Daniel Hadavi

Professor Justin Weiss

COMS 356 Tu 7:00
20 September 2016
Reading Response #1 Chapter 3: Globalizing Body Politics and Place and Kinship
There are various factors that influence (A) the text we call history, (B) history as viewed
through intercultural interactions, and (C) the social construct of race; all of which must be
carefully analyzed and considered when seeking to understand culture. These factors include
varying degrees of classism, extreme and sometimes subversive forms of racism, and gender
discrimination. All these topics must be viewed with a wide lens so as to avoid cultural bias or
any form of ethnocentrism. Ultimately, these questions are asked in an effort to identify
ethnocentrism and hegemony when viewing everyday communication, which can, and often
does, lead to varying categories of supremacy or domination.
History is often written by the victors rather than the losers. Textbooks and accounts of
historical events are shaped by those who won the battles and returned as conquerors. These
accounts are often skewed and misrepresented only to further the goals of those in power and
perpetuate the existing social and governmental order. A book released by Johann Friedrich
Blumenbach in the 1700s stratified the human species into five races (1) people of European
descent, (2) the Malay, (3) the Native-Americans (4) the Mongolian or yellow race, (5) the black
race (Blumenbach, 1775/ 1969). This scale, that placed Caucasians of European descent first,
was developed and published by a German anatomist. His work
reflected the prevailing ideology of the time, white-supremacy. Through the normalization of his
text a system of oppression and domination, ranking whites ahead of all else, became
legitimized. This account represents only one of many similar texts that narrated the European

colonizers version of history. It is this victor-based history that has shaped the perceptions,
ideologies, and views of ethnocentrism.
History has greatly influenced intercultural interactions. In Place and Kinship, author
Donald Grinde Jr. discusses how his account of American history is heavily influenced by his
standpoint of a male Native-American college student and professor. One such account was of
the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He recalls that after the assassination he went to
lower the flag to half-mast with several other students, both Asian American and white. They
were confronted by a group of white students that told [them] threateningly that [they] werent
to lower the flag since Kennedy was a nigger lover (Grinde, 1996). Grindes account of this
historical event is detailed and characterized by an interaction with a group of racially prejudicial
students, a direct example of the historical implications of intercultural interactions as influenced
by prejudicial history.
The social construct of race, as alluded to earlier, has been created, reinforced, and
perpetuated by both written text and history. Race now affects all individuals in America. Since
the election of President Barack Obama the argument has been made that we have entered into a
post racial America and that we are now blind to race. There is however a clear divide between
racial standpoints in America. The recent rise of groups like Black Lives Matter is a clear
indicator that there is much disapproval with the current status of many disenfranchised groups
in America. It is difficult to assert then that America is now blind to race and that there is no
racial inequity. With President Obamas election racial divides have certainly lessened. It is
therefore more reasonable to state that, since the advent of new technological innovations in
communication and travel, racial divides have certainly become less salient, and American
society has taken steps to create more racial equality.

Works Cited
Blumenbach, J.F. (1969). On the natural varieties of mankind. New York, NY: Bergman.
(Original work published 1775)
Grinde, D. (1996). Place and kinship. In B. Thompson & S. Tyagi (Eds.) Names we call home.
New York: Routledge.