Essay about Race and the Development of Anthropological Theory

Race, then, is described as a human creation and the product of the desire to categorize and diminish the potential risk of losing power and participation in society, and to continue with the expansion of territories, the exploitation of resources and the indiscriminate use of human capital with the excuse of economic development.

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.

Racism is a concept that has been around for centuries of human history: The act of a privileged party oppressing, demeaning, and committing genocide of another race. However, scientifically, humanity is only made up of a single species: homosapiens. The idea of race as it is known (groups based on skin pigment and cultural descent) is a social construct created and ingrained into society. Just because race is socially constructed does not mean racism is not real. Social constructs are not physical entities, but are certainly “real” to humans of a society. One concept that has been created along with the idea of race is the inequality of said races. Caucasian people in many societies (including North American and European) have become the “norm”, meaning they are the standard and expected. Because of this, Caucasian people receive benefits, often known as white privilege, which is “A collective, implicit acceptance of whiteness as virtuous, normal, unremarkable, and expected.” (Jeffries, 2013). Because race is socially constructed in culture, it has created white privilege and white normativity. This privilege can be seen in the media created and consumed by North Americans, and in the justice system and law upheld in North American countries.

Racial grouping and categories can be effective and not effective. In the article “Racial Formation in the United States” by Michael Omi and Howard Winant they discuss their views of racial groups in the U.S and their effectiveness on people. In the article “How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says about Race in America” by Karen Brodkin she discusses how in the past time Jews were considered something other than white, but now they are considered as very much white. Brodkin’s article supports Omi and Winant by addressing the same issues in a more detailed and specific way, they both talk about these racial categories and how it affects

1. Critical Race Theory sprang up in the mid 1970’s with the work of Derrick Bell and Alan Freeman who were deeply distressed over the slow pace of racial reform in the United States in the midst of civil rights legislation. Critical race theory evolved in the mid-1970’s as a response to Critical legal studies. Law must focus on how it is applied to specific groups in particular circumstances. Exposes contradictions in law and illustrates the ways that laws create and maintain the hierarchical society in which we live.

As a Mexican-American, Du Bois’ quote, “What after all, am I? Am I an American or am I Negro? Can I be both?” (1897) is something I have personally struggled with all my life. This question can be answered in two different time periods. To Du Bois the ideal, what Negroes should strive for, would be to be both. But in his time this was impossible due to institutionalized and taught racism. Today I feel like it is possible to be both; however it is not exactly what I feel Du Bois had in mind. Du Bois argues in his book The Souls of Black Folk, that the gap between being black and American is far too wide. This is not an unjustified view especially in his time period, where laws were set in place purposely to prevent equality of the freedman. But even today, where those laws are no longer in place, a non-white American is too ethnic to be American and is simultaneously too American to be ethnic. Du Bois entertains the idea of a Negro being both black and American but unfortunately his blackness cannot be unseen. However from personal experience, I am convinced that today ethnic Americans have created their own identity where they are not exclusively either, and they are not both, they are their own individual category. Not black or white, or black and white, but grey. In this essay I will explore what race is, whiteness, and blackness. Within the discussion of race, I will

An important dialogue has been created amongst historians. This dialogue is based on whether or not race is a biological factor or a social construct. Both ideas will be explored. Race plays a large role in our society. Certain races have stigmas associated with them that ultimately lead to discrimination.

One of the social reforms that are argued to have been achieved by the contemporary society is acknowledged that all people within the society are equal irrespective of some socio-cultural differences such as race. The view that all persons are equal is ingrained in the society and supported by an array of a legal framework. One of the supporting legal frameworks is the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts that all persons must be treated with equality, disregarding other differences based on elements such as gender and color. The constitution of the United States also stipulates that every citizen should be accorded equal treatments disregarding socio-cultural elements such as gender and race. Although such constitutional affirmations paint how the society is dedicated to addressing problems various types of human discrimination, racism continues to be one of the outstanding challenges. Racial problems continue to affect the nature of relationship within the society. The cause of racism has often been associated with social construction of differences, and that addressing racism would need to begin by addressing the socially constructed differences. This paper examines the history of social construction of race.

The categories of race were limited and often inaccurate and based on physical features instead of the persons actual racial identity. This was extremely prevalent to the lives of people who were of mixed racial identity for example a person who is three quarters white and one quarter African American would be considered solely as African American although that individual might have self-identified

Racial classification was the first topic discussed in our class and brought issues about how, and based on what, people should identify themselves and if skin color had any meaning. The Census, with a long and systematic biased system, always struggled to find the “appropriate” word and classification to place people of different color and ethnicity into groups. African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians all felt lost and trapped in a pattern of racial classification. Notwithstanding, there was also the issue of counting by race where the government only allowed a limited number of non-white Europeans to have access to certain types of programs, such as schooling and housing. The Civil Rights Movement was one that marked the overturn of many

Race is a sociopolitical construct “created and reinforced by social institutional norms and practices, as well as individual attitudes and behavior” (Castañeda & Zúñiga, 2013, p. 58), and unfortunately, race does matter in society (Williams, 2013). Historically, the sociopolitical construct of race was created by the early white settlers of the future United States of America in order to justify their dominance over people defined as racially different, and these racially different people were deemed as inferior (Castañeda & Zúñiga, 2013). Hence, racism is a set of principles and practices established to create advantages for white people, and the introduction of the sociopolitical construct of race in early American society created a systematic

“The idea that human populations can be divided into distinct racial groups based on physical differences dates back many centuries.” (Paragraph 3 “Racism”) This is known as Scientific Racism. Scientific Racism is the belief that racism is justified by scientific bases, which gives people confidence that it is proper to discriminate others (usually based on their race, religion, or beliefs), even though it is not appropriate (Oxford Dictionary). This belief is actually “pseudoscientific.” Pseudoscience is “any of various methods, theories, or systems, such as astrology, psychokinesis, or clairvoyance, which are considered as having no scientific basis.” (Dictionary.com). Scientific Racism can also be related to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper

Scientific racism was common during the late 1800s where it was used in justifying White European imperialism. More recently it has become obsolete but has historically been used to support or validate racist views, based upon belief in the existence and significance of racial categories and a hierarchy of superior and inferior races. We now call this pseudoscience because the science behind it has been proven obsolete.

Words are very deceptive and misleading. Often times, words originally have one central meaning, but in some cases, words may have deeper meanings. Many times, a words deeper meaning is invisible, and requires more thought and understanding to uncover. Friedrich Nietzsche’s claims are illustrated by the word “race”. The word “race” ties in with many questions and statements made by Nietzsche concerning truth. I believe that “race” is made too complex by humanity, and it needs to be simplified. It has many different meanings, therefore, it is a term that is constantly misunderstood. In the essays “On truth and lie” and “American Anthropological Association Statement on ‘race’”, there are various connections and illustrations made using truth, knowledge, concepts, and words.

It is hard to believe that color was such a major factor as few as, 63 years ago. The color of one’s skin is often said to make them, unjustly, inferior, to someone with non-pigmented skin. The color of a person’s skin was the leading principle of unfair treatment throughout history. Skin color dictated what line an individual would stand in and what bathroom they could use. Throughout time, racism has evolved from the blatant disrespect to people of color, but yet, it still exists.