Alexandrea
Johnson September
20, 2016
Shaped
by Social Forces
Race has always held significant position in
society. It is a concept whose definition is constantly fluctuating and
expanding with the sociohistorical dogma of the time. An important aim of the
race conversation is understanding the concept through two lenses: a
sociological lens or a biological/scientific lens and explaining the
relationship on micro and macro-level basis. It is used to categorize and
predict behaviors, traits, personality, culture etc., of individuals based on
their phenotypical features as a result of their genotypic traits. Prior to the
concept of Race Formation, we attempted to understand race biologically. “[Race
biology] inquires into all the factors capable of changing the
innate constitution, that is, the quality, of a race, in a favourable or
unfavourable direction,” (Lundborg, 1931) . Race was something viewed as
consistent, innate, and unchanging, however, the discussion of race formation
gave new significance. Scientific
racism laid the ground work for the social construction.
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Race can also be a basis in which identities are created
and legitimized by social structures in which we give meaning via our
participation. Race has always been a complexity to understand, however it has
essentially shaped the understanding and organization of our social world from
being incorporated in the implementation of public policy, to reference to a
thought collective or “common sense” based on information taken from individual
experience (Omi & Winant, 1994) . Microbiologist
Pilar Ossorio commented, “There’s as much or more diversity and genetic
difference within any racial group as there is between people of different
racial groups,” in the film “Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode 1.” This
statement debunks many biological arguments on the concept of race, yet does
not repudiate the notion that race indeed is a social fact. The movie exposed
the many issues with race being a biological argument rather than a social one.
The Mitochondrial DNA samples of the students in the movie were all entirely
closer than they imagined, especially when compared to whom they believed they
shared the greatest difference.
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My personal view of race is quite conflicted. I
am Black not only due to my phenotypical features, but also in regard to my
position in society. Not only is that a label that would be ascribed to me, my treatment
in society would prove it to be so. I am reluctant to call myself African
American because I am so far removed from my African ancestry feel out of touch
with the culture. I’ve have been born, raised, socialized and assimilated into
American culture although I am generally not accepted. Nor are the spaces
created for American culture, created with individuals like myself in mind. Golash-Boza
mentions a study that described cultural racism in school systems which
illustrated that African American students were more likely to receive punishment
by administration due to their perception of the students oral expressions,
body language & manner styles. They attributed the student’s failure to
their culture as well as their behavior (Golash-Boza, 2016) . Always viewed under
the matriarch archetype, generally characterized as overly strong, aggressive, confrontational,
loud, I was treated as such throughout much of my school experience as a child.
I was also a student who got punished for the way teachers perceived my body
language and passionate expressions. “Many dark-skinned women
in this study battle to invalidate controlling images to prove, for instance,
that they are not violent and not ghetto,” (Wilder, 2016) . As an adult I find myself speaking, walking, and
talking with a keen attentiveness in particular spaces, an action that is
subconsciously conscious due to the internalized preconceived notions that are
attached to my phenotypical features as well as from experiences in school for
being punished for speaking a certain way. I used attribute many explanations
of people’s behavior, including my own, to the notion of race (on the basis of skin
color and culture) rather than the socialization of people in institutions
based on race, however, now that I am more knowledgeable I know that people’s
behavior in regard to race are a result of the socialization in which they
receive.
References
Golash-Boza, T. M. (2016). Race & Racisms: A
Critical Approach (brief edition). New York: Oxford University Press.
Lundborg, H. (1931). Social Forces. Race Biological
Perspectives, 397-401.
Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1994). Racial Formation. Race
and Ethnic Relations in the Twenty First Century, 91-107.
Wilder, J. (2016). Revisiting "Color Names and Color
Notions": A Contemporary Examination of the Language and Attitudes of
Skin Color Among Young Black Women. Jounal of Black Studies, 184-206.
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