Why Do We Live Our Lives?

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.

To many people across a variety of different nationalities and cultures, race has been proven to be a key factor for how society views you in the eyes of those who are prominently in charge. The term race has been brought up in recent years, to be considered a form of identification, as the word race is used to describe physical characteristics such as a person’s color of skin, hair, and eyes. When in reality, the correct term they should be using is Ethnicity. As a result, the term race is used to separate people into sub-categories based on the color of their skin. This type of classification, is a man-made creation used by society to classify certain groups of people into lower classes, while keeping the predominate group in charge at the top.

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.

Could the killing of an unborn disabled child be considered acceptable in today’s society? Selective infanticide is a very controversial topic that many have argued about over past years. In her article “Unspeakable Conversations” disabilities activist and lawyer Harriet McBryde Johnson demonstrates her viewpoint on this issue. She writes this article as a story, with herself being the narrator. It follows her journey as she feuds with Peter Singer, a Princeton University professor, who has an opposing perspective regarding the killing of unborn disabled children. With this in mind, Johnson reveals her point of view using the strategy of a Rogerian argument and the rhetorical elements of

Anthropologist Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban book Race and Racism: An Introduction talks about how “Americans are socialized, first to identify a person’s race by skin color and then secondly by physical features” (pg.1 Fluehr-Lobban. 2005). Eric C Thompson in his article THE PROBLEM OF “RACE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT” goes deeper into the talk of race by speaking on the severity to explain when teaching others on race not only that it is a social construct to separate others. “Race is a very real social construct with very real consequences, not to be dismissed lightly” (pg.1 Thompson 2006).

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

Instead laws are changed to make adopting mixed-race children easier. In Sandra Lapierre's situation she adopted Justin, who is different colored skin than her and the laws of Multi-Ethnic Placement Act(MEPA) was enacted in Congress in 1994. This law states that no court can delay or deny the rights of adopting mixed-race children. Some people enjoy this law because they are able to adopt children without complications, while others do not approve of this law, especially in Rhode Island. The courts in Rhode Island have been trying to fight the courts because they believe different races should be adopted by the same race parents and not have mixed-race adoption. The courts and other people believe mixed-race adoption has a bad effect on the children because they are not surrounded by the same race. Well Sandra on the other hand states, “To me, the one issue is, racism comes from people being scared of someone different, so I try to eliminate it in my home.” ;she also comes out and says, “The courts taught my children that race matters.”. With both these statements you can see that race does not matter to her and she is trying to spread the word about that, so other people will want to adopt mixed-race children. Sandra promoting mixed-race adoption and not downgrading the idea it also gives the children a better life and out of the adoption homes. Minority children tend to stay in foster care longer than white children, in America; on average out 110,000 who need permanent homes 56 percent are black and 9 percent are hispanic. Other ideas to get these minority children out of foster care is matching-race, but that is difficult and hard to come by sometimes. These matching-race also help the children better understand their identity and background of their culture or skin color per say. In the book, The Bean Trees, Taylor does not really face struggle

Societal views have been changing since the beginning of time, and they still are morphing, but one that has not changed is labeling others because the rest of the world does. People used to think that African Americans were a disease and were not

In America we are very diverse nation but some still have problems with other races. In the 2010 Census it stated we have seventy-two percent of America is white alone and three percent of America considered themselves white and a different race. (Census, 2010) That means that twenty-five percent of America is another race besides white. When the English came over to America they believed that they were the superior people and those other races besides white were under them. Overtime we have changed our views of race but there are still people that are stuck in their ways. Some people may not say they are racist but may see another race and act differently. In policing we call it racial profiling. Racial profiling

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

Differentiation between groups of people is common human behaviour, which frequently occurs in all groups of people. Many aspects exist in which one can divide people into, including physical appearances, gender, and nationality. However, contrasting treatments toward people that fit into certain criteria often are inappropriate. Among the different ways to define an individual, classifying and treating people based on race is a very controversial topic that has been, and still is a subject to be discussed with, which many think are wrong and should be gotten rid of. On the other hand, just in the century prior, racial discrimination, such as segregation and slavery of entire races have existed. Although not as extreme as enslavement of ethnic

Dividing, categorizing, and grouping ourselves with what is familiar is perhaps human nature. We look to find what we have in common with others to help identify who we are. Of course there are different ways to do so, such as political beliefs and religion. Yet, what seems to be most prominent in our history is grouping people based on race. Just looking into recent years minority groups were not given the the same rights as whites, because of their skin color. Admittedly, “white” is a generalization and doesn’t demonstrate the struggles some, such as the Italians and Irish, faced. However, these are struggles/discriminations are completely different in experience.

Racialization is the processes of ascribing racial identities-to a group that did not identify itself as such- through policy and

Society has been stereotyping people based on their culture, race, and religion. If we end these stereotypes, then we can be closer on coexist in peace. Stereotyping tends to label