Essay On Social Categorization

Michaela Wheatley

Race: Social Categorization, Not Biological (must go through and complete intent citation)
There is but one race, the human race. The English term ‘race’ is believed to originate from the Spanish word raza, which means ‘breed’ or ‘stock’, according to ___(find the source used in the article under the file AJHGv77p519)_____. People use race to define other groups, the separation of groups are based largely on pigmentation of the skin and physical features. Race is truly only skin deep, there are no true biological separations between two ‘racial’ groups. Scientifically speaking there is more variation between single local groups than there is between two large, global groups; the human variation is constantly altering. The majority of today’s anthropologists agree that race is a form of social categorization, not the separation of groups based on biological characteristics that has been used throughout human history.
According to Alan Goodman, a Hampshire College biological anthropology professor, it is “an old ideology that tends to separate us out”. The use of race has been used throughout human history as a means of grouping the population. Grouping of the world’s population can be seen as far back as the Roman empire, though the form of grouping used during that time was believed to be based on tribal or familial associations. Alongside Rome, the use of grouping based on familial relation could be seen in ancient cultures as far east as China. An example of ‘racial’ separation can be seen in on of the worlds most widely read books, the Bible. In the Bible there is a clear separation between those who are Jews and those who were gentiles. The separation of groups in this time period is based off of religio...

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...ion that race is socially affected rather than biologically determined (Chang).
Race has also been claimed to be biologically based because of commonality of disease being linked to certain groups. Such diseases include Tay-Sachs in Ashkenazi Jews and thalassemia in Mediterranean and some other populations. However the separation of groups for medical use doesn’t have much value in the modern world. Differences between groups previously were noticeable due to the frequency of populations not mixing, but now the increase in migration and multicultural relationships resulting in mixed ‘race’ children is leading to the collapse of the traditional genetic variations. Since multiple races are in the ancestral history of mixed offspring, no one ‘race’ can be identified (Lewontin). (Illness and Intelligence not based on race)
(Anthropological application)
(Conclusion)