REVISION: Micro-Progression: Ond Day At a Time

Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

When Pilar Ossorio proclaimed that, “there’s as much or more diversity and genetic difference within any racial group as there is between people of different racial groups”,  she entered the door of looking at race sociologically and scientifically. This is not a path uncharted; the idea of race on a biological level has been basically outdated in the scientific world for many years, yet race ideologies still sponsor structural discrimination, depreciating communities, and heinous crime (Sommers, et al., 2003). Being a person of color would get confusing as a child, especially with my mixed heritage. Hearing“you are mixed” but getting the feeling “you are black” and never having the wherewithal to understand why it gave me low self-esteem, helps me to understand the psychological dimensions of race today. It’s taken several years (and counting) to fully escape the limitations race has placed on my mind, and to experience true mental freedom would open doors for many others.

 

Dr. Zuleyka Zevallos

It has been established that race is a relatively new social construct that only has biological substantiation when placed in the sphere of healthcare and studying resource distribution in the Western World.  To read more, check out these common 10 Facts everyone should know about race.

So, Let’s Dive Right In...

In an article that maps out realism, anti-realism, and conventionalism in race, Jonathan Kaplan and Rasmus Winther discuss the implications of scientific race definitions tied to American political agendas.

“... the contingency and weakness of the mapping between genetic differences and social races undermine the continued use of genetics in explaining and justifying social races”

-Kaplan and Winther

When discussing race, ‘social interpretation’ intersects with ‘biological reality’ in an unfortunate draw of importance to the public in varying levels.  This has to do with years of scientific indifference, and social intolerance (Kaplan, 2014).  

3 occurrences caused Americans, and the global community to look at the history of ‘race’ and its current implications critically, and one’s social status had a lot to do with their perspective on race today (Rich, 2014).  People are using their genes to confirm their racial identity, by seeking other-nationalism, rejecting American patriotism.  Genetic testing is being used conversely by governments to identify deviant behaviors, inherent to racial groups.  Neutrally, race has become a determinant factor in origins of health defects (Rich, 2014).  If this has gotten confusing, try taking this race literacy exam!

On a Personal Note…

The ambiguity of my mixed nationality- Guyanese and Puerto Rican- is always a surprise to people. They assume that my skin tone relates to my American (black)  heritage, my beauty relates to my Puerto Rican (Afro-Euro) heritage, and my knack for hard work yet low social-status has everything to do with my Guyanese (Afro-Caribbean) heritage.  

And The Identity Crisis Continues… But not for me.

At first glance, it seems the wisest choice to simply not acknowledge my race as a significant part of my personality - or acknowledge it with little to no intention of allowing it to be the catalyst to black liberation.  I could do what some wealthier learned black people do, and allow ‘privileges’  to absolve me of my ‘blackness’ and attempt to ‘socially migrate’ into some alternative category (Muir, 1993).  OR.  I could accept my blackness, and all that it means, and one by one decentralize the idea that being black is negative; that being black is anything more than being a human being with a very sad, acknowledged, true history, and an ever developing future!

Work Cited

Kaplan, J. M., & Winther, R. G. (2014). Realism, Antirealism, and Conventionalism about Race. Philosophy of Science, 81(5), 1039-1052. Web.

Muir, D. E. (1993, August). Race: The Mythic Root of Racism [Abstract]. Sociological Inquiry, 63(3), 339-350. web.

Rich, M. (2014). Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The collision of DNA, race, and history; Race and the Genetic Revolution: Science, myth, and culture [Abstract]. New Genetics and Society, 34(4), 449-453. July 29 Taylor and Francis. Web.

Sommers, C., Strain, T., & Smith, L. (2003). RACE - THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION. California Newsreel-PBS. web. About the Film.