Ethnic Minority Groups Lewis-McCoy: Social Illusion

Karen Del Carpio Sep. 21, 2016

Social Illusion of Race

Today many people think that human groups can be divided easily by distinct races. It is not a surprise that throughout history many scientists have done numerous studies on humans in order to classify the different populations based on their racial traits. As we have studied, race is a concept based on the attempt to categories the observable differences between racial groups. Microbiologist Pilar Ossorio explained in “Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode 1” that there is no biological explanation that links race and genetics, and that there is more genetic variation within people of the same ethnic group than there is between various ethnic groups. Also in the article “Race: Biological Reality or Social Construct? By Andreasen, we see the same idea of a greater genetic variation within racial groups as it is between multiple racial groups. This evidence is based on the theory that traces our ancient origin back to Africa that states that through evolution we all carry old and new genetic variations that are vital for our survival.

I am from South America. Where I grew up the majority of families were mestizos. These families were either of Spanish or other European descent. In my case my grandfather was from Jewish Sephardic origin. Church was a big component of my identity. I always considered myself as racially mixed. I was never conscious about race differentiation until I got to New York. Here it was hard for me not to see the social cliques among different racial groups. The concept of racial identity for me is based on the different culture contexts. The article “Theories of Culture in Racist Discourse” (pg.93) explains that different countries have different ways of perceiving race and that societies have incorporated new forms of racism after WWII. These forms of racial notion emphasize race as a culture product rather than biological.

Angela James in her article “Making Sense of Race and Biological Classification” explains how people identify physical traits as part of their definition of race. “While race is a dynamic phenomenon rooted in political struggle, it is commonly considered a fixed characteristic of human populations; ..people routinely look to the human body for evidence about racial identity; while it is a biological fiction, it is nonetheless a social fact” (pg. 236). I believe that there exists a longing for social identity. We are constantly looking for affirmation among theories and logical explanation for our own doubts. Classifying people based on their physical traits and abilities is just another attempt to conform to social construct of race.

We can agree that racial stereotypes have been used as a medium to preserve hegemony. The techniques used by scientists today resemble methods used by scientists such as Linnaeus, who through classification of biological structures he attempted to attach imaginary components to his analysis, using this as a base upon which to formulate his theories. Racial differences, class status, socioeconomic conditions are some of the many tools used by the white supremacy to preserve social inequality.