The transatlantic slave trade was one of the most brutal and momentous experiences in human history. Attitudes toward Latino, Caribbean, African, and Asian immigrants in the United States today can only be fully understood in the contexts of slavery and the “structural racism,” “symbolic violence” (not to mention outright physical violence), and social inequalities that slavery has spawned throughout the region. Although focusing primarily on the United States, we will also study the present entanglements of poverty and race in Brazil, Haiti, and other selected nations of “The New World,” placing the U.S. (and Philadelphia in particular) experience in this historical context.Note: This course fulfills the Race & Diversity (GD) requirement for students under GenEd and Studies in Race (RS) for students under Core.
Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed LAS 0833/0933, REL 0833/0933, or SOC 0833.