Social-Historical Context of Racial Formations

Question: What are the limits of the idology of the American Dream when understood along the lines of race, class, and gender? Answer: Introduction Racial formation is about how racial categories are determined by the economic, social and political forces of the time(Winut). Racial Formation during World War II and the America Dream in Chicago During the time of World War II, the social life of American changed drastically. The government took over the countrys economy while 17 million of Americans (black or white) went to war, because they were willing to disrupt their lives for a promise of a better life in the future after war. The most affected groups during the war were the black people living in Chicago. Their social lives were highly affected, where 24,000 of black owned land was repossessed and transformed in to country clubs for the white people. The American dream favoured the white over Blacks(Coats). Houses owned by black people were highly taxed than those of the white people. Black people were largely cut out of the mortgage market during World War II. And those that afforded to own homes were consigned to central city communities most of which was paid to the white folks. Socially, the blacks were not allowed to visit white owned restaurants, board and sit in white busses and could not even be given a chance to enjoy class and lifestyles. The height of racism came in after the world war and continued all the way to the late 60s as there was no more interracial living as observed before the war. Conclusion In conclusion, the World War II, did not fulfil the American dream, but made it worse by encouraging breaking up of social, economic and political structures of the country. In the end, the Americans took the war from the world and brought in in their own country. Works Cited Coats, Tai-Nehisi. The case of reparations. 2014. 18 May 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/. Winut, Howard. Race and Race theory. 2000. 18 May 2016. https://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/winant/Race_and_Race_Theory.html.