Summary of Ann Morning: Reckoning with Race: Fluidity, Invention, and Reality

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00:00:00 - 01:00:00

Ann Morning discusses the idea of race as a social construct, and how this concept is a minority opinion in the United States. She conducted interviews with college students in the Northeast, and found that the most popular way for them to talk about race is to cast it as a matter of cultural difference.

00:00:00 Dr. Anne Morning discusses her research on race and ethnicity, and how it relates to census classification and individual's concepts of difference. She discusses how her work has been supported by the University of Washington.
00:05:00 Ann Morning discusses the three main conceptions of race in the United States, namely the long-standing traditional biological concept, the cultural concept, and the social construction concept. She argues that these concepts are not based in reality, but are instead based on our perceptions of similarity and difference.
00:10:00 Ann Morning discusses the concept of race being a social construct, stressing that it is an idea that changes based on the historical context and the political and social moment. She goes on to discuss how race is a system of classification that we have invented, grounded in our subjective assessments of similarity and difference. Finally, she discusses how race is just one of many classification systems that we humans have invented, alongside astrology.
00:15:00 This video discusses the idea that race is socially constructed, and how this concept is a minority opinion in the United States. The speaker conducted interviews with college students in the Northeast, and found that the most popular way for them to talk about race is to cast it as a matter of cultural difference.
00:20:00 The video discusses how the concept of race is socially constructed, and how even in an era where the findings of the human genome were so widely publicized to challenge traditional notions of race, there is still much confusion and uncertainty among scientists. The national academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has established a committee to provide guidance on the use of race, ethnicity, and ancestry in human genomics.
00:25:00 The author discusses the controversy around the use of race in medicine and how it has persisted despite concerns about its ethical validity. She argues that the contemporary spin on race, which sees it as a force for good, has helped it to remain viable in the biological sciences.
00:30:00 Ann Morning discusses the case of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who self-identified as black, and the public reaction to her story. She notes that one of the reasons the story garnered so much attention was due to the "perfect storm" of anxieties and resentments about race that it tapped into. The case also raised questions about affirmative action policies, which many Americans feel are illegitimate and unfair.
00:35:00 Ann Morning discusses the controversy surrounding Rachel Dolezal and the ways that people of color feel offended by her claim to be black. She also discusses the concept of race, which is not determined by biology, but by social norms. Despite the evidence to the contrary, many people still want to think of races as fixed and immutable.
00:40:00 Ann Morning discusses the idea of black biological exceptionalism, which she defines as the belief that black people and black people alone have special physical characteristics which determine their performance on the sports field. She discusses her research with students in the United States and Italy, and finds that these beliefs are held by both groups of students regardless of their racial makeup. The third commonality that she found was that these beliefs are often backed up by a back story of how black people had to develop these physical capacities to survive in their environment of Africa.
00:45:00 This YouTube video discusses the importance of race in the context of sports and its social constructivist implications. The author argues that race is a social construct that is difficult to change, and that it matters how people understand and conceptualize race. The author also points to examples from old textbooks to illustrate her point.
00:50:00 Ann Morning discusses the concept of race and how it shapes the steps that we take to eradicate inequality. She discusses how disparities in education attainment, wealth, and life expectancy are due to differences in race, and how these differences are socially engineered. She talks about how gender identity is also a socially constructed category, and how the data collected on Rachel Dolezal can help us to understand how these constructs operate.
00:55:00 Ann Morning discusses the case of Rachel Howe, a white woman who claimed to be black, and the reactions from different groups of people. She discusses the one drop rule in the United States, which allowed Howe to be accepted as black for a long time. She also discusses the history of racial passing in the United States and the limitations that it has never been open to everyone.

01:00:00 - 01:25:00

Ann Morning discusses the fluidity of race and how it is often contested in public spaces. She compares the United States to Italy, noting the stark difference in how membership in a national society is determined in each country. As an American, she regards herself as encompassing a larger view of what it means to be an American than someone who is just a citizen of a particular country.

01:00:00 Ann Morning discusses the differences between social constructivism and culturalism, emphasizing the importance of individuality. She discusses the one drop rule, which is based on racism and slavery, and how it affects everyday life.
01:05:00 Ann Morning discusses how she thinks about the use of the word "racialized" and why it is more problematic than the word "transgendered." She also touches on the issue of transgender acceptance and how it may have had something to do with the conflation of gender and sexuality in the United States.
01:10:00 Ann Morning discusses how race is a social construct and how it is often contested in public spaces. She also mentions how transracial adoption is an example of a race that is contested.
01:15:00 In this video, Ann Morning discusses how various aspects of race are being reconsidered in the United States. She discusses how people are claiming membership in different racial groups through different means, including cosmetic surgery, genetic genealogy, and membership in the National Society based on blood ties. She compares the US and Italy, noting the stark difference in how membership in a national society is determined in each country. As an American, she regards herself as encompassing a larger view of what it means to be an American than someone who is just a citizen of a particular country.
01:20:00 Ann Morning discusses the fluidity of race, discussing how Rachel Dolezal, who was born to white parents, has been allowed to identify as black despite not having a clear lineage to the black community. Morning also discusses how white women may gain psychological benefits from assuming another racial persona, and how this phenomena is more prevalent today than in the past.
01:25:00 Ann Morning discusses the importance of putting the people studied in the center of research, as opposed to imposing one's own interpretations on them. She also discusses the importance of balancing one's authorial voice, social scientific voice, and ideas with a great deal of respect and difference to what people are telling her about their lived experiences.