Assignment: Double Consciousness and Avoiding Stigma

Double consciousness, covering, and passing are all ways in which people respond to stigma. Double consciousness refers to when you view yourself through the eyes of a critical observer. For example, Arthur Ashe, a professional tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s, experienced double consciousness when he saw his daughter playing with a white doll. He saw himself both as a father who wanted his daughter to enjoy herself and as a black father who was concerned about the perception the black community might have if they were to view his daughter’s behavior in public. He was aware or conscious of two selves: his inner self, which was not critiqued by the outside world, and the self that represented the stigma of being black during this time in history. He was faced with an identity conflict. Should he allow his daughter’s behavior and identify with his inner self, or should he ask her to change her behavior and avoid the discomfort of his potentially stigmatized self? Our text explains that people can avoid stigma in two ways: covering or passing. Families who are involved in transracial adoptions often feel the effects of double consciousness and are confronted with a dilemma similar to the one faced by Arthur Ashe.

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To prepare for this Assignment:

Review the “Framework Essay” in Section II and Readings 22 and 23 in the course text. Pay particular attention to the concepts of covering, double consciousness, and stigma.
Review the podcast, Growing Up “White,” Transracial Adoptee Learned to Be Black. Gather your thoughts regarding the pros and cons of transracial adoption.
Reflect on how families involved in transracial adoptions relate to the concept of double consciousness.
Contemplate the advantages and disadvantages of covering and passing as a means of handling stigma related to race or identity.
Consider how race and ethnicity covering and passing can be used to both cause and resolve individual identity conflicts.

The Assignment (3–4 pages):

Describe the concerns held by both adoptive parents and adopted children in transracial families.
What other concerns would you add that were not discussed and why?
Explain how the concerns you discussed in the first two questions relate to the concept of double consciousness.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of race and ethnicity covering and passing.
Address how covering and passing can be used to both cause and resolve identity conflicts for both transracial adoptees and in general.

Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation.

Learning Resources

REQUIRED READINGS

Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis T. C. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Section I, “Framework Essay”

Section II, “Framework Essay”

Section II, Reading 22, “Latinos in the U.S. Race Structure”

Section II, Reading 23, “Everybody’s Ethnic Enigma”

REQUIRED MEDIA

NPR Staff. (2014). Growing up “white,” transracial adoptee learned to be black [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2014/01/26/266434175/growing-up…
Click the blue play button to listen to this podcast.

Growing Up “White,” Transracial Adoptee Learned to Be Black Transcript (HTML)