象的反映等结论不能成立。摈弃西方进化论神话理论,采用文化要素分析法,用中国文化来解释中国神话是21世纪中国神话学研究的理想选择。     

城市农民工社会保障问题的思考

城市化是有着丰富涵义的社会变迁过程。城市农民工作为我国城市化进程中的一个特定部分,由于体制、环境以及自身素质等方面因素,使得他们对于城市知觉处于一种普遍的焦虑之中。他们的社会保障由于缺乏应有的制度安排,而成为城市中的弱势族群。关注城市农民工的生存状况,妥善解决农民工的社会保障是解决当前中国农民工问题的关键所在。     

种族、性别和后现代主义——由福克纳笔下的南方女性形象说起

威廉.福克纳采用后现代主义手法解构了南方贵族主流文化,以其独特的视角塑造了有着浓厚地方性与历史性特征的南方女性形象,深刻揭露了南方的奴隶制和种族主义,强烈谴责了南方清教思想对妇女的摧残。他不但是一位痛恨奴隶制和种族歧视,同情黑人命运的反种族主义作家,而且是一位同情妇女,尊重妇女,关心妇女问题的人道主义作家。     

The Social Ecology of Race and Ethnicity School Achievement Gaps: Economic,Neighborhood, School,and Family Factors

This study used a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students to examine the degree to which economic, neighborhood, school, and family factors contributed to three points on a proposed school outcome continuum: (1)avoidance of problem behavior, (2)sense of school coherence, and (3)grades. Multilevel models were employed to account for the clustering of students inside schools. Results suggested that though family and neighborhood social factors contribute to variance in school outcomes, family and neighborhood economic factors revealed the largest potential to explain and therefore present leverage points to reduce race and ethnicity achievement gaps.     

Of Piddley Results and Unanticipated Consequences: Comments on Fein

Fein's discussion of race relations is anchored in two basic objections to planned social change. First, such attempts involve problematic ethical and values choices. Second, the very nature of society confounds our best efforts at reform. While this paper offers no solutions to the ethical dilemmas, it does contend that guided social change is not as fruitless or dangerous as Fein implies.     

The Influence of Race/Ethnicity and Gender on Psychological and Social Well-Being

Abstract

Psychological and social well-being was investigated, using a sample of non-disadvantaged African American men and women, and White men and women. Three standardized scales, the Generalized Contentment Scale, the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, and the Cohesion subscale of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale were used to measure well-being. The data were analyzed through t-test, ANOVA, and regression statistical procedures.

An association between race, gender and well-being was supported. More importantly, race was found to be the most important single variable in predicting levels of well-being. These results may support the continuing significance of race in the lives of African American individuals and families.