Race Classification

Mamadou Barrie

September, 21, 2016

Race Classification

            What is race? Race is defined as a set or group of people sharing genetic traits that Differentiates them. With this being said, Social scientists and Sociologists are confident that race is a socially constructed concept. Considering this, microbiologist Pilar Osorio points out in the film” Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode 1,”, that “There’s as much or more diversity and genetic difference within any racial group as there is between people of different racial groups.”. Osorio support her statement by providing evidence which involved conducting a genetic experiment that was composed of a set of culturally diverse students.  

In the beginning of the experiment the culturally diverse students believed that one would have more genetic similarities with the one that they share the same skin color with. However, the experiment’s results turned out to be the opposite of what they had hypothesized as the students of different skin pigment turned out to have more genetic similarities than those of the same skin color. Furthermore, Ossorio argues that “humans are genetically among the most similar of all species. Only one out of every thousand nucleotides that make up our genetic code is different from one individual to another.”. What makes us appear physically different is characterized by one-tenth of one percent of our genetic make-up. Even these differences can be unpredictable or imprecisely defined. While it is true that some people have different skin color, Ossorio point out that the physical characteristics utilized to categories people into different races such skin color, eye color, hair texture, facial features are more diverse within a race than among races.  This means that, if we were to observe a group of people who are well thought out to be Caucasian, we would discover more physiological differences within that group than we would among a set of Caucasians and a set of African Americans. Moreover, the use of skin pigment as a way of grouping could be unclear according to the article Bi-Racial To Tri-Racial by Silva, E. B. For example, some Caucasians possess darker skin than people who are labeled as African American. Moreover, some Hispanics, who view themselves as white, have a darker skin color than those of African Americans. unfortunately, race is not permanently determined by someone’s skin color as stated in the article called Racial Formation by Omi and Winant. Typically, we consider lineage as a means of grouping. However, as researchers have pointed out, this can be inaccurate as well. Throughout history, people have been mating for so many years that it nearly difficult for a pure race to exist.

My racial identity is African. I am African, so are both of my parents. Being born overseas I have always thought of myself as black, because according to history and archeology the first person to live on heart lived in Africa. therefore, this caused me to think that everyone regardless of your skin color or where you from are black simply because I believe that every single person derives from the first one.

However, the evidence supported in the film shifted my conscious on how I now think of my own racial identity and race in general. I Think race is a modern concept because in ancient times, people were more likely to be classified based on their religion, language, ancestry, and nationality. For instance, in ancient Greece, people were grouped based on language and culture rather than physical differences. This being said, I do not see myself part of any race but the human race as the film proves that the idea of biological race is a myth rather than a fact.

References

1. Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1994, March 22). Racial Formation: Understanding Race and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era. Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960's to the 1990's, 53-76

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2. Silva, E. B. (2004, August 20). From Bi-Racial To Tri-Racial. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(6), 931-950.