How Race Becomes Biology: Embodiment Of Social Inequality

Fall 2015-Soc 100-35W 10/15 Week Seven Discussion Samantha Henry Sociologist argue that race is a social construct and not a part of our innate natural behavior. Then why is racial identification so prevalent in modern day society? That’s because at young ages we are taught by television, movies, books, newspapers, parents, teachers, friends and other sources what race is.

Contrary to the expectations of many individuals in the United States, race and ethnicity are not the same. Although both race and ethnicity are connected in the fact that both are socially constructed in modern times, race and ethnicity did not originate under similar circumstances. Race is more concrete and not dynamic, ultimately causing one’s race to be solidified in an individual’s early stages of development in society. Race was originally created in order to oppress certain individual’s in society and allow one group of individuals to be seen as superior and other groups as inferior, thereby proliferating oppression and establishment of distinctions between the in-group and the out-group. Race was not created as a way to understand the

Throughout history social scientists have been trying to examine the different parameters of race in terms of phenotypic characteristics, and cultural behaviors regarding the different groups that society construct’s. legally judges have had different rulings regarding the categorization of different ethnicities and groups within the United States. Many philosophers such as Kwame Appiah, and Scientists such as Dr. James Watson have had opposing arguments on the topic of race and whether it exists or not. In order to do so we need to examine the different definitions of race, and analyze them in order to see how race is a social construct, where people’s notions of race and their interactions with different races determine the way they perceive

The beginning of the book highlights the importance of race. Race was invented and assigned to individuals solely on their outward appearance. Most Americans unconsciously accept race as a product of Mother Nature. In reality, it has nothing to do with your genetics.

When we talk about race it generally means the color of a person’s skin, or their physical traits. These traits can lead to them being a different religion, heritage and obviously race or skin color. Race has life-or-death consequences and we prove it to not be deterministic. Ethnocentrism is the judgment of others groups by one’s own standards and values (Conley 326.) Ethnocentrism is what explained why historical efforts were so biased. When speaking about race its people or a group of people that all have their own features, mainly physical and that sets them apart from each other. Everyone has their own ethnicity and that is something everyone has in common. Sociologists argue this construction concept that it’s something that was created to show

Reflection Précis 1, Race and Ethnicity Part I: During the last lecture sessions, Dr. Jendian talked about appreciating diversity, race, ethnicity, and racism. In his lecture, we learned that many people believe that race is something biological. However, the true reality is that race is a social construct and not a biological one. For example, in the documentary Race: The Power of An Illusion, we were able to understand that there are more variations among people in the same “race” than with people from another “race.” However, physical differences, for example, the most obvious skin color, has created prejudices against minority groups.

The concept of racial bias –more specifically implicit or subconscious racial bias– has received increased attention over the years as racial and ethnic gaps in achievement (largely educational and economic), treatment, and survival outcomes persevere despite the expansion of concerted efforts to focus on the social determinants of health (SDOH) and combating longstanding, overt discriminatory barriers and practices. The increased interest in as well as investments made within the study of implicit or “hidden” biases is largely attributed to the field of social psychology and the research of practitioners like Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt and Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff, whose work have emphasized the importance of focusing on the role that contextual environmental factors and social conditioning play, rather than just explicit racial attitudes, in explaining the persistence of racial inequality. Racial bias refers to the attitudes and/or stereotypes that one has about different racial and ethnic groups that affect their understanding, feelings, and actions towards perceived

Race-relation is an ongoing American social problem in need of constants study within the discipline of sociology. There are a variety of ways to analyze race relations. Racism is a piece of each part of our lives. Whether it is on the news or through individual experience, we see prejudice surrounding us. It appears like we have basically acknowledged prejudice as a feature of our lives.

The major thesis in this book, are broken down into two components. The first is how we define racism, and the impact that definition has on how we see and understand racism. Dr. Beverly Tatum chooses to use the definition given by “David Wellman that defines racism as a system of advantages based on race” (1470). This definition of racism helps to establish Dr. Tatum’s theories of racial injustice and the advantages either willingly or unwillingly that white privilege plays in our society today. The second major thesis in this book is the significant role that a racial identity has in our society.

We All Bleed Red: Racial Conceptions of Biology and Medicine The role of racial characteristics in American medical thought is explored by Dr. Michael Byrd and Dr. Linda Clayton in their journal article, “Race, Medicine, and Health Care in the United States: a Historical Survey.” Drs. Byrd and Clayton start their article by defining “race” and “racism” in its different contexts, moving from historical ideas of race as subspecies to metaracism— defined as systematic racism, devoid of individual thought or racial malice The foundational assumption of the author’s argument is that “Black intellectual and biological inferiority has been an assumption in Western scientific and lay cultures for more than a thousand years.” (Byrd, 145)

In the article, “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’,” Ta-Nehisi Coates asserts that the idea of race is that “puts hundreds pf millions under domination” (Coates, p. 3). The definition of race is “the classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, ancestry, genetics or social relations, or the relations between them.” Liberals often say “truly stupid things like race has to biological element” (Coates, p. 6). William Z. Ripley wrote a story which desired to “delineate racial difference through head type” (Coates, p. 4). Coates states that “race does not need biology. Race only requires some good guys with big guns looking for a reason” (Coates, p. 6). Race is just a social construct and “is an idea, not a

provides a view of a field that embraces the paradigm shift that focuses on the health and health care away from the white majority and towards the diverse experiences of racial and ethnic minorities. Of particular the author talks about the complexities of health disparities from preventing chronic conditions in minority population including both domestic and international perspectives. The author further refers to social policy and the role of race and ethnicity in health research, social factors contributing to mortality, longevity and life expectancy, quantitative and demographic analysis and access and utilization of health services. LaVeist’s intended audience is undergraduate and graduate student but a wider audience exists such as community

Before answering the question of “Should physicians pay attention to “race”?” lets first discuss why it is necessary for a physician to know the “race” of the patients. The first reason is in regard to pathogenic reasons leading to the field of pharmacogenetics. The second is more social reason and leads to racial division among a population. In considering of the latter reason, one should note that it may not the physician’s intention to cause any racial division.

As he casually talks to Lev about the origins of racism in the past, and how people would use to call his race black. For this think piece, I will compare and contrast modern day society’s approach to racial discrimination

Race, nationality and ethnicity Race and ethnicity are seen as form of an individual’s cultural identity. Researchers have linked the concept of “race” to the discourses of social Darwinism that in essence is a categorization of “types” of people, grouping them by biological and physical characteristics, most common one being skin pigmentation. Grouping people based on their physical traits has lead in time to the phenomenon of “racialization” (or race formation), as people began to see race as more of a social construct and not a result or a category of biology.