Reference no: EM132474848

Prompts

Question 1. What according to Eric Williams is the West India interest? Using some of the examples from the chapters of Eric Williams' book, Capitalism and Slavery, discuss the extent to which slavery in the West Indies contributed to the economic development of the United Kingdom. Would England have become a powerful economy without slavery?

Question 2. Both Williams and Baptist mentioned that the cotton industry was capitalism par excellence. Drawing upon at least four (4) examples, identity the ways in which the enslavement of black people fueled the capitalistic drive of the cotton industry in America. Take the examples from the reading "Arms" in the book The Half Has Not Been Told.

Question 3. The demand for reparations for slavery remains a non-issue for many black people throughout the world. Yet where the movement for reparations is active, the debate is very contentious. First, identify and discuss 4 arguments in favor of reparations within the categories of moral, legal, political, and economic. For any of the arguments you have identified, offer a rebuttal. Finally, discuss the extent to which you believe that the demand for reparations undermines or helps the progress towards racial equality in the USA.

Question 4. Discuss the ways in which legal codes and other legislation have been used means of social control. Specifically, how were laws used (and continue to be used) as ways of defining who are included/excluded from society and if included in society, the roles they are expected to play. In your response to this question, you may want to select one time period and discuss an issue such as women's right to vote OR you may select an issue (such as immigration) and look at the various acts passed to curtail immigration.

Question 5. Discuss how race affects the likelihood of poverty and current social policies to address poverty. Be very specific in your response.

Question 6. What is your understanding of feminism? Who is a feminist and who can be a feminist? Discuss the way class and race are part of feminist organizing and theorizing. Use Angela Davis' essay or Yen Espiritu's essay as a guide to understanding the intersectionality of race, class, and gender.

Question 7. Carefully outline Yen Espiritu's argument in the essay, "Race, Gender, Class in the lives of Asian Americans; note her thesis and the way she supports her claim. After carefully outlining her argument, provide a critical analysis of the way the concepts of "model immigrant" and "racial ambiguity" serve to hide the extent of gender discrimination and sexism among Asian Americans.