Revision: The Idea of Race

Retrieved From: https://kenanmalik.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/why-both-sides-are-wrong-in-the-race-debate/ 

As human beings we are always using methods of classification to group things. Race is a classifications used to categorize groups of people. Ultimately race has been socially constructed, which means that the idea of race and classification of humans by race is not biologically based. It is a particular way of viewing one another which stems from colonial encounterment and trying to make sense of something that was unfamiliar. The earliest classification based on race as we know comes from Linnaeus' taxonomy to group people who share similar physical and cultural traits. In the film “Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode 1,” Pilar Ossorio, a microbiologist stated that “There’s as much or more diversity and genetic difference within any racial group as there is between people of different racial groups.” As a scientific concept Ossorio's statement bears weight because it was scientifically proven within the film that those classified as the same race were more different than those who weren't same race. Ultimately this means that a black person and a white person can be genetically more similar to one another as oppose to two people who are black. Showing us that there is nothing embedded within our DNA that determines what race we will be. Therefore classification of race based on biology is a very "flawed" system since there isn't any special gene located within the DNA that determines race. According to Philip N. Cohen, genetics does not explain the relative status and well-being of today’s racially identified groups or their broader societies in fact race is used a  mean of social inequality. Sociologically race has led to many people being discriminated against institutionally, structurally and systematically. Sociologically race is not concrete but in fact is due to a long history of categorization of people based on phenotypical features.                                                   Typically, when I think of myself racially I identify as a black woman. I believe that on a phenotypical level looking at my facial features can also allow others to categorize me as such. The texture of my hair, the shape and size of my eyes, nose, lips and etc. are all phenotypical features that will lead someone to the conclusion that I am black. Apart from all of these being physical features which relates to phenotype and the “scientific” aspect, sociologically speaking these same features will lead someone to be capable of determining my race based on how society has classified features of individuals. But there isn't any specific gene within my DNA that would point out that I am black. With that being said just because there isn't a "precise demarcation" in terms of genes that labels us in our DNA there are features that labels us in society. Despite how hard we may try to break away from race because there isn't any scientific gene that makes one race superior to another I wonder if this is something that can truly happen. 

Photo Credit: http://www.crystalinks.com/faces.html

Refrences

 Cohen, P. N. (2015). How troubling is our inheritance? A review of genetics and race in the social sciences. Annals Of The American Academy Of Political And Social Science, 661(1), 65-84. doi:10.1177/0002716215587673

Golash-Boza, Tanya Maria. (2015). Race & racisms : a critical approach. New York :Oxford University Press, 

Hochschild, J., & Sen, M. (2015). Genetic determinism, technology optimism, and race: Views of the American public. Annals Of The American Academy Of Political And Social Science, 661(1), 160-180. doi:10.1177/0002716215587875