Theories of Social Evolution Herbert Spencer versus Franz Boaz

This term refers to the assignment of individuals belonging to mixed race or ethnic groups to subordinate groups. This ideology usually exists in a society where certain groups are considered to be dominant or superior to the others. According to the view of F. James Davis in "Defining Race: Comparative perspectives", hypodescent status refers to the social position of the mix breeds of white and black.

A statement adopted by the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association that posits racial differences, while often deemed by society to be genetic in nature, are actually social in nature. The statement supports this assertion by using genetic studies that have found genetic difference is greater within racial groups rather than between different groups. The statement from the AAA also uses the history of the construction of race, and its link to colonialism and enslavement; to further its claim that race is a social construction, not a collection of genetic differences.

Ethnicity and Race are very difficult to define. The two words are so closely related and often times used interchangeably.

First, Spencer emphasizes that race is the foundation of identity, however, he fails to recognize that not every member of a race is equivalent. From the very beginning, Spencer stresses the importance of race, and in America race does matter to a certain extent. One’s race can potentially affect one’s social, economic, and political status. However, race is not the foundation of identity, because the characteristics used to solidify and define a race are arbitrary. The traits chosen to categorize a race are arbitrary and hold little significance, because regardless of the combination of

Human societies have also evolved from simple structures of early hunting-and-gathering communities to the more complex cosmopolitan cities of today. The hunting-and-gathering communities were fairly simple societies demanding the minimum of resources. Complexity grew with farming communities and more energy was necessary to sustain the larger populations and the demands of a stable, non-nomadic life. Early civilizations saw an increase in complexity with the introduction of specialization and trade. Which, again, required more energy to sustain even larger communities. Cultural evolution has evolved so much that cities today are only possible because of humans’ ability to control energy by the movement of food across large distances to easily accessible locations (McNeill 2003, 320-321).

A complex society is an organized and well developed community that is made up of a

How race determined who was in and who was out. As Dickerson states “if race is real and not just a method for the haves to decide who will be have-nots, then all Europeans immigrants, from Ireland a to Greece, would have been “white” the moment they arrived here. Instead, as documented in David Roediger’s excellent Working Towards Whiteness, they were long considered inferior, nearly subhuman, and certainly not white” (69). This shows how race wasn’t about common culture or history but a concept to decide what race is good enough to be consider “white” or better than others. Even though the Europeans where the same race or color of the other people who considered themselves Americans or “white” they were still discriminated for being different and immigrants like everybody else. But soon they realized that identifying them self as being white gave them some sort of hierarchy. It gave them more class compared to the other races. As Debra Dickerson said, “If you were neither black nor Asian nor Hispanic, eventually you could become white, invested with enforceable civil rights and the right to exploit-and hate-nonwhites” (69). Being identify as white gave the power to have privileges that non-whites will never have since they are not the same color. Non- whites are treated unfairly compared to the white people in many ways. Discrimination not only took place between people of different races but

Evolving is when something changes and develops as time progresses by displaying growth or formation. Evolution has never ended since the absolute origin of life, and will maintain to happen until life is expired for each and every one. Adaptation is required for survival , and to adapt is to remodel for a suitable outcome to the situation or environment. Life in the 17th century and 1600 was an immense imprint for the record of what is life here and now; the changes it went through to remain. The New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin , they evolved into two distant societies because of motives, economics and religion/social.

White looking at the expreriences of Asian American, Jewsish American and Afrian American, racial formation appreed as a matter of disappprionaal treaments, and it was best viewed un a be viewed as structural changes rather than culture changes.

History and literature have developed in a parallel manner, as organisms often co-evolve with each other. With the publication of Darwin’s groundbreaking work, the Origin of Species, a new group of people, the Social Darwinists, applied the theory of natural selection to social hierarchy. A most notable Social Darwinist, Herbert Spencer, coined the term “survival of the fittest”, implying that people in higher social groups were more “fit” to survive than those who were in lower social groups (Bannister, “Social Darwinism”). This idea of social evolution contributed to the dehumanization of people. More social theorists, scientists, and

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

When Europeans arrived in the America, they encountered people whom they had never before seen. The natives were viewed as savage and uncivilized, regardless of their well-established culture and presence. As the colonies formed and Africans began their slave-bound voyages to America, many colonists perceived them as inferior. Eurocentrism allowed for a foundation on which the race concept was built and flourished. As research shows, there is only one species of human beings, Homo sapiens. “Race,” used as a construct to stratify societies, is not a reference to biological variation.

Race and ethnicity are commonly used as synonyms for each other as we encounter many diverse individuals throughout the world. Sociologist on the other hand, find very distinct understandings to how these terms, while different, hold correlation to one another. Max Weber, a founding figure of sociology, was one of the first to define race and ethnicity. He stood with the idea of essentialism which presumes "that and individual 's identity depends on fundamental and innate characteristics that are deep-seated, inherited, and unchangeable." (Pearson, pg 241) As for ethnicity, Weber described it as subjective belief in relations to a groups common descent. While sociologist today may disagree with Weber 's theory, they do apply this idea of subjectivity and have correlated it to that of not only group definitions but of our own perceptions of biological similarity.

Social Darwinism is a theory that competition among all individuals, groups, nations or ideas drives social evolution in human societies. The term draws upon Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, where competition between individual organisms drives biological evolutionary change through the survival of the fittest. The term was popularized in 1944 by the American historian Richard Hofstadter, and has generally been used by critics rather than advocates of what the term is supposed to

In the early stages of the development of complex societies, many different factors had a powerful impact on the way the societies developed. In some areas of the world, religion was the primary force that led to the creation of organized societies. Other areas developed on trade routes that made it necessary to develop complex societies to incorporate the growth of different economic classes and the wealth they generated into the structure of the government. In each part of the world where complex societies emerged, the communities were responding to different types of challenges and the