Race, Violence, and National Identities

Description

Discuss how national identities were constructed and contested in the different societies we discuss post-emancipation.  Discuss at least two examples of “nation-building” from the perspective of nationalist elites: for instance in the United States post-Civil War, Mexico post-revolution, or Brazil post-emancipation. How did elites such as Roosevelt, Vasconcelos, Freyre, and others try to construct their national ideals around “race”? What do these nation-building efforts have in common? How do they differ? Please also discuss attempts at contesting the nationalist racial ideals promoted in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, giving at least 2 examples. How did figures like Ida B. Wells, Guillermo Bonfil Batalla, and Abdias Nascimento criticize the racial structures in their societies? What obstacles did their efforts to change their societies encounter? PLEASE only use these readings as resources 1. Manliness and Civilization by Gail Bederman chapters 1, 2, 5, and conclusion. 2. Mexican Nationalism (recommend pages 11-19, 20-32,  41-52) 3. “Race and Ethnic Relations,” “Letter from Brazil,” “Brazil: Study in Black, Brown, and Beige,” “Immigrant Ethnicity,” “Myth of Racial Democracy,” “What Color are You,” and “Mixed Blood” 4. Politics, Nationality, and the Meanings of ‘Race’ in Brazil