Sharon
Bonifaz September 21, 2016
The Study of Race and Biology
In order to understand the relationship between race as a
sociological concept and race as a scientific concept, one can refer to genetic
genealogy testing. For many years, the notion of race has been tied to biology which
has ultimately resulted in the classification of racial groups. However, after
years of extensive research it is evident that race is in fact a social
invention and a biological myth because no genetic factor can determine race. Yet,
race continues to be associated with biological factors simply because
phenotypes varies across different bodies.
Nonetheless, Pilar Ossorio’s statement in the film Race:
The Power of an Illusion, Episode 1, is evidence that no genetic marker can classify
people into racial groups, thus proving no biological ties to race. This is
demonstrated by a group of students who sequenced a small sample of their
mitochondrial DNA. By doing so, the mitochondrial DNA which is only inherited
by the mother and does not contain any traits, will work as a gate to trace
back to the mother’s ancestry. When the results were done, the small sequence
samples were more identical between two people from two different racial groups
rather than two people within the same racial group. Regardless of the human
biological variation, this goes to prove that all humans are genetically alike.
Nonetheless, being born in the United States and having
parents that come from Ecuador, I have always identified as Hispanic/Latino
American. Though my mother’s side of the family can easily be mistaken as White
because of their pale skin, green/blue eyes, and blonde hair, my father on the
other hand is always attributed to being Hispanic/Latino. However, in my case,
I have been attributed to being Asian, Hispanic/Latino, and White. Although it
is exciting to get different answers when I ask strangers to guess my racial
identity, it is also troubling when I think about being a Hispanic/Latina in
the work force. Since being a female already comes with a wage gap, being a
female and not White will be more of a struggle in today’s society.
According to Sullivan’s Racial Identity and Intergroup
Attitudes, “for many whites, race does not play a consequential role in their
daily lives” (263). Whereas, people in Brazil often associate a lighter skin
tone with increasing social status (Lovell, 90). Which not only proves that
skin color is an important factor in today’s society, but the preferred color
skin is tied to Whites, because unlike others they are least likely to face
discrimination and poverty. The dominant group is Whites and the minorities are
people who can fall under Blacks and Hispanic/Latinos. However, what is
outrageous and discouraging is that our external features are ultimately the used
to place people into racial groups. Though race will always be a biological
myth, society will always find a way to classify humans and relate it to
biology so that the social construct of race may be justified. In terms of my
own racial identity, I will not let society discourage me and as a minority I
will take pride in my future successes.
References
Lovell, P. A., & Wood,
C. H. (1998). Skin color, racial identity, and life chances in Brazil. Latin
American Perspectives, 25(3), 90+.
Sullivan, J. M., &
Ghara, A. (2015). Racial Identity and Intergroup Attitudes: A Multiracial
Youth Analysis. Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 96(1), 261-272.
Further Reading
Your post included all components required by Professor Lewis-McKoy. I really appreciated your insight on race, and you threw in a snippet about gender. You also included your outside sources. All in all I didn't notice the need for revision. But maybe one of your links could be a short video doc of someone speaking about race.
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