Mamadou Barrie
October 3, 2016
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Revision: 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.”. Ossorio
supports 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 points 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.
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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
.
2. Silva, E. B. (2004, August 20). From Bi-Racial to Tri-Racial. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(6), 931-950.
2. Silva, E. B. (2004, August 20). From Bi-Racial to Tri-Racial. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(6), 931-950.
3. RACE: The Power of
an Illusion - Episode 1: The Difference Between Us (PBS Documentary). Retrieved
September 20, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7_YHur3G9g
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