Racism: The Artificial Category of Race Essay

The term “race” has been defined differently throughout history. Race has been not only defined as skin color but also defined as social class, national origin, religion, and language have all been used in history to separate different groups in society. Leibniz in the 17th century defined race religiously, dividing groups in two groups Christian v. Non-Christian. It wasn’t until 1735 when Linnaeus distinguished groups by skin color and geographic origin. He had four separate groups: Europeaus (white), Africanus (black), Americanus (red), and Asiatic (yellow) (Uppsala Universitet,

Throughout history, the word race has changed across cultures. It’s been used to classify humans in a variety of ways such as traits and behaviors. There is no gene in our human body that can define what race we are. But in today’s society people categorize individuals According to Barba Fields, "racism is an action, not an attitude, bigotry or prejudice”.

The biological term for race is derived from common physical characteristics based on our ancestors which all came from different areas of the globe who have similar features that have been passed down. Our societies have accepted that these differences are okay and they have attempted to place them into fixed categories but are they

Biological advancements such as Darwinism and Mendelian genetics had a profound impact on the study of race in the scientific community. These new concepts eventually led some scientists to question the validity of traditional notions about race. The resulting debates continue even today. The idea of race, especially in citizens of this country, evokes strong feelings because of the enormous social implications associated with racial identity. The social connotations of racial categories have had a profound influence on the way scientists understand human variation. Early ideas of race were colored by these connotations, and they still play a critical role in the way we understand race today. This paper will

o Everyone Knows It's a Social Construct": Contemporary Science and the Nature of Race Ann Morning o Biological Reality or Social Construct? Robin 0. Andreasent - Arguments against Race as a

Race is a social construct that was developed to classify people into vast different groups through ethnic, anatomical, cultural, genetic, historical, linguistic, geographical, and social attachment. Initially, race referred to people using a common language to identify national affiliations, but with time observable physical traits were used to denote race. The idea of race means that humans are divisible into biologically distinct and exclusive groups in terms of physical and cultural features. The ideology of race is also associated with the beliefs of the superiority of white people. These beliefs were concretized during the Scientific Revolution and American colonization that established political relations between Europeans and people with different cultural and political backgrounds. Therefore, race is a social construction, the idea that people have perceived through their daily interaction. Race does not have any significance in taxonomy because all humans belong to the same species, Homo sapiens. Assertions from various scholars

The English term ‘race’ is believed to originate from the Spanish word raza, which means ‘breed’ or ‘stock’ (Race). People use race to define other groups, this separation of groups is based largely on physical features. Features like skin color and hair don’t affect the fundamental biology of human variation (Hotz). Race is truly only skin deep, there are no true biological separations between two ‘racial’ groups. Scientifically speaking, there is more variation between single local groups than there is between two large, global groups; the human variation is constantly altering (Lewontin). The majority of today’s anthropologists agree that race is a form of social categorization, not the separation of groups based on biological

Race is a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by anatomical, cultural, ethnic, genetic, geographical,

Although race can be defined differently among members of the scientific community, there is a consensus that the traditional societal definition of race, wherein populations can be placed into definite categories like African or Asian, is not correct. The societal definition of race often takes into consideration sociocultural characteristics, such as language, culture, religion, and so on in addition to biological characteristics like morphology and skin color (Tishkoff & Kidd, 2004). This perspective of race as strict, unchanging classes has long since been discredited by most researchers for a large number of reasons. For instance, skin color and morphology are not typically considered adequate support for the existence of race because they often result from environmental pressures and are subject to convergent evolution (Tishkoff & Kidd, 2004). Sociocultural characteristics are not considered appropriate indicators either, as they can often encompass a wide variety of individuals with little genetic similarity.

This idea is challenged by the anthropologists who argue that race is a socially-constricted category and should not be viewed

Race can be generally defined as the clear cut divisions of human kind on their physical characteristics. However, the aspect of race is far more in depth than meets the eye. Other factors that have been argued to include what makes a race are genetics, social relations and ancestry. The most fundamental concept that has been attached to race more than the biological traits is the social

As humans, we often find comfort in the ability to separate and sort objects, ideas, and even people into innumerable categories that we may refer to with ease. Even if there exists no scientific support for such classification, we find that our innate nature allows us to socially construct certain divisions. Merriam-Webster Dictionary possesses numerous definitions for the word race; one that appears commonly describes this abstract idea as, “Any one of the groups that human beings can be divided into based on shared distinctive physical traits” (Merriam-Webster.com). This definition remains intangible as American history in particular paints an ever-changing picture of racial categorization

The term “race” has been given different meanings throughout the years and, now, it is used to signify the differences in physical characteristics that humans possess and, therefore, it creates stratification and inequality. However, the Haviland text states that “The concept of race has no biological basis. Therefore, race is seen as a cultural construct” (Haviland et. al. 2014). Joe R. Feagin and Clairece Booher Feagin support this statement in their textbook: Racial and Ethnic Relations. To understand the concept of race, it is important to be aware of the origin of the word. According to the Feagin text, the meaning of race has changed through the centuries. Back in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, race was a word intended for “descendants of a common ancestor, emphasizing linkages” (Feagin and Feagin, 2012: 5). This means that the word “race” was intended to recognize family ties, it did not take physical characteristics into consideration, only descendants; it was not utilized to separate people by their

The concept of race and the meanings associated with the term have continuously changed and evolved throughout history. Many negative connotations have been associated with the word race and these are evident as one reflects on the historical origins of the term. Commonly the term race is closely connected to the notion of ‘racism.’ Racism is a specific form of prejudice which focuses on physical variations between people. It describes the ideological belief that a person, or groups of people can be classified into ‘races’ which can be ranked in terms of superiority and inferiority (Spoonley, 1988:4). Giddens defines racism as “the attribution of characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics” (1997:584). This supports the idea that racism is a manner of prejudice or animosity against people who have different physical characteristics. It is in virtue of circumstances such as these that Anthropologists find it necessary to make a distinction between the concepts of race and ethnicity.

The term race was historically used to categorize plants and animals. It was not originally used to separate the human species regarding skin color at all. For example, in Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species, the subtitle is The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, the word Races meaning species. Later, this term was used for classifying groups of people based on certain characteristics, such as people who share the same parent language. The shift from simple categorization to harsh discrimination began in the mid-1800’s when scientists were studying heredity, and differences within the Homo sapiens species were thought to be biological. Researchers found that members of humanity spread throughout the globe did not all