The Jim Crow Museum and product differentiation
Is a potential customer worth approaching? Does a supplier have the technical depth and reliability to provide a part? Can a business successfuly expand into a new area? These seem like different questions, but they all require that you assess two "things" and make a judgment about how well they fit with each other's needs. The more you know about each organization, the better your advice will be. Making this kind of assessment of the Jim Crow Museum is the task of your second paper. It is a step toward the final paper where the task is a real-world one: a judgment about the likelihood of the John Deere Foundation funding part of Ferris's own Jim Crow Museum.

1. Pre-writing task #1:First, let's evaluate the Jim Crow Museum. This is a nationally recognized collection of materials that illustrate the history of American ideas of race. It does this through a large collection of popular culture items -- post card, games, household goods, toys, films, etc. -- that have "educated" all of us into some ugly notions of race. The museum provides a history of such beliefs, and it helps us see how that history continues to affect our thinking.
                 In one sense, the collection is "about" the way white culture has created an image of blackness, but the collection also seems to suggest that these ideas are part of the way cultures are built around the need for an "Other." We have ideas, social organizations, economic systems, and many other cultural structures that get their sense of unity and power by being "better than" some other, different grouping. Without the "Other," there isn't an "us" or an "I." This is so important that cultures -- including our own -- create Others who are hated and despised. Thus, the Jim Crow Museum is a complicated place filled with objects that make us -- and potential donors -- uncomfortable. Via the list serve, we'll discuss the problems this poses for finding financial support, but you will begin to assess the Jim Crow half of the assessment task by going through the web sites listed below.
   
   We begin by describing the Jim Crow Museum’s aims, values, audiences, etc. We also need to describe how the museum fits in with other – competing – ideas about the history of race in America. These explanations of how race works are called “narratives”; it’s the usual term for “explanation” that academic writers use. By understanding our “product differentiation,” we can seek support in the right places. To understand the several narratives that shape American discussions of race, you will need to read a chapter from a dissertation, and an article. These required readings will enable you to intelligently differentiate the Jim Crow Museum’s values, mission, and role from other, similar organizations. Read the following:
   
   • Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Ferris State University. Pay special attention to the mission of the museum.
     
     
   • Use Google to search for the Jim Crow Museum. Use the "advanced search" option to make a list of the organizations and activities that link to the Ferris web site. What do the uses of the museum tell you about its "value" in the world?
     
     
   • Use Black Masculinity to explore how the "othering" of the black body continues through sports advertising.
     • Read Chapter 4 of this dissertation about narratives of black masculinity.
     
     
   • For a journal article, use your access to the FLITE Library, and read: West, Cornel. "The New Politics of Cultural Difference." The Humanities as Social Technology 53 (1990): 93-109. Begin reading on page 102 with the paragraph opening “By 1914 . . . .” Search for this within JSTOR, one of the databases listed under “Humanities.” NOTE Students are having a difficult time obtaining ID cards, and thus the pages of the reading can be directly accessed HERE
     
     
   • Visit Without Sanctuary for a vivid and disturbing reminder of America's violent approaches to race.
   
   
   
   NEW DOCUMENT / NEW DOCUMENT / NEW DOCUMENT
   Ferris has just released a key document: Case Statement for Support of an Expanded Jim Crow Museum Facility. Visit this link to read the document.
   
   A case statement is a document that accompanies grant applications. As the name suggests, they "make the case" for support. The Ferris document sets forth the nature of the collection and the purpose of the museum. It is the most vital piece of data to accompany any application; thus it embodies the ideology of the museum in a condensed and clear fashion. We are fortunate that this useful document has appeared exactly as we begin the assignment. Note that I've typed up the major blocks of words in the document so that they can be read more easily. Both image and word are important.
   

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   Assignment: In a concise, carefully documented paper, you must describe how the Jim Crow Museum fits into the various ways that Americans think about race. How is the museum's concept of the history of race similar to or different from, other views? What problems/advantages does this stance create?