How Is Race A Meaningless Concept

“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” - American philosopher Abraham J. Heschel. A world with no definition of race is a tough concept for some to grasp. Yet many centuries ago the world existed as so, long before the foundation of race. Race is not natural or innate, despite popular assumptions, it is a social construct created by people to separate mankind.

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

What is race? Some people attach "race" to a biological meaning, yet others use "race" as a socially constructed concept. “Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them” (. So, it is clear that even though race does not have a biological meaning, it does have a social meaning - usually detrimental to our social harmony. Race is neither an essence nor an illusion, but

One piece of evidence supporting this idea is the varying definition of the word race changes over time and across cultures. Just like other social institutions and ideologies change over time and culture, so does the concept/definition of race. We do not think of people as inferior or ignorant because they have brown hair, their eyes are green, or because they have crooked teeth; yet society stereotypes people based on their race,

Race is not an element of human biology (like breathing oxygen or reproducing sexually); nor is it even an idea (like the speed of light or the value of π) that can be plausibly imagined to live an external life of its own. Race is not an idea but an ideology. It came into existence at a discernable historical moment for rationality understandable historical reasons and is subject to change for similar reasons (101).

Kwame Anthony Appiah's article “Racisms”, claims racism to be a view of racialism which are the “heritable characteristics, possessed by the members of our species, that allow us to divide them into smaller sets of races… these races share certain traits…” (Appiah). Appiah argues that humans need a definition of

According to “How Real is Race,” the three fundamental racial premises that are rejected by contemporary scientists are that there is no distinction between subspecies of archaic humans, it is not possible to separate humans into biological races, and race is a concept that is not important in understand the biology of a human body. The authors of “How Real is Race,” suggest that educators handle the concept of race in classroom by teaching students that there is potential to change the perspective in society about the definition of race. They believe that race is not a determining factor of a human. Race is a concept that was made in countries to create social and cultural standards. The goal is to teach students that race should categorize individuals and associate them to social stereotypes. Therefore, having educators being social transformers and develop a system that stops racism. The authors suggest that educators avoid racial classifications, teach the success of movements

The film "Understanding Race" gives many accounts of the meaning of the word race and what race actually is and what it isn't. According to the film, most scientists agree that race doesn't exists in the natural world. This conclusion was drawn in 1998, the concept of race was proven to have no scientific validity and is not scientifically proven. The film suggests that just because the concept of race isn't proven by science, that doesn't take away from the concept of race having a true meaning for humans. Although race has a meaning to humans, there is not a distinct answer to what race means. For example, during an interview in the film a comedian Margaret Cho, defines race as being what you are but not who you are.

Why does race determine one's identity? Most people in society believe there is a stereotype behind every race? Not just a stereotype, there are times when people are judged and mistreated just because of the race they belong to. Sometimes the history of the culture seems to “shape” who the person is . Others will think that the individual is the same as the others, not knowing who they really are. Just like Richard in the book “Black Boy”, he got mistreated by white people just for the fact that he was African American. Individuals have a right to determine who they are regardless to their race.

In this world we are constantly being categorized by our race and ethnicity, and for many people it’s hard to look beyond that. Even though in the past many stood up for equality and to stop racism and discrimination, it still occurs. In this nation of freedom and equality, there are still many people who believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs are the ones that destroy our nation and affect the lives of many. The people affected are not limited by their age group, sex, social status, or by their education level. Their beliefs can cause them to attack other groups verbally or in silence and even reaching to the point of violence. All of this occurs because we can’t be seen as a “people”, but rather like “species” that

I used to think that race was a social construct more of a biological reality until I read all these articles. They changed my perspective and I have come to realize different things. My opinion is now divided into two; I am in that middle point where I can see both ways of the argument as valid and reasonable and agree with both. First, I will explain why I think it is a biological reality, then, I will explain why it can also be a social construct, and lastly how have these debates shaped the views about the nature of ethnicity and consequently defined ethnic identity. We have to avoid viewing either explanation with a negative meaning. The negative history that comes attached to the word “race” is what I think makes us be defensive whenever we hear it and close ourselves up to any reasonable answer we might have to the question, is it a biological reality or a social construct?

When I think of the world being unified as one, I don't think of the world being unified as one race. I have never thought if we as people can be described as one race. However, I believe we as people can be described as one race. In the 3 stories I read, I learned about how different yet alike people are to each other. There is a reason why the term “human race” is used.When I think of race, I don't think of black,white,hispanic, or any term to describe someone. I don't think of these terms to divide one person from another.

There is nothing real about race, a social construct, unlike a river which is absolute. A river will escist regardless of people thinking, agreeing or accepting that it does exist. Race requires people to collectively agree that it does exist , unlike a river.

Racism is defined as the systematic subordination of certain racial groups by those groups in power . As a society, we must first eradicate ignorance in order to defeat racism. We must acknowledge that people have different ways of viewing the world and that even though someone may have a different opinion than you, it is not necessarily wrong. The idea that people have different ways of viewing the world stems from standpoint theory. Standpoint theory is based on the concept that people view the world differently depending on their social standing . A central theme of standpoint theory is that a person’s racial and or ethnic background deeply impacts how they view and interact with the world . Racial

Skin color varies widely depending on geographical location and is largely influenced by the environment. The color of our skin is due to a pigment called melanin which is produced in our epidermis. There are 2 types of melanin, pheomelanin and eumelanin; people with light skin have mostly pheomelanin and smaller/less melanin overall while people with dark skin have mostly eumelanin and larger/more melanin overall. Melanin, or eumelanin in particular, is an evolutionary defense against the sun’s damaging radiation and decreases the risk of skin damage and cancer. Unsurprisingly, people who live in places with high amounts of solar radiation, like along the equator in South America and Africa, have a lot of eumelanin which gives them a dark