1. According to Google, race is defined as “…major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics”. The main word one needs to focus on when reading this definition is the word “physical”. According to anthropological studies and numerous articles produced on the subject of race, race is not a valid biological category but a specific category given to a group of people due to heritage.…
“Racism springs from the lie that certain human beings are less then fully human. It’s a self-centered falsehood that corrupts our minds into believing we are right to treat others as we would not want to be treated. ”-Alveda King. Race is a population within a species that is distinct in some way and have common characteristics. Those distinct characteristics can and have been antagonized by other races based on the belief that ones race is superior.…
RACE Definitions/Concepts Racial Formation: idea of how race is created. Race: socially constructed categorization process that describes phenotype, not genotype. Ethnicity: nationality/origin. Whiteness: ideology tied to social status, provides privilege for those labeled white; process by which non-white “other” created for benefit of whites. Racism: about structural advantages/disadvantages placed on people based on perceptions of their race. Can be individual or institutional. Covert: not hiring someone due to skin color. Overt: designated drinking fountains/bathrooms. Ex: Federal Housing Agency in ‘50s, Freddie May/Freddie Mac loans through GI Bill, media/local community demonizes young black men. Larger system that influences individual actions (structure vs agency). Privilege: special advantage/benefit. Can be based on: race, gender, ethnicity, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion. Race as a social construction: changes based on political, economic, cultural, and historical events. No taxonomic significance; rely on “folk” taxonomy: unscientific notion that you can identify someone’s raced based on stereotypical physical features. Ex. Sammy Sosa: black in the US, mulatto (mixed) in Dom Rep, white in Haiti, Taino (indig.) in Puerto Rico. Ex. One Drop Rule: created b/c white slaveowners had children w/ their slaves, wanted them to be slaves (economic purpose). How race impacts people’s outcomes? 2 examples. Takaki Origin of slavery = class conflict. Uprisings, rebellions solidarity among land/slave owners. How white/white class conflict generated led to institutionalization of slavery and a new racial order: many English settlers came as indentured servants. Freemen enacted legislation to lengthen time of servitude, made it harder for servants to become landowners. “Giddy multitude”: discontented class of indentured servants, slaves, landless freemen (white and black). Bacon’s Rebellion exposed volatility of class tensions, accelerated process.…
Racial classification began centuries ago when hierarchies were created and dominant groups emerged. According to scientists in today’s world, race is a social and cultural creation and not a biological concept. The idea of race began as a way to classify people of their differences in appearance and culture. When European explorers traveled to lands and saw people that looked different from them, they associated their behavior and culture with their appearance. In America centuries ago, before slavery, people did not distinguish between people because of skin color, but rather social status. Poor…
According to the google dictionary the term race signifies, “A group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of supposed physical or genetic traits shared by the group.” Basically, race is identify on how someone looks, and how their DNA are form. For example, if someone has dark features, big nose and nappy hair these individuals are considered as Black. If you had light features, long straight hair and nice fair tone color you considered as White. No one really knows how biology fits into all of this, but apparently for some individuals race is base on biology.…
Race is a factor of life that is constantly being judged by society. Society has created individuals who judge others on skin color, and ethnicity; spawning hate and spreading acceptance of different set of standards to each race. “Largely about what wealthy… white men wear in silicon valley and wall street” (Sengupta 228). Race is part of the identity, most of the time it determines how you are treated by others, how one’s life is lived, and which stereotypes are carried. “... from racist people who think all Asians look the same! or ...Why on earth would you say something like that?” (Chung para. 9). Race is the…
A race is defined as a human population that is considered to be different in some way from others based on imagined or real physical differences. There has been historical racism in the United States as a result of inequalities caused by past racism that is affecting the present generation. As talked about in the article people of color will rarely attend the “best” schools, and on average, schools serving mostly black and Latino students offer only a third as many AP and honors courses as schools serving mostly whites. So, even truly talented students of color will be unable to access those extra points simply because of where they live, their economic status and ultimately their race, which is intertwined with both. (Wise,…
Race is a very controversial term and is used in a variety of ways. When a person’s race is talked about, there is a mutual understanding that they are also talking about common genetic characteristics and features that they share. For example, one may use someone’s skin color to assume their race, when that is not the case at all, it’s just a stereotype. Racism appears all over the world and any race is susceptible to it. Institutional racism has appeared many times in history and is still appearing in the world today.…
“race” is a vast group of people loosely bounded by historically contingent, socially significant elements of morphology and/or ancestry. Ongoing, contradictory, self-reinforcing process subject to macro forces of social and political struggle and micro effects of daily decisions…
Race isn’t biological. It is in fact a social construct. People are categorized into race based on their appearance. Race has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with society. The article states how race is a social construct, which is true. Race is so powerful, that it possess life or death consequences. The idea of race today was not existent in ancient times, centuries ago. Many of the ancestors would use race to tell one person from the next, not discriminate in the way that we understand today. As Europeans began colonizing new land, race proved a good way in control and overthrow. The dominant group in society would define race in terms of biology. If you were a black person then you were biologically inferior to a white…
Race is defined as a group of people who share similar characteristics both physical and nonphysical. Those who share common physical traits are believed to share at the same bloodline. There are many reasons sociologist see that race is a social construction. We are all the same people and throughout time we have found ways to put people into categories based on traits that some find undesirable. These categories or groups are created through laws and various other social groups. With the formation of these groups comes racism and these are the people placing "people with undesirable characteristics" into these groups. This occurs all around the world and has for hundreds of years.…
By watching the film I have a deep understanding, I know racial distinction is not just by appearance, we don't really know what is race, actually the race is not important, but the race is still bringing great influence on people's lives. This film is about race, not about attitude and behavior of the individual, and in the past in the history of the institutional and policy in the United States is still on the basis of race, through sacrifice others bring interests for groups. The biggest benefit is the white, white we see at the time of life is so happy, but not because of their hard work, but because of their laws, courts, customs, even if the housing is a race.…
First we are going to define the concept of Race; Race is something which is biologically in humans. Such as color, cuts of faces, color of hairs, and other such type of similarities in a group. For example, black people, white people, skin color people etc.…
There are many ways race can be shown, but I have learned that there is no biological definition of race. Most people categorize people through physical appearance and where a person is from. Just because people have a different name or a different way of doing things does not mean they are going to hurt anyone, give them a chance because they are human too.…
When I hear the word “race”, the first thing that I think of is a person’s skin color, facial features and the texture of their hair. Although I am colorblind, I can’t help but to think of this when I hear the word race. This is due to the fact that the majority of the time when we fill out an application or any paperwork of importance the question of race is raised. I’m not sure why it matters, your experience and education seems more important to me. It seems as if some people still want to separate us depending on the color of our skin. Being that there’s so many races mixing, there’s no such thing as a pure race. Race seems to be unimportant to me. Ethnicity is a word that I prefer and enjoy when speaking of culture. Ethnicity makes me think of everybody’s struggle dating back from their ancestors to the present. Where did your ancestors originate? Where did you come from? Ethnicity is ones background and cultural differences. For example just because I am considered black doesn’t mean that I am from Africa; which means that I will be considered an African American. I thought for years that I was an African American till an African man that I was friends with broke it down to me and gave me some knowledge to read. He is considered an African American because he’s from Africa and now resides in America. I am considered to be a black American because I’m from America. This is weird being that my ancestors were American Indians. Your ethnicity is the group that others place you. I do have my personal opinion on all of this and why America still tries to identify us by race. Since my opinion was asked I felt the need to tell the truth on how I feel. Race and ethnicity are important in America because some people in the government still strives for division and don’t want us to come together as one. It seems as if the government gets more powerful when we separate ourselves from each other. If we all were to come together I…