The requirement of this paper is that you write a 2 page (double-spaced, standard fonts and margins) essay in which you respond to your group’s set of Reaction papers about their own ethnic identity.

What I will be looking for is that you closely read their papers and connected the themes and content of those papers to the readings and concepts we have talked about so far in our class.

These readings and presentations include the following:

Lee, Jennifer and Frank Bean. The Diversity Paradox: Immigration and the Color Line in Twenty-First Century America. Russell Sage Foundation Publications.

The presentations on Ethnic Identity, Mary Waters, and the video “Race the Power of an Illusion: The Stories We Tell”

Dalmage, Heather. “Discovering Racial Borders” Available on ICollege.

Bonilla-Silva’s “Rethinking Racism”

In this paper you should address the following questions related to your group’s essays:

How do your groupmates identify racially/ethnically? To what degree are these identities as authentic vs. symbolic? Are they imposed or a choice? What experiences of discrimination did your groupmates report, and do you see a pattern in these narratives? In what ways did your groupmates report reinforcing or challenging the existing boundaries between racial/ethnic groups?

The best papers will critically engage the relevant ideas presented on these topic. While relating to these questions on a personal level is encouraged, I also want to see you weave in a discussion of the readings that reflects your close reading of the assigned material and thoughtful reflection of the ideas presented in class.