Race Matters-Chapter 5 to Chapter 8

Race Matters Chapter 5 to Chapter 8 (5-4-3-2-1)
5. In this section of the book Cornel West discusses the many issues of affirmative action. He discusses the many issues going in our culture today, such as sexuality, poverty, and religion. On the poverty stand point he discussed throughout the book a lot about the middle class and the lower class African Americans, and Americans in general’s issues within their society. I think what West wanted readers to understand from this section of the book is the struggle that many African Americans have today with finding their self in society and as a person.
4. If the Elimination of black poverty is a necessary condition of substantive black progress, then the affirmation of black humanity, especially among black people themselves, is a sufficient condition of such programs. Such affirmation speaks to the existential issues of what it means to be a degraded African (man, woman, gay, lesbian, child) in a racist society. How does one affirm oneself without reenacting negative black stereotypes or overreacting to white supremacist ideals? Page 97
How one defines oneself influences what analytical weight one gives to black poverty. Any progressive discussion about the future of racial equality must speak to black poverty and black identity. My views on the necessity and limits of affirmative action in the present moment are informed by how substantive redistributive measures and human affirmative efforts can be best defended and expanded. Page 99
Black sexuality is a taboo subject in America principally because it is a form of black power over which whites have little control-yet its visible manifestations evoke the most visceral of white responses, be it one of seductive obsession or downright disgust. On the one hand, black sexuality among blacks simply does not include whites, nor does it make them a central point of reference. It proceeds as if whites do not exist, as if whites are invisible and simply don’t matter. This form of black sexuality puts black agency center stage with no white presence at all. This can be uncomfortable for white people accustomed to being the custodians of power. Page 126
Of course, neither scenario fully accounts for the complex elements that determine how any particular relationship involving black sexuality actually takes place. Yet they do accent the crucial link between black sexuality and black power in America. In this way, to make black sexuality a taboo subject is to silence talk about a particular kind of power black people are perceived to have over whites. On the surface, this “golden” side is one in which black people simply have an upper hand sexually over whites, given the dominant myths in our society. Page 126
3. Anti-Semitism-the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people. Bourgeois-being of the property-owning class and exploitive of the working class, businessperson: a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise. Conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class; "a bourgeois mentality.” Entail-fee-tail: limit the inheritance of property to a specific class of heirs, the act of entailing property; the creation of a fee tail from a fee simple.
2. This section of the book just reminds me of being an African American in this society and how there are many difficulties of blending in with a crowed. As African American growing up I felt that I had to find my identity as a person through my family and my culture.
1. after all these years do you think that Martin Luther King would be happy with society today or still not satisfied if he were still alive?