The social construction of race has challenged our thinking and has made us think critically on how we subconsciously inherited society’s idea of norms and differences. We live our lives day by day without realizing that we have been given a predetermined outlook on how we view people because of their race. We gain these predispositions through the media, social interactions, family values and so forth. We chose this issue because we find it interesting that many people are unaware of this social construct, and that the outlook on difference of race can affect one’s actions. Using popular videos and articles in addition to our class readings, our paper will introduce the idea of social construction of race, and how it interrelates with concepts of critical thinking and diversity. …show more content…
The need for categorization resulted to race being defined in institutional contexts such as “a group of people who perceive themselves and are perceived by others as possessing distinctive hereditary traits” (Ore, 2014, p.9). With this definition, it becomes easier to group individuals in limited categories, such as by their color. What is important to note is the attached perceptions and assumptions based on one’s racial background; this constitutes the social construct of race. As Ore (2014) explains, we do not create these assumptions due to their biological factors as individual people, but rather as social factors. Social construction of race goes all the way back to when the person is born. The assumptions one has is gained by the influences made by society while they are growing, as well as their family upbringing, education, the economy they live in, the interactions they have with people and even the media. Ideas and values we learn from these interactions shape how we interact and experience our social world (Ore,
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.
If there is no biological basis for race, then it is clear race is created by human for their own purpose. Racial ideas are manifested in social inequality and unfair distribution. One of the factors of race is racial classification. The article of Colorblind challenges
a. Race appears because people’s identities are assigned through it. This is a means of distinguishing a group and a means of control over it. The essence of society is that a small number of people exploit most people in the name of the development of human civilization, and race is the most powerful political weapon for them. b. Social construction is something or an event that is a meaningful to the society, it reveals how the social is constructed and how people are participating in it. c. Money is a kind of social construction, people accept the value of money and consider them as an essential part of the society.
Throughout this paper, I argued for race’s importance in defining who we are as human beings. First, I introduced the concept of race, defined terms, and provided background information that show cased the role of race throughout history into modernity. Next, I introduced my argument, provided sources, and a outlined a valid argument in support of race’s importance to human beings. Finally, I acknowledged two possible objects to my argument and responded to them. After reviewing all of the definitions, background information, arguments, and explanations for race, one can confidently conclude that as a result of our social institutions, race is an important feature of who we human persons
As a group, mostly all of our thoughts and opinions were similar when discussing the topic of this paper; which was diversity and ethnocentrism. After reading the first section "In Group Bias", we all agreed that prejudice will arise when different communities are put together. This is simply because people tend to stick together based on their culture, religion, or lifestyle. Natalie mentioned that preferences for an alike group are based on everyone's upbringing; which happens to be the topic of the next section "Questions about Race in Biology and Upbringing". Concerning this section, we realized that multiracial children are often times placed into categories that they do not fully identify with, but they are obligated to identify as because it is how they make friends or meet new kids.
Sociologists define race as a social construct because society has classified various groups of people based on physical characteristics such as skin color under the assumption that other characteristics would also be similar. This had occurred without any biological proof of correlation. This has also led to faulty belief systems such as racism, ethnocentrism, and the propensity for stereotyping. Fortunately, the intermarriages between races and subsequent procreation has helped cracked the facade of racial differences, at least those that aren't manufactured by society. I have a biracial niece whose father is black and mother is white.
First, Gravlee explains the cultural perception of race in the United States and how
Introduction Race is a socially constructed concept that has been used to create and justify inequalities throughout history. The idea of race has been used to create hierarchies, determine social status, and justify discriminatory practices against people who were perceived as being different. The construction of race has been based on a number of factors, including physical appearance, culture, and ancestry. In this essay, I will explore how race has been defined and acted upon historically, using examples such as the thirty-meter telescope in Hawaii, racial segregation in Levittown, the Ozawa Supreme Court case, and the Thind Supreme Court case. I will also discuss how biology has been used in the past to falsely create definitions of race
Critical race theory is an organized framework for the exact purpose of critical argument and racism theory that is based on the idea that race is not a characteristic of physically distinct groups, but instead a culturally defined category that is used to oppress minority groups. In “The Trials of Critical Race Theory”, this documentary shares the different points of view based on the citizens' personal beliefs and experiences about teaching race at school. Critical race theory critics are expressing their concerns regarding the systematic racism that is occurring in schools due to its implementation. The documentary is showing the different perspectives on how critical race theory should be taught in schools, whether race and
When sociologists argue that race is a social construction, they mean that it is more of a tool used by people to classify individuals than a biological reality. A conflict theorist would argue that race is a tool dictated by the powerful to oppress specific groups of people. The law passed by Congress in 1790 which granted rights of citizenship to only "free white persons" was an example of this. Many ethnicities fell under the term "whites", and over time, this term was then redefined to appease another powerful group 's agenda. The Immigration Act of 1924 was part of this agenda, placing yearly limits on immigrants coming to America by country.
A very controversial topic of discussion today involves the difference between the biological and social view of race. The biological view sees a population according to traits that are passed down biologically, this is where the term “race” comes from. It would be somewhat accurate to say that people from different parts of the world have some differences biologically. The issue in this argument is found when people see that there may be some differences biologically but try to segregate them into fixed categories. What is found by this is that by assessing this biology and peoples' appearance, you can categorize them into a specific race.
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.
In the article “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’,’’ Ta-Nehisi Coates asserts that the idea of race is not based on someone’s intelligence. People will always have a different opinion on intelligence. It is wrong to make the assumption that “blacks” are not as intelligent as “whites”. Coats says “There is no fixed sense of ‘whiteness’ or ‘blackness’.” He also explains how race is a social construct.
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.
Throughout history, Western civilization societies have engaged in a process in which a dominant culture has presented a fixed definition of reality — “this is the way it is supposed to be.” Surreptitiously, the dominant culture has always manipulated its members through socialization, creating a set of norms that are attached to socially constructed categories such as race, gender, and class. These constructed categories correlate to a set of beliefs around human differences, set in place by the dominant culture, used to organized and control society as well as to validate social, economic, and political inequalities. The social construction of race for example, was not invented until the 18th century as a social mechanism used to reference