Racial Formations: Reflection and Analysis

Racial Formations: Reflection and Analysis I am, without a doubt, completely uncomfortable discussing race. In fact, it is among my least favorite things to do. I mostly feel as if I do not know how to discuss race without offending someone, using the wrong word, revealing my ignorance about many issues within the topic, changing my mind about a certain belief midstream, or just generally looking like a fool. I avoid these discussions at all costs because they put me in a place I am rarely ready to be. So, naturally, this reading struck a chord with me before it actually even began. I related instantly and wholeheartedly to the question raised in the introduction: “If race is not ‘real’ in a scientific sense, why can I look around my classroom or campus and see that someone is black or Asian or white?” This quandary has plagued me for years. It seemed to me that race had to be more than a social construction established centuries ago. It had never really made sense to me, and this question established a personal connection for me to Omi and Winant’s subsequent explanation of this perplexing notion. The authors’ explanation of the history of race consciousness certainly helped me in my quest for answers and gave me a much clearer understanding of the origins of race consciousness. I could imagine the European settlers’ surprise upon discovering theirs was not the only existing race, thus challenging essentially every religious belief they held about creation. They could not explain this difference, and, as human beings devout in their religion, that was unacceptable. They needed explanation, and they needed to find it in the Bible. It is not difficult to relate to the anxiety and uncertainty they experienced. People of all religions seem to spend much of their practice justifying what happens in their lives -- both good and bad -- within their particular religious texts. We take scripture, verses, lines, chapter, and so on and make it fit into what makes sense

Cited: Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. “Racial Formation.” Racial Formation in the United States. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 1994. 10-15. Print.