1. Emma Moll
Survey of Ethnic American Literature
Midterm Paper
March 5, 2015
Race As A Social Construct
Throughout American history, race has been hidden in the background of both
politics and economics in America. Race is used as a way to categorize and group people
together, which requires no background knowledge of the races being grouped. Although it
may be easy to look at various ethnic groups and categorize them, various laws and acts
enacted by the United States government have added in how ethnic groups that are living in
the United States are categorized and whether or not they can be considered American
citizens or not. The laws and acts enacted on the various ethnic groups have historically always
benefitted one racial group living in America; whites.
Historically speaking, the status of various ethnic groups as American citizens has
depended on various acts and laws during particular time periods. One such act that had a
significant impact on all non-whites living in the United States was the Naturalization Law of
1790. This law stated that only free "white" immigrants would be eligible for naturalized
citizenship. This law affected all "non-white" races living in the United States and remained in
effect for 162 years, which is 162 years of all "non-whites" being considered as aliens and not
as citizens like they should be. The effects of the Naturalization Law can be seen especially
with the Native Americans. "The Naturalization Law excluded Native Americans
from citizenship. Though they were born in the United States, they were regarded as members
of tribes, or as domestic subjects or nationals. (Reflections of Racial Patterns, Takaki, pg

2. 29)." Out of any race living in the United States, the Native Americans are the most natural
United States citizens because this is their land and were living here for many years before
English settlers even discovered America. Even though being white is seen as the mark and key
feature of being American, European settlers immigrated to America and could never be
considered as natural American citizens.
Another such act that was supposed to help the Native Americans become citizens but
actually hurt them quite significantly was the Dawes Act of 1887. This act would allow
individual Native Americans citizenship but it came with a price. "What the act actually did
was grant the president power, at his discretion and without Indians' consent to break up
reservations and allot lands to individual Indians. The Dawes Act also permitted the federal
government to secure tribal consent to sell "surplus" reservation lands to white settlers.
(Reflections of Racial Patterns in America, Takaki, pg 31)." The Dawes Act was a way for the
United States government to attempt without the use of war or relocation to break up tribes and
gain land for white settlers in the process. Like other laws and acts enacted by the government,
the only people that would benefit from the laws and acts would be white citizens and those in
the government. "Between 1887 and 1934, 60 percent of the Indian land base had been
transferred to whites: 60 million acres had been sold as "surplus" lands to whites by the federal
government and 27 million acres of the land allotted to individual Indians had been transferred
to whites through private transactions. (Reflection of Racial Patterns in America, Takaki, pg
31)" Based on those numbers and figures, you can really see that the United States government
was really just after a profit and did so by promising citizenship in exchange for Native
American land. It seems like profit has been one of the driving forces behind various race
related issues in the United States.
The Native Americans weren't the only race to be excluded from citizenship in the
United States. African Americans have faced an ongoing struggle for citizenship while being

3. enslaved for much of the history of the United States. In the writing of the constitution and in
the 1787 constitutional convention, slavery was a very important matter. "Slavery was central,
as a leading participant, James Madison, made clear in notes on convention debates. (Racist
America, Feagin, pg 2)." All of the founding fathers were white, rich, and slaveholders so the
constitution had to be beneficial to them. Although much of the slavery focus and profit was in
the southern part of the United States, the northern part of the United States still made profit
from the slavery in the south. "A great many northern white merchants, shippers, and
consumers still depended on products produced by enslaved workers on southern and border
state plantations, and many merchants sold manufactured goods to the plantations. (Racist
America, Feagin, pg 2)." Much suffering and pain for African Americans was allowed just so
whites could stand to make a profit. Whether or not the northern states were in support of
slavery or not, they were still supporting the institution on slavery by buying products made by
slaves. Although slavery was abolished, racism still exists at multiple levels of society in
America today.
Many types of racism exist in the world, on of the most overlooked types is systemic
racism. "Systemic racism involves reoccurring and unequal relationships between groups and
individuals. At the macro level, large scale institutions with their white controlled normative
structures routinely perpetuate racial subordination and inequalities. (Racist America, Feagin,
pg 13)." One such example of systemic racism is that of the prison system in the United States.
African Americans make up the largest percentage of those incarcerated and whites, for the
most part, make up the workforce of the justice and legal system. This further shows that whites
are again benefitting from the political system, while African Americans and other races are
potentially victims of the same system. "The incarcerated may be said to be victims of irrational
education and social economic policies. (Racialization of America, Webster, pg 112)" Using
Milwaukee as an example, the education that children get on the inner city is not the same

4. education that children get in Whitefish Bay. Because of the difference in education, it can be
theorized that those in the inner city will not be able to attend college and based on numerous
factors will end up incarcerated at some point. After being incarcerated these individuals could
potentially struggle to find a job, housing, and attend college if they desire. Systemic racism can
be considered a new type of enslavement. "When the Civil War and the Thirteenth Amendment
to the United States Constitution put an end to African American enslavement, systemic racism
soon took the form of officially sanctioned segregation. (Racist America, Feagin, pg 17)." Thus,
systemic racism can be seen as a chain that links current racial issues to the past laws and acts
regarding race and the concept of "American".
From looking at the Naturalization Act, the Dawes Act, the United States Constitution,
and the issue of systemic racism, it can really be seen how whites have always benefitted from
using race to define groups of people and whether or not these various races that live in the
United States are American. As long as a particular group is being oppressed, the oppressor will
prosper. The oppressor will always prosper because the oppressor is, in a sense, the same person
that makes and enforces the laws. If the oppressor can keep the various races oppressed, then
the oppressor will always benefit. Throughout the United States history, the laws have changed,
however the racial issues that are currently alive in America have just taken a new form in this
web of patterns that is apparent in America. The only time race or ethnicity is ever made
apparent and obvious has been when the white in power see an opportunity to make a profit or
to acquire more land. As long as whites remain in political and economic power, they will
always benefit because that's the way that they have, historically and presently, designed the
law.

5. Bibliography
Feagin, Joe R. Racist America. Routledge, 2000. 1-31. Print.
Takaki, Ronald. "Reflections on Racial Patterns in America." 26-36. Print.
Webster, Yehudi. "The Racialization of America." 101-52. Print.