Discussion post #8
Part One
• States (governments) have existed for as much as 7,000 years. What is the broad history of states (governments)?
• What functions does the nation-state perform in the culture of capitalism? To what extent is this different from history’s previous versions of states (governments)?
Part Two
• 1) How has the nation-state been constructed from the standpoint of social engineering, including as discussed in “The history of racist colonial violence …” and previous readings? 2) How does this pertain to the history of racial and ethnic relations—not only in the U.S. but also elsewhere—including slavery, genocide and oppression, immigration, and forms of racial-ethnic oppression in general.
• What is the history of redlining and racial covenants in the U.S., and what have been their consequences for racial inequality?
• “The age of nation-states” (The Western Tradition, episode 44) (video; skip the introductory music)
• “The history of racist colonial violence can help us understand police violence”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/09/01/history-racist-colonial-violence-can-help-us-understand-police-violence/Links to an external site.
• “Australia to pay hundreds of millions in reparation to Indigenous ‘stolen generations’”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/05/australia-indigenous-school-reparation/Links to an external site.
• “How Catholics avoided paying millions in reparations for [Canadian] residential schools”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/02/world/canada/catholics-reparations-indigenous-canada-schools.htmlLinks to an external site.
• “Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.htmlLinks to an external site.
• “Schools tried to forcibly assimilate indigenous kids. Can the US make amends?” (video, 8 minutes)
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/schools-tried-to-forcibly-assimilate-indigenous-kids-can-the-us-make-amendsLinks to an external site.
• “A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation, redlining, evictions, and exclusion, separates black and white America”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-wealth-gap.htmlLinks to an external site.
• “Visualizing the hidden histories of race and privilege in the built environment”
https://mappingprejudice.umn.edu/Links to an external site.
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