Evolution Of Race Analysis

Race is not an element of human biology (like breathing oxygen or reproducing sexually); nor is it even an idea (like the speed of light or the value of π) that can be plausibly imagined to live an external life of its own. Race is not an idea but an ideology. It came into existence at a discernable historical moment for rationality understandable historical reasons and is subject to change for similar reasons (101).

Race is still an open topic in America and in the world, as it has always implied differentiation, inequalities and division among human beings, and has been the basis for some of the most tragic events in history.

Race is a hot topic in our world. We all think we know what race is. After all, we are constantly being bombarded with it whether it be from media, politics, or sports. The truth is that race does not revolve around the idea of biological traits or characteristics. It is a modern concept that we as a society have created to divide people into categories. I will argue that race is socially constructed from a biological, political history, and sociological standpoint, and how it may impact other areas of our society.

Much of America’s history has been saturated with situations dealing with race and the people associated with them. It is impossible to talk about the founding of America without looking at the invention of race. This is because race was intricately embedded in the foundation of America through the two part process of racialization. Through this a dichotomous race structure was developed and implemented. This was carried out mainly by the U.S. government, which used policies, social arrangements, and institutional patterns (class notes 10-6-10) to further embed race into American society. The government helped to increase white’s superiority. When the government could not do it all publicly they brought in the private sector. The public

In order to be able to explain the origin of race and its implications for race and crime, one must first understand that “race” as a term is something that has been created and defined by man. As stated in the opening dialogue of the class text, the idea of race originated 5,000 years ago in India … and was developed into a taxonomy of race by Johna Frederich Blumenbach in his 1795 work, “On

Back when the European explorers discovered people who did not look like them it started racial conflicts. They questioned if the natives where human and did not treat them as equals. In the nineteenth century Max Webber disregarded the biological explanations for racial conflict and emphasized the social and political factors which engendered such conflicts. Since Webber did this it began changing perspective on race. In the text is states that in the contemporary social science literature race is assumed to be a variable which it shaped by broader societal force. In this time race is not seen as difference in skin color but difference in status. Which made society believe one race is better than the others. Over the years the meaning of race has changed tremendously. For example, the existence of water is not based on collective acceptance, or

Race and ethnicity cannot always be defined. As children, we grow up and we learn to associate different contexts with different meanings and even different cultures. My paper is based on the origin of race and how ultimately it can be used

Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s arguments from “Racial Formations” are about how race is socially constructed and is shown in Caucasia by Danzy Senna. Michael Omi and Howard Winant believe that race is socially constructed in society; therefore, the meaning of race varies within different cultures and societies. According to Omi and Winant, influences such as, media, school, politics, history, family and economy create society’s structure of race. In Caucasia, media, family and school are forces that create race by stating how one should conform to social norms for different racial groups.

They discuss how race came about five thousand years ago. This concept states that the idea of race started in India but many claims to have first invented race. The person that is usually credit with this discovery was a man named Francois Bernier. The author also go in to detail about the history behind many races that include African Americans, Native Americans, Japanese Americans, Hispanics and many more. The authors concluded that even though number of crimes among many racial groups has varied in the past, the crimes that committed by these racial groups usually stay the same. It is also said that along with a certain race committed specific kinds of offenses, they usually have the same kind offenses committed against them. One thing I found incredibly important in this text was the comparison of DNA. Most people will not believe that we are biologically different. I did not realize until reading this text that a molecular biologist could tell the race of an individual through their

The English term ‘race’ is believed to originate from the Spanish word raza, which means ‘breed’ or ‘stock’ (Race). People use race to define other groups, this separation of groups is based largely on physical features. Features like skin color and hair don’t affect the fundamental biology of human variation (Hotz). Race is truly only skin deep, there are no true biological separations between two ‘racial’ groups. Scientifically speaking, there is more variation between single local groups than there is between two large, global groups; the human variation is constantly altering (Lewontin). The majority of today’s anthropologists agree that race is a form of social categorization, not the separation of groups based on biological

“Race is a social construction…” (Hwang) Junaid Rana starts her definition of race by stating it is a social construction, which in itself is mind boggling, because it is true. Race was not an issue when it came down to deciding Ozawa V. United States in 1922 or Thind V. United States in 1923. Rana then goes on to say “...In which biology and culture are often conflated as a rhetorical logic and material practice in a system of domination.” (Hwang). She says, how race is made up of both biology and culture, but is combined and used as a stamp to organize and categorize anyone person to a group. Personally, I

Race is a social construct that was created by the Europeans in order to minoritize different racial groups. In the reading by Bonilla-Silva, he defines race to be manmade, “This means that notions of racial difference are human creations rather than eternal, essential categories… racial categories have a history and are subject to change.” For example in a lecture by Dr. Aguilar-Hernandez, he stated that the Irish, Italians and Jews were called black before but are now considered white, Mexican-Americans were also considered white up until the 1980s. These ideas lead to the racialization of racial groups.

I think with a lot more accurate education on race being a social mechanism not biological would change views but should be started at a young age. In the article, it talks about how race was a justification of superiority and there is more variation between people with the same skin color versus people with different skin color. That ideology of superiority can easily be influenced by children watching their parents exhibit that behavior and leave that negative ideology to continue through generations. In the video Skin Deep, they talk about the relationship between skin pigment and ultraviolet radiation they also had these maps showing the geographic distribution of skin pigment and ultraviolet radiation. I think if those maps were shown

Omi and Winant’s discussion from “Racial Formations” are generally about race being a social construct and is also demonstrated in the viewing of Race - The power of an illusion. Omi and Winant have both agreed that race is socially constructed in society. Ultimately this means that race is seen differently in different societies and different cultures. Media, politics, school, economy and family helps alter society’s structure of race. In the viewing , also media as well as history seemed to create race by showing how social norms have evolved in different racial groups.

The concept of race and the meanings associated with the term have continuously changed and evolved throughout history. Many negative connotations have been associated with the word race and these are evident as one reflects on the historical origins of the term. Commonly the term race is closely connected to the notion of ‘racism.’ Racism is a specific form of prejudice which focuses on physical variations between people. It describes the ideological belief that a person, or groups of people can be classified into ‘races’ which can be ranked in terms of superiority and inferiority (Spoonley, 1988:4). Giddens defines racism as “the attribution of characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics” (1997:584). This supports the idea that racism is a manner of prejudice or animosity against people who have different physical characteristics. It is in virtue of circumstances such as these that Anthropologists find it necessary to make a distinction between the concepts of race and ethnicity.