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Prejudice from a sociological perspective
Prejudice from a sociological perspective
Prejudice from a sociological perspective
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Race: The Power of an Illusion was an interesting 3 part film. After watching this, it made me questioned if race was really an illusion or not. It is absolutely taboo to think that the one thing that separates people the most may be a myth in itself. “We can 't find any genetic markers that are in everybody of a particular race and in nobody of some other race. We can 't find any genetic markers that define race.” (Adelman and Herbes Sommers 2003). Racism is something created in the U.S made to create supremacy for the creator. Racism is not just the way someone thinks, it is something that has is manifested in our society to separate us and can be traced to our everyday activities. “Black, white and brown are merely skin colors. But we attach to them meanings and assumptions, even laws that create enduring social inequality.”(Adelman and Smith 2003). When I first heard this quote in this film, I was not surprised about it. Each human is unique compared to the other; however, we are group together based on uncontrollable physical characteristics. Eyes, hair texture, and skin tone became a way to separate who belongs where. Each group was labeled as having the same traits. African Americans were physically superior, Asians were the more intellectual race, and Indians were the advanced farmers. Certain races became superior to the next and society shaped their hierarchy on what genes you inherited. One quote that caught my attention was a statement in Episode 2. “We don 't realize that race is an idea that evolves over time, that it has a history, that it is constructed by society to further certain political and economic goals.” (Adelman and Strain 2003). I believe that being white gives you the upper hand on opportunities suc... ... middle of paper ... ...his race talk has to come with a large amount of bias. I believe that ethnic controversy has always been a means to separate us. I feel that way because people have made it the way it is. The United states in commonly referred to as a melting pot however, the darker your skin the further to the burner you fall. We cannot blame one country individually but the human race as a whole for creating something so depurating. The human race, collectively, has attempted to fix the race issue around the world multiple times but there are always counterparts who disagree or simply think they are the superiors. It is kind of disappointing to still see that this type of collective hatred still appears all over the world today. I do not think the issues will not die down anytime soon, especially after all of this time. I guess it is true what they say. History does repeat itself.
Race-thinking: what is it? Isn’t the world past the issue of race? Do races even exist and if so, what does it mean to have a racial identity? Is colorblindness possible and how important is it? These are the questions Paul Taylor addresses in the book “Race: A Philosophical Introduction”. Paul Taylor is a self-proclaimed “radical constructionist” who will maintain that race is very real in our world and in the United States as a whole (p. 80). Taylor takes care to ensure he addresses the real needs concerning racial dynamics in the U.S., referencing historical events, prevailing policy affairs, and even pop culture to explain that everyone capable of forming opinions ought to have some sort of grasp of the concept of race-thinking. As Taylor will analyze, race and race-thinking “has shaped and continues to shape private interactions as well as the largest political choices” (p. 8). In other words, race-thinking encompasses everything we do and every interaction we have. In this paper I will attempt to interpret and expound Taylor’s views and definitions of race, concepts associated with race, and input my own interpretations as they are appropriate.
According to the political view, there is a hierarchical structure underneath the construction of race. When Grant has a talk with his teacher, his teacher said, “I am superior to you. I am superior to any man blacker than me.'; His teacher is possibly implying that lighter skin color is racially superior in society.
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
Through research of DNA samples, scientists have been able to declare that race is not biologically constructed due to the similarities between human genes. Nevertheless, in reality, people still emphasized on biological aspects such as skin color, or hair texture to categorize others into different races. This in turn, denied the true identity of race, which it is culturally constructed. Ethnicity, by definition is also culturally constructed, therefore it greatly resemble race. There is no real clear line to distinct the two.
Many people automatically associate race with genealogy, ancestry, or other sorts of biological factors. In the video, the Power of an Illusion-The difference Between Us, the students assumed that there will will be tons of differences genetically, because everyone looks so different. A scholar from the film says that, “Genetically we aren’t really different, we are among the most similar of all species. Only 1 in every 1000 nucleotides that make up our genetic code is different.” (8.35-8.50). All of students in the video expected to have the most commonalities in DNA with people that fit their race. For example, Marcus, an African-American male assumed he would have genetically more in common with Gorgeous, an African-American female. However,
...lieve that races are distinct biological categories created by differences in genes that people inherit from their ancestors. Genes vary, but not in the popular notion of black, white, yellow, red and brown races. Many biologist and anthropologists have concluded that race is a social, cultural and political concept based largely on superficial appearances. (4)
It takes an intelligent, genuine person to see past this nonsense. Education helps one realize the fallacy race creates. There is no such thing as a superior race. Unfortunately, many people have difficulty seeing past portrayed stereotypes. It may take a person years or decades to come to terms with the fact that their skin color means about as much as their eye color. Eric Liu, an Asian-American, and Malcolm X, an African-American, take us on their journey through the difficult process of accepting their individual races. Both authors have periods of confusion and disorientation about their races which causes them to change their appearance in order to feel accepted. Ultimately, they overcome their misconceptions and learn to appreciate themselves.
I completely agree with your explanation about race being socially constructed. Throughout history the physical features of someone has always had an impact on the way they were treated. Associating race with ignorant stereotypes, is what is causing conflict throughout different cultures. Like you mentioned about children, if you teach them that everyone may look different, but are all the same then they will grow up with an open mind and not judge others by the color of their skin. Teach a child that one “race” is better than the other, then that is when racism is created.
Race for the past centuries in the United States has become a fundamental concept that determines where an individual falls within society, whether it is on the top of the social hierarchy or the very bottom. In the series, “Race: The Illusion of Power” in episode one, the idea of race is challenged on what it has thought to be historically, it defines race as not real in science but rather “a biological myth” (California Newsreel 2003). Race, on the other hand is a constructed idea brought upon the differences among individuals such as skin color and facial features. Through numerous tests by scientists it can be concluded that race is not at all linked with human genetics, for the human species itself is most similar with one another than
...ground or where they are located in the world, it is ignorant to put these differences up as a way to distinguish one people from another, or to say that one race has greater hierarchal significance than another. These constructions provide insight into how people have come to see one another and can also help to see ways through which avoiding racism in modern society may one day be possible.
In common sense thought, race is simply a fact: humans are not all alike, there are whites, blacks and yellows, maybe reds and browns too, and these different kinds are races, and that's just a feature of the way the world is. However, recent work on the concept of "race" shows that "race" and "race"-talk can be understood by analogy to what Foucault suggests about psychiatry and mental illness coming into being together: (1) it is now beginning to appear than "race" and racism came into existence together as well. It is racism that has made talk of race something that we can take seriously. A statement attributing intelligence or laziness to a person on the basis of her/ his skin color, can only be judged true if there are resources in the vocabulary for associating personality traits with skin colors. The major resource providing this association is the concept of race.
Entities that are developed and perpetuated by people based on mutual beliefs concerning reality are known as social constructs. In Sociology there is a theory of knowledge known as Social Constructionism. Sociologists that agree with this theory argue that race is a social construction. These sociologists explain that in our formative years our social constructs are created and bolstered through a recitation of stories concerning such things as race, gender, and class. People then mentally absorb these stories in order to form there reality which will allow them to make sense of the world around them. Because there is no single gene or collection of genes that is common to all white people or all black people sociologists contend that
Racism is often considered a thing of the past, with its manifestation rarely being acknowledged in the United States today. Race: The Power of an Illusion, is a documentary that addresses the legacy of racism through its significance in the past, and its presence in society today. To understand racism, it is vital to understand the concept of race. Race is a social invention, not a biological truth. This can be observed through the varying classifications of race in different cultures and time periods. For instance, in the United States, race has long been distinguished by skin color. In nineteenth century China, however, race was determined by the amount of body hair an individual had. Someone with a large amount of facial hair, for example,
I take the position that race is socially constructed. Because race is assumed by people and created by all of us. What makes us different is our environmental factors. Race was created in society to justify inequality. For example, twins who have different skin colors. An example of twins with different skin color are: Lucy and Maria Aylmer. The first time I heard about them, I found it hard to believe that they were twins, I was looking at the biological aspect that they should be of the same skin color. Race has been socially constructed because if Lucy and Maria were to fill forms for a Drivers license or anything that requires them to circle their race, they will have different answers (one will circle white and the other circles black).
Race is “a group of people who share a set of (physical) characteristics,” and “ethnicity is a group of people who identify with a common cultural heritage” (Race and Ethnicity 2). Race and ethnicity are being used to identify each person in a way that “it has more meaning socially than biologically” (Race and Ethnicity 2). For example, when recognizing a person based on race, people are more likely to think about their benefits and disadvantages, or the stereotypes, instead of just seeing the person as to how he or she is physically. My understanding of the social construction of race can be explained through my experience I had in the first years I moved to the U.S. During these years, I had a hard time trying to figure out who I want to