Asao B. Inoue's Infrequent Words

Entry 6 Okay, so race is an evolving concept over time in different places on the Earth. It has, and still does, tacitly organize much of our world and understandings of our world and ourselves. This happened because of conditions in Europe that coincided with colonizing efforts, empire-building, exploration, missionary work, and of course, the intellectual currents that gained currency in Europe. But what exactly were the systems of race that birthed the concept we have today?    The first racial classification systems were published by Francois Bernier (1625-1688), Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), and Johann Friederich Blumenbach (1752-1840). Blumenbach’s would be the one that sticks, but he’s at the end of a line of early racial pseudo-scientists. The earliest system, Bernier’s system, was based on geography, complexion, and physical traits. Published anonymously in the Journal des Sçavans (1684), Bernier had four divisions ...

This is a quick note to let folks know that there is now a way to donate to the Asao and Kelly Inoue Antiracist Teaching Endowment that is set up through our alma mater's, Oregon State University,  Foundation .  I'm very excited about this endowment. If all goes well, in a few years, the endowment will fund at least the following:  An antiracist teaching conference for secondary and postsecondary teachers from across the disciplines to meet, share ideas and practices (you know, do the conference thing!).  Support a summer workshop or institute for a smaller group of teachers to learn about and research antiracist teaching approaches. These teachers will then offer their research at the next year's conference.  Several scholarships for students who wish to focus on antiracist approaches to teaching in a variety of disciplines, but likely scholarships will begin in literacy and language teaching in college. This will start small, but build.   The last i...