Race

A (man-made) classification system which identifies, divides and marginalizes human populations into groups based on physical appearance, social factors, and cultural backgrounds. Throughout history, race has been constructed into a social hierarchy, placing certain individuals in positions of supremacy, and subjecting others to discrimination and prejudice.

Significantly, most geneticists proclaim that racial taxonomies at the DNA human level do not exist. Genetic differences within any designated racial group are often greater than differences between racial groups. Considering this, race is simply an attempt by humans to explain physical differences between individuals, and then lump them into groups based on these differences. The racial categories used in society are not “real” due to their inability to be based on scientific, logical, or consistent facts that all people can even begin to agree on.

Although race is not real, racism is undeniably socially real. The racial categories assigned to individuals at birth inhabit the power to determine real-life experiences in both positive and negative manners. The ways in which we look to others, as well as the ways in which we identify ourselves can inspire hatred, drive political outcomes, and make the difference between life and death. Accordingly, race and its various categories become impossible to pin down and render unsuccessful debates on how particular people should identify.

All in all, it is important to note that race is a fluid social construct that changes over time, place, and context. In the United States, some examples of changes in racial classifications include:

• Germans, Irish, Italians, Greeks, and Spaniards were once not considered white
• Until the 1930 Census, people of Mexican birth or ancestry were white
• Until 1960, race was determined by enumerators or census takers
• Until 2000, people could not select more than one race to describe themselves

Términos recomendados alternativos

• Ethnic Background

Fuentes

1. Race
2. Race and Ethnicity
3. 11 Ways Race Isn't Race
4. The Changing Categories the U.S. Census Has Used to Measure Race

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Racism