Race As A Social Problem

The purpose of categorizing people into different racial groups can be how we see each other and the exterior traits. Exterior traits include their skin tone, type of hair and eye color. In “Rethinking the Color Line – Understanding How Boundaries Shift,” Gallagher mentions we tend to sort out the categories by skin color and then by cultural background. These racial differences have been predetermined by having the mindset of having a superior and inferior group. The superior group are to be the whites and inferior group are the minorities. These ideas have changed because of the major influences such as time, social and politics.

Humans define race by how they conceive and categorize different social realities. Thus, race is often referred to as a social construct. The differences in skin color and facial characteristics have led most of society to classify humans into groups instead of individuals. These constructs affect us all, and they often result in situations where majority racial groups cause undue suffering to those that are part of the minority. The understanding of race as a social construct is best illustrated by the examination of racial issues within our own culture, specifically those that have plagued the history of the United States.

The social construction of race is a topic that is worth discussing. In the United States the black/white color line has historically been rigidly defined and enforced. People have been stereotypical and afraid as long as I can remember. Labeling people as we think they should be based on the color of their skin or just thinking it’s in their biology so they must be this or they must be that. Race is socially constructed and is not a biological construct.

This would change everything we've been taught, since people of all different skin colors would then be grouped together. Had this been the "story" we were told, we wouldn't think twice about the color of someone's skin, but rather the color of their

Socio-cultural definitions of race are created by society as a tool to further economic goals. The development of

Think about how much race affects a person every day. Maybe today you disclosed your race on the SATs or were passed over for a job opportunity because your name is too “black”. Race exists in our culture, but racism should not. Everyone tries to get rid of it, but humans ultimately created it, because it is a construct of cultural. Every day we form judgements and fall into stereotypes. Our children watch this discrimination and let it carry into their own futures. Strangely, these judgements and stereotypes are not technically race, merely the creations of an ignorant culture. To begin avoiding this, people need to learn that technical race and our world view of race are very different, and that humans may be too unique for concrete groupings.

One of the most prevalent themes throughout the world’s history is the dispute over race and racial differences. But, there is a problem: the majority of the population doesn’t have a clear understanding of what race is. Race is a socially constructed grouping of people that was created in order for people to differentiate themselves from one another and has many sources of influence. While most people believe race is determined by biological characteristics (hair type, skin color, eye shape, etc.), this is not true. To make things more complicated, there is no cut and dry definition to race. Authors of Race and Ethnicity in Society, Elizabeth Higginbotham and Margret Anderson, claim that there are seven different distinct ways to define race. They begin with the popular belief of biological characteristics, and, as mentioned before, through social construction. They go on to note that race can be formed from an ethnic group, from social class rank, from racial formation by institutions, and also can form from one’s self-definition (Higginbotham & Anderson, 2012, p. 13). All of these ways to define race have been seen throughout our history, and many of them have caused problems for minorities, especially in the United States.

“Think about race in its universality. Where is your measurement device? There is no way to measure race. We sometimes do it by skin color, other people may do it by hair texture - other people may have the dividing lines different in terms of skin color. What is black in the United States is not what 's black in Brazil or what 's black in South Africa.”-Dr.Goodman, Race: The Power of an Illusion

In The Social Construction of Race, Ian F. Haney Lopez defines race as a social construct that is constantly changing its meaning due to the fickle nature of society. Lopez believes that this fickleness stems from a social climate formed by a variety of factors such as human economic interest, current events, and ideology. There are certain racial definitions however, that have remained mostly the same despite efforts to bring attention to the offensiveness and immorality of such discriminatory thinking. These stereotypes are oftentimes negative and apply to members of minority races, which end up perpetuating themselves into various cultural outlets of society including the media and film. Through the use of such popular forms of entertainment, the definitions of a race remain largely unchanged as future generations remain exposed to these racial classifications.

Race labels have been present in society for hundreds of years. However, the concept of race has not always existed. In ancient times, while people were often divided by characteristics such as class and religion, they were never divided by the color of their skin. “Race” in the context of classifying humans was not even used in the English language until 1508 in a poem by William Dunbar (California Newsreel, 2003). Today, race defines most of the things that we do. For example, we are asked about our race when filling out most forms like standardized tests and the United States Census. But why is this important? The answer: it should not be. I believe that race divides people and allows for things such as racism and stereotyping to

According Welsch and Vivanco, race is a separate and inferior race of people, race being a concept that organizes people into groups based on specific physical traits that are thought to reflect fundamental and innate differences (Welsch and Vivanco 2015 pg. 265). Since time memory, people think that race is biological or I can can it is a myth; most of the Americans, and other people define race differently. Actually, most of the think race is all related to physical characteristics like skin color, size of the eye and nose size. For example, many North Americans think that race is being white or black. To some extend, majority of people think being black means slavery, being ruled, and therefore have no say in anything. Further evidence of the cultural constructive nature of racial categories lies in the changes seen of these categories within populations

Society plays a major role in classifying people race, ethnicity, and social treatment. The definition of race can be put into two categories biological and sociological factors. Race is an ideology that people use to describe the physical and genetic makeup of an individual. A person racial construction greatly impacts an individual’s identity. This is look as the person skin color, facial bone structure, eyes, and hair color.

This chapter focuses on race and ethnicity. “Race is a socially constructed definition based on some real or presumed physical, biological characteristic, such a skin color or hair texture, as well as on shared lineage” (p. 178). Ethnicity is socially defined like race. Socially defining race and ethnicity is formed by the concepts of race and ethnicity, majority- minority relations, racism, and race and entity in global context.

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.

I took the time today to read the article titled “What is Race” by Victor M. Fernandez, RN, BSN and found myself agreeably intrigued and in admiration of his thoughts regarding race. Victor touched on an extremely insightful and significant topic; one that most people have sturdy opinions about. Race – what is it? What does this mean to you? What does it mean to our upcoming careers in the nursing field? I trust that how we characterize and assess our awareness of race is due exclusively to how we were raised. I do not mean merely what we were taught from our family or culture about race, but to a certain extent how we have lived it, and how it has lived around us. “Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide