ipl-logo

American Anthropological Association Statement On Race Summary

597 Words3 Pages

For years humans have been classifying themselves based on wealth, phenotypes, geographical location and more. Based on a variety of reasons, some of these groups were viewed as superior to others. The authors of the text, "American Anthropological Association 'Statement on Race'" attempt to persuade the audience that race is just a social construct, physical features do not coincide with race, and that all human behavior is learned.

I agree with pretty much all of the points made in this argument. I think as we continue to grow as a species, we will have to break away from the racial divide. It does nothing positive for our society, it just breaks others down and gives false privilege. As said in the text, "It became a strategy for dividing ranking and controlling colonized people". It seems to me when people talk about race they forget how human psychology works. The text states that human behavior is learned, and that whatever environment the child is in, they will pick up that culture. Culture has nothing to do with the way you look. For some reason, we seem to fuse human behavior and phenotypes together, even though they are entirely separate. …show more content…

The American Anthropological Association concluded that “94% of genetic variation lies within race groups”. This says that while a certain group of people may share certain physical features, their genetic makeup can be extremely different. Another flaw in grouping people together based on physical features is that these features, skin color and hair texture for example, can be inherited individually of each other. In history, when different groups of people came together, they interbred. Because of this, It is nearly impossible to be exclusively one race and this creates another fallacy. How do you classify someone as a certain race when they have ancestors from numerous

Show More
Related

  • How Did Fred Koreatsu Change The Japanese Community

    412 Words  | 2 Pages

    Race is a socially constructed divider based on physical differences such as skin tones, but are not limited to facial features, body features, accents, etc. There are not separate genes, traits, or characteristics that define any single group from another group. Police once walked up to Korematsu to ask if he had seen a “short Asian man”, adding stereotypes to the classification, when the police were looking for Korematsu. Korematsu had surgery performed so his eyelids would have less folds to look more, white (I would say American, but Korematsu is American and that changed nothing). Hence, this touchy subject of race is what makes it so much harder to discuss.

    Read More

  • Dorothy Roberts Fatal Invention Analysis

    435 Words  | 2 Pages

    Professor Dorothy Roberts discussed her latest book Fatal Invention where she made references to how science, politics, and big business recreate race in the 21st Century. She discussed with Tavis Smiley the different incentives that are used in science, business as well as the Government to categorized race. Despite research that showed that the black race and the white race is only .1% genetically different from each other many are still making an argument that the races are very different and merit ongoing discussions In terms of commercial incentives, Professor Roberts believed that many products are produced based on the assumptions that you can divide the human species into biological groups call race. This was evident in the labeling

    Read More

  • Summary Of A Troublesome Inheritance By Nicholas Wade

    1629 Words  | 7 Pages

    7) and laments the idea that science should be hindered by political correctness. Instead, he argues, because of the painful events of yesteryear and the common fear of what road racial genetics leads down, we have all but blinded ourselves to race entirely. In an effort to correct past wrongs, we have inadvertently overlooked an important factor in better understanding our own beginnings and how cultures and people around the world have evolved to modern times. Wade presents his argument with a myriad of facts and citations from prominent figures, lending credence to his point of view. He further points out that this field of study is often marginalized and ignored precisely because of the political connotations of the subject matter.

    Read More

  • Relationship Between Omi And Winant

    345 Words  | 2 Pages

    The definition of race changes constantly, and as such, race can be said to be neither static nor biological. After years of research, scientists have failed to prove any biological relationship between race and anatomy, proving that the motives behind racializing people must be political. The white race relies on this sense of racialization in order to maintain its socially constructed supremacy over so-called “non-whites”; therefore, settler colonialism acts as justification for racial inequality, and people of color are forced to seek equality through intersectional approaches. A racial project consists of representational strategies that artificially produce concepts of race in American society.

    Read More

  • Biological View Of Race: Negative Or Positive Today?

    285 Words  | 2 Pages

    It could also be argued that some aspects of the biological view of race are, to some extent, positive today because, over the years, the way scientists saw race has been altered as a result of what the previous biologic view provoked (Darwinian evolution), which was hatred and discrimination towards those groups of individuals that were different to them. This meant that many experts in the field made statements regarding the wrongness within the Darwin evolution. One of these experts was R.L Hotz, who admitted that there was only a single type of race, which was the human race and that it couldn’t be opposed biologically (Hotz, 1997). This, in other words, means that the way race was seen and the way it is now seen by some biologists has

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Race As A Colonial Construct

    1123 Words  | 5 Pages

    Since people moved around and spread their genes, our genetics are non-concordant, which means that they are not determined by one gene. If the colonial view of race was true, then everybody in the same race would have the same exact genes, but in reality, you're more likely to have more genetic similarities with somebody outside your race than within your race. Race is a construct that was made by colonial rulers in order to gain power over their subjects, but it still has very real consequences for those it has been used against. Race is a social construct that is still being used to maintain power over groups of color, although the time of colonization has come and gone and scientific advancements have come on to prove it untrue.

    Read More

  • Just Mercy Research Paper

    559 Words  | 3 Pages

    I have seen the unique place in the organic world occupied by the human species, the profound physical, as well as moral, differences separating it from all kinds of living creatures. Race, technically, refers to differential concentrations of gene frequencies responsible for traits. They are separated from one another, on the basis of certain biological characteristics. Principle races are Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. Most educated folks would settle for the actual fact that the planet isn’t flat which it revolves around the sun.

    Read More

  • Origins Of Race Dbq Essay

    1456 Words  | 6 Pages

    Scientific reasons for race and how it doesn’t correlate to race is shown in Document 5 that different human species should be divided into four groups based on their alleged characteristics and mark themselves with certain things like paints or garments. The document is trying to explain race and categorization of races through the people’s supposed characteristics and only using four groups, proving the correlation between race and scientific reasoning doesn’t work. Also, in Document 10, it’s explained that the four race categories are all “degenerate” forms to “God’s original creation,” and were classified biologically into different groups who were non-Caucasian. This document also explains that race and scientific reasoning does not correlate because it talks about how other races are “downgraded” versions of white and just split them into groups just by looks using colors, creating these unrealistic races with colors, without taking into account any physical scientific reasoning, proving there’s no correlation between race and scientific reasoning, that it was just led on by social and economic reasons. Lastly, in Document 11’s section, it explains that race doesn’t explain human variation and that us humans have a

    Read More

  • Should Physician Pay Attention To Race Essay

    681 Words  | 3 Pages

    Furthermore a study by the Genetic Society of America, weakens the myth that race is caused by genetic differences by stating that there is a “larger Genetic Differences Within Africans Than Between Africans and Eurasians” meaning “blacks” are more genetically similar to “whites”

    Read More

  • Theme Of Racism In Entre Les Murs

    982 Words  | 4 Pages

    This partition between races ‘consists of identifying

    Read More

  • Summary Of Michael Omi And Howard Winant Racial Formation

    864 Words  | 4 Pages

    While some argue that race is a biological concept, many have rejected that view and instead view race as a social construct. This revised viewpoint stems from the

    Read More

  • Race Is A Biological Myth

    219 Words  | 1 Pages

    According to the film race is a biological "myth" and as outdated as belief that the sun revolved around the earth. Race is a concept that was invented to categorize the perceived biological, social, and cultural differences between human groups. Based on modern genetic science that can decode the genetic puzzle of DNA there is no significant genetic or biological differences between the races. Race is an artificial construct imposed by the ruling classes to justify first slavery and then segregation. One of the main findings concerning the genetic make-up of the students in the course was that skin color really is only skin deep.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Race And Ethnicity

    324 Words  | 2 Pages

    Race and ethnicity are two terms which are used interchangeably in every day conversation, however, there is a distinction between the two. Race is a categorization of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of phenotype – observable physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, eye shape, or other selective attributes. Race is a social construct and has been known to change with historical and political events. Contrarily, ethnicity does not necessarily provide visual clues, instead, ethnicity is categorized on the basis of a shared common culture and includes elements such as language, norms, customs, religion, music, art, literature. Ethnic Groups are developed by their unique history

    Read More

  • Ap Euro Dbq Race Analysis

    1257 Words  | 6 Pages

    George Best describes in his document how people often misunderstand what race is, thinking it to be the fault of the sun, but he describes in his novel that the dark skin of those who live to the south of him was actually a punishment direct from god for being cruel during the biblical flood, (Doc. 2) [B]. While this explanation relies heavily on simple stories, the attempt to describe why some are different through religion is a way to have people widely conform to modern conceptions of race; people always look to god [C]. In another document, David Hume describes that he believes those with white skin are inherently better than those with darker skin, stating questionable and untrue facts about there never being a major African civilization, see Ghana or Mali.

    Read More

  • Biological Basis Of Race Essay

    499 Words  | 2 Pages

    Among anthropologists it has become increasingly clear that the concept of race having a biological basis is fundamentally flawed. There a number of flaws with this concept of race. One issue is that features attributed to race, such as skin color, very across the globe in a clinal fashion rather than in uniform groups. Another issue is that there is more in-group variation within races than there is variation between races. Finally, human variation is non-concordant.

    Read More

More about American Anthropological Association Statement On Race Summary

Open Document