What is Race?

Race is Visual Our eyes tell us that people look different. No one has trouble distinguishing an African from a Chinese person, but what do those differences mean? Are they biological? Has race always been with us? How does race affect people today?

10 Quick Facts About Race Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide people according to physical distinctions, but according to religion, status, class, even language. The English language didn't even have the word 'race' until it turns up in a 1508 poem by William Dunbar referring to a line of kings.

2. Race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait or gene distinguishes all the members of one so- called race from all the members of another so-called race.

3. Human subspecies don't exist. Unlike many animals, modern humans simply haven't been around long enough or isolated enough to evolve into separate subspecies or races. Despite surface appearances, we are one of the most genetically similar of all species.

4. Skin color really is only skin deep. Most traits are inherited independently from one another. The genes influencing skin color have nothing to do with the genes influencing hair form, eye shape, blood type, musical talent, athletic ability or forms of intelligence. Knowing someone's skin color doesn't necessarily tell you anything else about him or her.

5. Most variation is within, not between, "races." Of the small amount of total human variation, 85% exists within any local population, be they Italians, Kurds, Koreans or Cherokees. About 94% can be found within any continent. That means two random Koreans may be as genetically different as a Korean and an Italian.

6. Slavery predates race. Slavery as a result of conquest or war, even debt, but not because of physical characteristics or a belief in natural inferiority. American slave system was the first where all the slaves shared similar physical characteristics.

7. Race and freedom evolved together. The U.S. was founded on "All men are created equal." But our early economy was based largely on slavery. How could this anomaly be rationalized? The new idea of race helped explain why some people could be denied the rights and freedoms that others took for granted.

8. Race justified social inequalities as natural. White superiority became "common sense" in America. It justified not only slavery but also the extermination of Indians, exclusion of Asian immigrants, and the taking of Mexican lands by a nation that believed in democracy. Racial practices were institutionalized within American government, laws, and society.

9. Race isn't biological, but racism is still real. Race is a powerful social idea that gives people different access to opportunities and resources. Our government and social institutions have created advantages that disproportionately channel wealth, power, and resources to white people. This affects everyone, whether we are aware of it or not.

10. Colorblindness will not end racism. Pretending race doesn't exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual prejudice. To combat racism, we need to end institutionalized discrimination.

Sorting People Complete the “Sorting People” exercise.

Sorting People Classifying humans into groups is a subjective process, influenced by cultural ideas and political agendas.

Sorting People If you change criteria (eye color, height, width, etc), people fall into different groups. You can't draw any conclusions about those groups beyond what you used to sort people in the first place. Traits are inherited independently, rather than packaged together. If you know one thing about someone, it doesn't always tell you anything else about them, so it doesn't make sense to talk about characteristics of racial groups.

Sorting People Classification is cultural, not scientific. Racial classification has changed over time and it varies from one place to another. Brazil, for example, has many more racial categories than the U.S. In Haiti, you're considered white if you have any amount of European ancestry The criteria are inconsistent from one group to another.

Sorting People There's a lot of overlap between groups. There isn't a single gene, trait, or characteristic that distinguishes all the members of one "race" from all the members of another. Because categories are socially constructed, there are inconsistencies in the way different groups are defined.

Is there a correct way to classify? Following are the U.S. federal government's current definitions for the racial and ethnic groups we used in the sorting activity. Most of these categories were introduced in 1977, in response to new civil rights laws designed to remedy discrimination. Look closely at these definitions.

Is there a correct way to classify? American Indian or Alaskan Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community recognition. Asian. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Is there a correct way to classify? Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. Terms such as "Haitian" or "Negro" can be used in addition to "Black or African American." Hispanic or Latino. A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture of origin, regardless of race. The term "Spanish origin" can be used in addition to "Hispanic or Latino."

Is there a correct way to classify? Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

Is there a correct way to classify? Is everybody defined in the same way? To be categorized as Native American, for example, requires "tribal affiliation or community recognition" - a condition of no other category. The definition for African American includes a reference to "black racial groups" while none of the other categories mention race.

Is there a correct way to classify? In fact, Hispanic or Latino is defined as a "Spanish culture of origin, regardless of race." The category Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander was only introduced in 1996 - previously, it was lumped together with Asians. What reasons might exist for defining these groups in these seemingly contradictory ways? Are the criteria social or scientific?

Multiculturalism Multiracialism – the belief that all people are from many different backgrounds - has the potential to challenge our assumptions about race, but it can also reinforce the wrong ideas. For example, we often say that someone is part white and half Asian or Latino – but which part? What makes somebody part white, and how do we measure that? Geneticists tell us there’s not a single trait that separates one race from another. What are other pitfalls of quantifying race through percentages?

Multiculturalism In the past, African Americans were defined by different percentages of African ancestry…the “one-drop rule” declared that persons with any known African ancestry were Black. Today, to be classified as American Indian requires proof of at least some (usually "one quarter" or more) of Indian ancestry. Can you think of any historical reasons why we might classify these two groups in opposite ways – maximizing the number of African Americans and minimizing the number of American Indians?

Why not get rid of racial categories? Would you consider changing your race? Would you require compensation? How much compensation would you need to live the rest of your life as a different race? According to a reliable study, the average request for compensation was 281,000KD.

Why not get rid of racial categories? If all races are the same, why is compensation necessary?