Define, describe, and analyze the phenomenon “cultural racism.” Show how it is exhibited by Ginger Jacobson’s respondents, and discuss how their cultural racism ties to other two other concepts such as cultural tourism, colorblindness, hyper-sexualization, and racial formation.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Cultural racism is a type of racism that explains inequalities of race by blaming an inferior racial culture. The “culture of poverty theory” as applied to Blacks [the “Black” poor share faulty values, morals, and practices and a deviant subculture brought on by their poverty] is an example of how culture and race can be brought together to focus on consequences rather than causes and use them as explanatory. That is to say, cultural racism fails to understand or explain structural factors that create low income neighborhoods and it also fails to shed a light on how dominant groups create structures that perpetuate poverty that then continue to advantage them. In essence, cultural racism works similar to biological racism in that it points to individual “natural” inferiority and blames individuals for their circumstances while failing to shed a light on the structures that create different outcomes.

Answers to the second part of this question will vary depending on terms picked. For example, Jacobson’s respondents frequently use the cultural racist framework: they stereotype all Blacks based on hip-hop and consider Blacks a monolithic cultural group. Through the process of “cultural tourism” (e.g., viewing music videos and listening to music, makes one “know Black culture” and understand “Black folks”) media venues and individuals together reinforce racial formation around difference and false understanding. They conflate a “deficient” Black culture with hip-hop (e.g., “all Blacks are uneducated” “obnoxious”; “hypersexual”; “have little opportunity”) and perpetuating stereotypes that also draw on the intersections of gender, class, and sexuality and contribute to racial distance. The bottom line is that Jacobson’s research shows evidence that hip-hop music videos can inform perceptions of race among its fans.