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Assignment 09

In his book “Aberrations,” Roderick Ferguson articulates that racial issues stem from a difference in gender and sexuality. He begins his novel by referencing Marlon Rigg’s documentary, “Tongue’s Untied.” The documentary shows a black drag-queen prostitute. Ferguson mentions that living such a life will have other people questioning if she is really happy or not. He uses this scene to help bring about the corrupt effect of urban capitalism and how that has an effect on the black community especially. The drag-queen embodies a larger community that has been judged by their race, gender, sexuality, and social class. To others, these qualities of an individual are interwoven into one and therefore, can be confused and misinterpreted.
This rigid structure of what is considered normal to the government and economy is carried over during the increase of immigration in the United States. Ferguson brings about how capitalism goes against the core of citizenship. When the number of immigrants entering the United States peaked, different cultures began to mix and the definition of what was considered normal was challenged. As a result, the government decided to take measures into their own hands by regulating certain practices and patterns once these new citizens joined the workforce. For example, Americanization programs prepared Mexican mothers to enter the workforce by making sure they could perform domestic duties efficiently so that American women would feel comfortable allowing them in their homes. These programs also attempted to conceal and prevent the spread of provocative tendencies from Asian American communities to American neighborhoods. This was taken a step further by regulating these tendencies within the workforce as well amongst African Americans and Asian Americans.
These examples support Ferguson’s the “queer of color” analysis and how gender and sexuality brings about racial separation. He argues that in order to progress and move forward, we must look at these issues as a whole and as a starting point in learning new information to gain a new perspective.