About THE BIG ISMS

 

Children born in the margins haven’t easily fit into any category, resulting in unique experiences and perspectives that have not often been shared. Yet as people who have learned to understand and bridge cultures, nations, classes, and races, the stories mixed ancestry people have to share are so valuable. They have much to teach our world – a world that continues to marginalize, oppress and victimize people who are viewed as different.

Where are we today? Read The Big Isms, and you will have some ideas.

Ancestry affects our lives in many ways.  Some impacts are subtle, while others are profound. Scientists are still debating whether “race” has any biological meaning, or if it is merely a social invention used to group individuals into convenient categories based on observable superficial physical characteristics.

It’s clear that  ...people throughout history have viewed socially constructed categories of distinct races as “real.”  And because not all groups have been accorded the same prestige and access to resources, groups labeled as inferior have been subjected to varying degrees of oppression and brutality, even slavery.
 

Despite these divisions, people from different ancestries have formed unions throughout history as a result of migration, intermarriage, war and conquest, forced assimilation, or voluntary choice (Kenan Malik, 9 March 2011).


THE BIG ISMS is a place for stories. EDITOR EMAILS:  laratrace@outlook.com