Is race real or is just a figment of our imagination? This topic will always gather different opinions. There are valid arguments for both sides but I only believe one side of the topic is correct. Let me explain what race is in the first place. Race refers to a group of people who have similarities and differences in biological traits. The main characteristic people define race with is skin color. I am very passionate on my take on this subject. Race is not a real thing. I believe this because we are all human beings. Just because someone has different color skin does not mean they are any more different than I am. We should not be classifying people by skin color. What we should be doing is classifying people by religion or even language. Take a census for example. A census is the procedure of recording and acquiring information about the members of a given population. We do this for multiple reasons. One being so we can see own many people we have in the United States. The other reason is the more people that you have in your state the more seats in the House of Representatives you have. On of the questions on the census is what ethnicity you are. It varies between white, African …show more content…
The genes that make my skin white are no different than a black mans genes. Yes we might be significantly different in color but it is not because we are genetically made up any different. The real reason behind why people are different in color is where they reside. For example, people from London are going to be much lighter than people in Africa. This is because the amount of sunlight they are exposed too. Residents of England are exposed to less sunlight then those who live in Africa. People who live in brighter and milder climates produce more melanin in their skin, which makes them darker. Melanin is in skin and is also in your hair. That’s why when you see someone who is very white in complexion he or she sometimes have reddish
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).
Sociologist define race as a “socially defined category based on real or percived biological differnces between groups of people”. In the 19th century biologist came up with the three different categories that groups the three human races: Mongoloid, Causasoid and Negroid. They belived that different races where charaterized by biological makeup. But modern sciences have proved that theory to be wrong because there is no such thing as a “pure” race. We are 99.9% genetically idenitcal. Race is just a concept humans made up, it isn’t actually real.
When describing Race they state that its roots are not within the biological realm. That Race is a social construct and cannot be defined genetically.
Race is defined as a category or group of people widely perceived as sharing socially significant physical characteristics or hereditary traits that set them apart. It is commonly accepted myth that the human species is composed of physically different groups and that these differences are assumed to be genetic. Race is supposed to be based on biological factors. However, the myth is debunked; it is scientifically proven that race is a social construction; although it is based on physical characteristics that presume biological base, most important biological differences between people are invisible and do not play any role in the definition of racial categories. There
What is race? Some people attach "race" to a biological meaning, yet others use "race" as a socially constructed concept. “Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them” (. So, it is clear that even though race does not have a biological meaning, it does have a social meaning - usually detrimental to our social harmony. Race is neither an essence nor an illusion, but
The concept of race dates back to recent human history. Race is an integral part of life for individuals residing in the United States. However, this concept of “race”, that many Americans believe to be true, has no biological backing; it is merely a social construct. Looking at genetics, and even evolution it becomes clear that race is not real. But, even though race is not real, it can have very real consequences (such as racism). So in this sense race becomes a very real thing, as it affects millions of people living today. Race, biologically is not a real thing, but due to its impact, socially and culturally, it has become real.
The idea of race is real, but it is not biologically reality. Race is based on cultural perspectives that we as human beings use to identify persons around the world. “Science would favor Du Bois. Today, the mainstream belief among scientists is that race is a social construct without biological meaning” (Gannon) Meaning that there is nothing biologically real about race. And that it is strictly culturally developed.
Racial categories date back to the days of ancient empires, and haven’t changed significantly since then, despite the huge changes in cultures since those times. There has obviously been a huge amount of racial mixture since those times, and the concept of race now is just an archaic social construct.
In the article, “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’,” Ta-Nehisi Coates asserts the idea of race is being stereotyped by America and the ancestors of those Americans. He says race is not real, but people chose to make it a reality based on what society has made it out to be (Coates p.2-3). For instance he says, “If you’re a math guy, perhaps your instinct is to point out the problems in the interpretation of the data. My instinct is to point out that your entire experiment proceeds from a basic flaw...” (Coates p.3).
Due to this, race as biological concept was developed and used to justify the enslavement of the black population early in the U.S. history. Therefore, the boundaries of group membership were marked by skin color. Still, until this day the primary race indicator is skin color. Hence, race is a constructed idea made as an indicator of
Race is not a biological reality because there are no indications of some biological DNA that would have a certain outcomes of a race. The variation in skin tone comes from the mix of certain races. For example, the mix of black and white would result a skin color of Latino. However, the mix of white and yellow (Asians) will most likely result a child having more essential characteristics of white people. It is impossible to classify humans into races because human is making a new race every single moment from the combination of two people who come from different races. Light skin and dark skin have a lot to deal with the temperature, latitude and langtitude of the region. It could be characterized by a regions, instead of ethnic groups. Race
I think that to a certain extent race is a biological reality. Maybe at the beginning of time, race used to be only a completely biological reality. But as time passes by, thanks to globalization there is a lot of "mixed" people out there that it is starting to be more of a social construct. There are ways to be able to tell how it can be a social construct. First off, race is never defined the same by two different people from two different places. Culture and other things change the meaning; it varies depending on where you ask and who you ask. The reason why it varies from place to place and
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
There is nothing real about race, a social construct, unlike a river which is absolute. A river will escist regardless of people thinking, agreeing or accepting that it does exist. Race requires people to collectively agree that it does exist , unlike a river.
If you would have asked me, "Do you believe race is biological or that is was socially constructed?", I would have responded with the same examples you may commonly receive from scientist or anthropologist; that race is in fact biological and deeply rooted and shared from generation to generation by DNA. However, through analyzing Pearson 's, Chapter 11 Race & Ethnicity we discover various examples in which history has built the shelves in which everyone is neatly categorized for its convenience even if not entirely in truth.