Understanding Race
Understanding Race
What if we lived in a world where there were no races? What if people were not discriminated against because of the color of their skin or because they are different from what we see as acceptable? This is what Kwame Anthony Appiah tries to examine in his essay “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” Appiah tries to point out that “American social distinctions cannot be understood in terms of the concept of race.” (102) That America is made up of so many different races that no race is the more superior or in other cases inferior to one another. America is defined by its cultural diversity; it is what makes America the nation that it is. It is the reason that we as Americans have freedoms other people don’t have. It is also one of the reasons we are one of the most powerful nations in the world. The concept of cultural diversity in America defines us and makes us the nation we are today.
Appiah states in his text that he “Wants to explain why American social distinctions cannot be understood in concepts of race: the only race in the United States is the human race.” He continues on with “I want to show that replacing the notion of race with the notion of culture is not helpful: the American social distinctions that are marked using racial vocabulary do not correspond to cultural groups, either.” And finally wraps up his argument with “I want to propose that, for analytical purposes, we should use instead the notion of racial identity, which I will try to explore and explain.”(102) These key main points in Appiah’s text clearly tell us the direction he is going to go. But I will argue that races make America what it is by looking at examples you and I see every day around us. Races are good for a nation; they add contrast to an otherwise dull world. Races are what make people unique and different. Many people spend their entire life trying to differentiate themselves from everyone else race and culture is what does this. Finally
What if we lived in a world where there were no races? What if people were not discriminated against because of the color of their skin or because they are different from what we see as acceptable? This is what Kwame Anthony Appiah tries to examine in his essay “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” Appiah tries to point out that “American social distinctions cannot be understood in terms of the concept of race.” (102) That America is made up of so many different races that no race is the more superior or in other cases inferior to one another. America is defined by its cultural diversity; it is what makes America the nation that it is. It is the reason that we as Americans have freedoms other people don’t have. It is also one of the reasons we are one of the most powerful nations in the world. The concept of cultural diversity in America defines us and makes us the nation we are today.
Appiah states in his text that he “Wants to explain why American social distinctions cannot be understood in concepts of race: the only race in the United States is the human race.” He continues on with “I want to show that replacing the notion of race with the notion of culture is not helpful: the American social distinctions that are marked using racial vocabulary do not correspond to cultural groups, either.” And finally wraps up his argument with “I want to propose that, for analytical purposes, we should use instead the notion of racial identity, which I will try to explore and explain.”(102) These key main points in Appiah’s text clearly tell us the direction he is going to go. But I will argue that races make America what it is by looking at examples you and I see every day around us. Races are good for a nation; they add contrast to an otherwise dull world. Races are what make people unique and different. Many people spend their entire life trying to differentiate themselves from everyone else race and culture is what does this. Finally