Race, labor, land, and empire
The readings for this section cover a formative period of U.S. history, albeit in a way that diverges from what Takaki would call the master narrative. Instead, the work of Nakano Glenn, Horne, Estes, Dunbar-Ortiz, Hannah-Jones, and Takaki offer us complementary frameworks of analysis critical of this nation’s origins.
For your first thinkpiece essay, I would like to see you synthesize and evaluate the arguments of two of the scholars named above. (I strongly recommend that you include either Takaki or Nakano Glenn as one of your selections.) In your essay, you will address the following questions, using the texts as evidence to support your analysis:
How do they understand the history of race in the United States? (That is, what is their argument?)
What are some of the important aspects that support their perspective? (That is, what is their evidence?)
Why is this so important, and what are some of the other considerations they ask us to make? (That is, what is at stake here, and how is race related to labor, land, and/or empire?)
Your response should be at least 600 and no more than 1,200 words total, and provide appropriate citations only from the assigned texts from this unit.
This thinkpiece assignment is your opportunity to write a long-form essay engaging in the materials and ongoing conversations in an in-depth and thoughtful manner. These are more substantial than the discussion forum posts, and will not be shared with the entire class. I will grade your essays upon the strength of your response, your engagement with the readings and course materials, and your ability to demonstrate analysis and critical thinking. I expected you to utilize your notes and the assigned texts to support and develop your essay, but be clear—these are demonstrations of original thought and analysis, written in your own words. Cite, paraphrase, and summarize appropriately. We will use APA citation guidelines in this course. (I recommend the Purdue OWL, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html Links to an external site.)