Reference no: EM133238057

Assignment:

1. Is race biologically or socially constructed?

2. Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever taken a genetic ancestry test, such as those offered by Ancestry.com or 23 and me? If so, were you (or your family member) surprised by the results? Did the results accord with family lore? Did the results alter the way that you categorize yourself/your family?

3. What race do you identify with? Why? Do you believe that others identify you with this race? Why or why not, and if not, what race do they identify you with? In what settings have you called upon your racial identification? In what settings has the identification given to you by others mattered? Have you changed your racial identification during your lifetime? If so, what motivated you to do so? How strongly is race part of your self-identification? Do you believe that you gain any benefits from your racial identification, and if so what? Do you believe that you suffer any negative consequences from your racial identification, and if so what?

4. What ethnicity do you identify with? Why? (Does the word "culture" fit better for you than "ethnicity"? Why? Does the word "nationality" fit better, and if so, why?) Do you believe that others identify you with this ethnicity, and if not, what ethnicity do they identify you with? Why or why not? In what settings have you called upon your ethnic identification? In what settings has the identification given to you by others mattered? Have you changed your ethnic identification during your lifetime? If so, what motivated you to do so? How strongly is ethnicity/nationality/culture part of your self-identification?

Do you believe that you gain any benefits from your ethnic identification

5. If you were born in the United States, do you identify yourself as having a national origin other than "American"? Why or why not? If you were born outside the United States, in what country were you born? Do you use "national origin" and "nationality" interchangeably, or do you believe that they have different meanings? Do you believe that others identify you with the national origin you identify yourself with? Why or why not, and if not, what national origin do they identify you with? In what settings have you called upon, or been asked to call upon, your national origin identification?

In what settings has the identification given to you by others mattered? Have you changed your national origin identification during your lifetime? If so, what motivated you to do so? How strongly is national origin part of your self-identification? Do you believe that you gain any benefits from your national origin identification, and if so what? Do you believe that you suffer any negative consequences from your national origin identification, and if so what.

6. Have you or someone you know well ever "passed" (i.e., adopted a different racial, ethnic, cultural, nationality, or national origin identification)? What motivated you/them to pass? Were you/they successful in passing? Why or why not? How did you feel about passing, beforehand and after, or, how did you feel when you learned about their passing?

7. How has the government (local, state, or national) affected the way that you and your family identify/are identified with a race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, and/or national origin? How much control have you had over this identification? Do you feel that the identification has been accurate? Fair?

8.With more people in the United States identifying with more than one race or ethnicity, or not identifying with any race or ethnicity, in what direction should the government move with regard to racial and ethnic identification? E.g., do you believe that the government should drop or modify questions about race and ethnicity on the census? Do you believe that the government should stop gathering statistical evidence of race and/or ethnicity? Why, why not, and how?

9. Did Ngai's article and/or any of the other readings change or influence the way you responded to the remainder of the questions in this section, and if so, how?

10. Did Ngai's article inform your reflection on the questions to the first four sections? If so, in what way? Is there a difference in the way you would have answered the above questions before reading the article, and if so how did the article impact your answers?