Race Is A Bad And Good Thing

For this week’s memo, I decided to read “Racial Formations” by Omi and Winant. The reading talks about the meaning of race as being defined and challenged throughout society in both collective and personal practices. It also suggests that racial categories are created, changed, ruined, and renewed. Omi and Winant explore the idea that the conception of race developed progressively, ultimately being created to validate and rationalize inequality. It began with the denial of political rights and extended into the introduction of slavery and other forms of forcible labor.

What if we lived in a world where there were no races? What if people were not discriminated against because of the color of their skin or because they are different from what we see as acceptable? This is what Kwame Anthony Appiah tries to examine in his essay “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” Appiah tries to point out that “American social distinctions cannot be understood in terms of the concept of race.” (102) That America is made up of so many different races that no race is the more superior or in other cases inferior to one another. America is defined by its cultural diversity; it is what makes America the nation that it is. It is the reason that we as Americans have freedoms other people

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.

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.

Race is something that is in all of us. Everyday we see how it affects us in both positive and negative ways. Looking back on what race and gender has been, we have come a long way in creating more equality throughout all of the people that make up our country.

4. Racism, race and ethnicity in contemporary United States have changed a lot in the past few centuries. Our country has had our racism problems but compared to how minorities were treated years ago you can tell that we have came a long way from how people were back then. However there are obviously more gangs and violence associated with race and ethnicity. Years ago the only problem was African Americans and now there are many people hating on each other for being middle eastern, Latino and

The PBS series “Race: The Power of an Illusion” effectively works to expose race as a social construct and deconstructs the false notions that race is a biological marker. The series first discusses that all human beings originated from Africa but dispersed about 70,000 years ago to various places in the world. As a result of this migration, people were spread to different locations throughout the world with different environmental conditions that affected their physical traits. It was many years after the migration in which people began to display these new physical traits such as slanted eyes, fair skin, and differing hair textures. While the series notes the physical changes that occurred during the migration it also emphasizes that race while it may seem apparent in skin color and other physical features has no real biological basis.

What does “race” mean to you? How does your race affect your life? Are races really so different? You might answer these questions differently after visiting the RACE exhibit at the Museum of Natural Sciences. From understanding skin color to examining how systematic racism impacts minorities today, this exhibit is incredibly inclusive and eye-opening. One of our favorite interactive components was an activity in which you listen to a person talking and try to determine his or her race. It was very interesting because it forces you to face any misconceptions you may have about how a person of a certain race “should” sound. We all performed poorly at identifying the speakers, which caused us to inflect on our own stereotypical thoughts. The

Race is vitally important and completely meaningless. Our society would ideally want to say that racism has decreased, and that we are more diverse and tolerant than we have ever been. Racism is less than it was fifty years ago. Both of these concepts are true, but at the same time race matters more than ever.

The topic this week is to explain what sociologists mean when they argue that race is a social construction, and we were also asked to give a specific real life example in order for us to be able to relate and understand it.

Throughout the reading some great points were made. Some of these points were so significant, it changed my perspective. One point that opened my eyes was in the article “Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions,

The first article “Myth of Race” focuses on the key points of stating why we are categorized by certain actions based on our race. Harrington explains how wrong he feels about human race today see the division of people into races as part of human personality and lifestyle (518). Harrington defines the division as a myth of assumption that people define specific traits that defer each race from the other with overlap through family member’s personality. Defines these racial groups as clusters that overlap into different ways and inbreeding wont necessary turn out negative. This barrier of thinking have been broken

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

The first experiment conducted by Devine and colleagues conducted a well thought out experiment in terms of their technique. In all three studies the authors’ randomly assigned the participants to the experiments increasing the ability to generalize this sample to a larger population. In addition, the participants were asked to freely respond to the question, providing a more accurate knowledge of stereotypes because no cues were provided to influence the subjects’ knowledge. The anonymity of the participants also allows subjects to freely provide information without being judged resulting in an easier access to their private thoughts. Alternatively, in all three studies the authors recruited a number of white participants. This may produce bias in their results as stereotypes and prejudice towards blacks have historical roots in their culture. In the first study, the list of traits do not completely capture

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