Paul Gilroy - blog tasks
Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login.
Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:
1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?
He believes race was caused by racism and that racial identities were constructed through historical conflict.
2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?
He says racism wasn’t caused by human nature but rather by history/historical events such as colonialism which turned cultural differences into racial hierarchies.
3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?
The idea that humans belong to fixed groups based on their ethnicity/race and shouldn’t mix. He rejects this idea as he believes in a fluid identity that is shaped by history.
4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?
He sees diasporic identity as a product of movement throughout history: ‘based on routes taken throughout history, and not through the roots of origin.’
5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?
He believed they were ‘external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation’.
6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?
There’s a clash of identities and ideologies which leads to cultural tension which has negative effects such as racism, cultural conflict and double consciousness.
7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.
They can use the media to maintain a connection to their home country by engaging with cultural content, music and political movements.
8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?
He believes the modern world was built upon a normalised view of slavery and it has links to capitalism and black identity.
9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?
In the media black people are often represented using stereotypes like rapper, criminal, gang member or athlete. This makes black people believe that this is how society views them and they see themselves through a racist pov as well as their personal pov.
10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.
The film challenges stereotypes by representing black women as intelligent, capable scientists and mathematicians who worked for NASA during segregation. The tag line says ‘Genius has no race. Strength has no gender. Courage has no limit.’ which directly challenges racist and sexist assumptions. The trailer shows the main characters struggling with the negative views that society has of them and how this limits them in their jobs and lives. Despite this, they work hard and are shown to be a big part of a significant historical moment as they help launch a rocket into space by doing maths nobody else was capable of.