Mandy Tran

Maya Silver
Intermediate Writing 2010
February 24, 2016
Identifying Race is Offensive

Introduction

Identifying people by race can be offensive to some individuals because race is created

through social and historical processes. Throughout history, people have been labeled by the

dominant group, forcing them into categories that they might not identify with. Labels are the

basis for social constructivism, which argues that race is created by dominant groups rather than

being genetic. Categorizing people by race creates advantages for those who are in power and

disadvantages others. Unequally advantaging people can lead to consequences.

In 1758, Carolus Linneaus created a classification system for humans that Thomas

Jefferson adopted. He decided that whites were superior over blacks (The Story of Race

Transcript 1) but as the years go on, people redefine and create different races. The racial

classification was created by Johann Blumenbach in the eighteenth century. He categorized

Russian caucasians at the top because he believed they were the most beautiful and

sophisticated people and any others who are darker skinned were placed at the bottom

(Andersen & Collins 58-59). Racial classification is new and ever changing. In the 1860s, the

only races that existed were white, black, and mulattoes. Thirty years later, quadroon, octoroon,

Chinese, Japanese, and Indian were added to the list of races. A decade later, the list was

shortened to white, black, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian. It was not until the 2000s when

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Hispanic became an option. As the years go on, there are more ethnic and racial diversity,

creating more options for self identifications (Andersen & Collins 58-59).

Racial classification have been developing throughout history to the present. Creating

more categories to identify oneself can create pride, honor, and confidence. Accepting and

validating all people creates an accepting society but when society creates labels and stereotypes

it harms ones image. Creating preconceptions of another person causes disadvantages and

advantages for others. The unequal privileges creates different starting points for those who are

categorized into a different race.

The Social Construct of Race

Social constructivism of race argues that certain characteristics and identities are created

through the results of social and historical processes. Race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality are

socially constructed because those concepts are intertwined with each individual's experiences

and identities.(Andersen & Collins, 51-53) In spite of these statements and claims, studies show

these characteristics can be biologically proven to differentiate themselves from others. Using

race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality as labels to identify people who are different and others who

are similar, can result in harm.

Race is considered as subspecies, through genetics and morphological differences, it

cannot be applied to humans says Machery and Faucher. (1208-1209) They stated this because

race can overlap within each group, intertwined with many factors that make us all the same

human species. As Sesardic quoted from another author, they state there are three grades of

modal involvement, meaning there are three ways race is biological, 1) Race implies that there is

a common ancestry so individuals can be genetically similar. 2) Different races will differ in

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morphological characteristics (skin, hair, facial features, etc.) 3) Races can differ by

psychological characteristics. (144) Sesardic also quotes, ...there are heritable characteristics,

possessed by members of our species, that allow us to divide human beings into a small set of

races, in such a way that all the members of these races share certain traits and tendencies with

each other that they do not share with members of any other race (146). As explained by

Sesardic, ...all members of group A would have to share certain characteristic F, and that

characteristic F would also have to be absent in all members of group B. (Sesardic 146) This

proves there can be a biological basis for race.

Race is more socially constructed than biologically constructed because scientist has not

found a race gene. (Andersen & Collins, 57) A race gene is a theory where each race has a

specific gene found in individuals of a certain race. In Race is a Social Construct, Scientists

Argue, Gannon quotes there is no single variant where all Africans have one variant and all

Europeans have another (1). Although there is no race gene, everyone cannot totally

disregard race because it is real in society and affects how people see others and how others see

themselves (Lusca, 1).

People believe race is socially constructed because there are no known genes that

differentiate us from others, but there are differences that are found in some people and not

others. Sesardic says, Dobzhansky states, when defining race, it delimit races as exact, non

overlapping, and discrete entities. Meaning, races will not exist because different people would

have distinct species instead. (147) Gannon also agrees with Sesardics statement because

there is not a single absolute genetic difference meaning when determining a race, people

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cannot just look at one characteristic, they have to look at multiple characteristics. (1) As the

authors concluded, race is complicated to define and explain.

Race on Status

Andersen and Collins say there are systems of inequality ...that are built into the very

structure of society. These systems create power structures, working to advantage some and

disadvantage others. (51) The article by Jeffers agrees, saying these characteristics are political

and separate people into dominant and subordinate groups. (410) Those who have the privilege

to create these systems of power are the dominant group. Those placed in power uses the

characteristics that people chose to identify themselves with, to unequally distribute power. The

article from the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG),

says those in power separated people through people's ancestry phenotypical characteristics,

cultural practices, economic need, and political affiliation (1).

Being categorized by the dominant group is an issue, but how people are categorized is

an issue itself. People categorize others through their differences on origin, skin color, face

structure, hair texture, their blood, or any of the physical features people have. (NCHPEG 1)

Based on the skin color and culture people have, others will group people into a certain race.

(Lusca 1) To society the outside factors matter to determine who you are, where you are from,

and how important you are.

One way to put people into different groups was to define who is and is not white. In the

article by Jones, the experts define white as a person who is Armenian born in Asiatic Turkey

and if people had any trace of other blood, they were excluded. (1) The definition by Jones

was also used to differentiate who was and was not a slave. Declaring who is white is to separate

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people who are worthy to be represented in the dominant group and to put others who are

unworthy in another. This declaration of who is white shows how the systems of inequality

works. Categorizing individuals who is believe to fit the description of white supremacy is an

issue with race, because society create racial groups as a hierarchy. As the dominant group, they

are privileged to define everyones race and status. (Lusca, 1) With these facts, people perceive

race as a social construct.

Conclusion

Race can be explained through a social lense or a biological lense. These perspectives on

race shows the two sides of the argument. People who believe race is a social construct says the

higher hierarchy has the privilege to define and place people into racial groups. On another side,

some people believe race has a biological factor because race has characteristics that other racial

group does not have. Both these perspectives on how race is created can cause harm to a persons

identity.

Creating a hierarchy of racial classifications disadvantages some people and advantages

others. The hierarchy of race is created through power structures. These power structures created

a hierarchy system that values people who have more power. Those who have more power has

more value because society values one race over another. Race being place in a hierarchy

system, unevenly distributes privileges. The uneven distribution of privilege places values on

different racial groups causing harm to a person's identity and status.

People's belief in race as either socially or biologically constructed can cause harm in

many ways. Becoming socially constructed by the dominant group, people are labeled as a

certain race. The categorization of race can cause harm to people who are forced towards an

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identity causing damage to their identity. This also separates us from the dominant group who

are advantaged and those of the minority. The dominant group has the privilege to define and

put people into certain categories whether it be race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity.

Through the biological lense, race can become a tool of harm. The belief that there's a genetic

makeup that distinguishes people from others can cause misinterpretations and physically divide

themselves and the people around us.

Realizing that all humans are made up of the same genetics, everyone can start to be

socially conscious. Becoming aware and conscious can create an environment of understanding.

Hoping for a change in society to understand, accept, acknowledge, and validate everyone's race,

maybe one day race will become a way everyone can identify themselves without status and

privilege intertwined.

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 Works Cited

Andersen, M. L., & Collins, P. H. Systems of Power and Inequality. Andersen, M. L., &

Collins, P. H. (Eds.), Race, Class & Gender An Anthology. Cengage. 2013, pp. 51-73

Gannon, Megan. Race is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue. Live Science. 6 February, 2016.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/

Jeffers, C. The Cultural Theory of Race: Yet Another Look at Du Bois's The Conservation of

Races". Ethics, 123(3), 2013, pp. 403-426.

Jones, Brian. The Social Construction of Race. JACOBIN. 2015

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/06/racecraft-racism-social-origins-reparations/

Accessed 15 Feb. 2017

Lusca, Emanuel L. Race As A Social Construct. Anthropology. 2008

https://anthropology.net/2008/10/01/race-as-a-social-construct/ Accessed 15 Feb. 2017

Machery, Edouard & Faucher, Luc. Social Construction and the Concept of Race. Philosophy

of Science, 72 December 2005, pp. 1208-1219.

NCHPEG Social Construction of Race. Genetics and Social Science. 2012

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 http://www.nchpeg.org/bssr/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=102:social-const

ruction-of-race&Itemid=137 Accessed 15 Feb. 2017

Sesardic, N. Race: a social destruction of a biological concept. Biology & Philosophy, 25 (2) ,

2010, pp. 143-162

The Story of Race Transcript. RACE. 2016

http://www.understandingrace.org/history/history_trans.html Accessed 3 April, 2017.