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Harley Mulengwa
Professor Alexandra Perrone
Anthropology 111
23 September 2014
Paper #1, Prompt #2: THE CONCEPT OF RACE
According to the American Anthropological Association and the lectures of Professor
Alexandra Perrone, the concept of race is an ideology created by human beings as a cultural
construct and was used to control, divide and rank other groups of human beings based on their
differences. However, Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines race as actually or potentially
interbreeding group within a species. When seen in the prospective of Merriam-Webster, it
seems as if the concept of race is interchangeable with the concept of ethnic group which is
defined as a social group or category of the population that, in a large society, is set apart and
bound by common ties of...language, nationality or culture (Britannica). With those established
definitions, one is able to see that the modern concept of race is actually a human-created
misinterpretation of the concept of ethnic groups, and therefore has no biological standing when
used to classify people. There are many differences within the groups of people in the species of
human beings that account for classification in ethnic groups, however there is only one race: the
human race.
The PBS website has an activity named "Sorting People". In the activity, one is instructed
to group 20 people into 5 "racial" categories (American Indian, Asian, Black, Latino/Hispanic
and White), all based on pictures of how the people looked. Prior to sorting the people, one has
the ability to explore the 3 traits (skin color, finger prints and blood type) as a way to compare
which traits were exclusive to which groups, making classifying people easier. In doing so, one

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is able to see that multiple traits are shared across the 5 "racial" categories. For example, all
categories had people of light skin, medium-light skin, medium skin and dark skinned people as
well as having people with looped fingerprints. However, the activity pointed out that all
categories, except for White, had people with whorl finger prints and only Asians and Whites
had arched fingerprints. The last type of finger prints, the tented arch, was only exclusive to
medium-skinned Blacks. All categories had people with Type O and Type A blood, however,
Type B blood was exclusive to medium skinned Latinos/Hispanics, dark-skinned Asians and
light-skinned Blacks. Type AB blood was only associated with medium-skinned Asians and
American Indians.
After completing the activity, I realized that although people of different ethnic
backgrounds do have their physical phenotypical differences, many groups have the genotypes
for shared traits such as variation in skin color and Types A and O blood. Reasoning with the
fact of shared genotypes and phenotypes, and the fact that people from any of the 5 "racial"
categories can interbreed and have children, I came to the conclusion that my statement of there
only being one race is reinforced with the observations from the "Sorting People" activity.
Initially I believed I would be able to sort 100% of the people into their correct category,
however I was only able to sort 14 of the 20 (that is 70%) of the people into their correct
category. After seeing that sorting people into different racial categories based solely on their
looks is not only morally wrong, it is also biologically incorrect as well since all "races" share
the same traits. Through the "Sorting People" activity, one is able to see that there are there are
indeed differences within groups of people that create different categories, however those
differences are minuscule compared to the similarities all groups had. From the activity one can
infer that there are far too few differences between groups to cause any one of the groups to form

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their own species (and therefore, a new race), effectively reproductively isolating from the other
groups. The activity reinforced the idea of one race with enough variation to create different
groups within the species.
Variation of genotypes within the human race is created through the adaptation to the
environment where people live. As shown in Journey of Man, a PBS documentary and book by
the geneticist Dr. Steven Wells, human beings originated in Africa and migrated out of Africa
and would eventually inhabit the contented they are found today. Wells stated that as human
beings migrated, they needed to adapt to their environment so they could best survive and pass
on their genetic information. An example of variation mentioned by Wells is the trait of skin
color. Wells said that darker skin color reflected higher levels of vitamin D from the sun, which
is why people of Africa are generally have dark skin. Wells went on to say that in Europe, where
there was not as much sunlight as there was in Africa, human beings developed lighter skin as a
response to lower levels of sun-provided vitamin D and the change of their cine concerning skin
color which favored lighter pigmentation; the same could be said when applied to people of
across the world, where temperatures are hot, the people generally have dark skin just as cold
environments create light complexion in pigments of the skin. Throughout the documentary,
Wells collected blood samples from people he interviewed, which included the Bushmen of
Southern Africa, people from India, Asia, Australia, South America and the Native Americans of
North America. His research showed that although the people looked different from each other,
as a result of adapting to their different environments, these different "races" of people were
actually genetically similar since they all came from the original human beings who had
migrated from Africa. Journey of Man highlighted that human beings originated from the same
location; however groups have their differences as a result of adapting to their different

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environments. But because of sharing the same common ancestor, all ethnic groups of human
beings can collectively be referred to as one race.
Although the human species is one race, the reasons people have created the concept of
separate races is a result of certain natural and artificial barriers that have separated groups of
people as well as cultural events that dictated one race as superior to another. An example of an
artificial barrier used to keep other "races" out was the construction of the Great Wall of China,
which was used to keep out the warring nomadic tribes of the north (present day Mongolia),
(travelingchinaguide.com). Although the Great Wall was built for defense purposes, one of its
lasting effects was that it kept the Mongols out of China, since the Chinese recognized them for
being a different "race". An example of a natural barrier keeping groups of people separate from
each other is the Atlantic Ocean. Before the Age of Exploration, Europeans were not aware of
the existence of the continents of North and South America, and by extension, also completely
oblivious to the many highly complex cultures that had been established in this "New World"
(historyguide.org). Cultures such as the Aztecs of Mexico and Incas of Peru were discovered by
the Spanish, who viewed these darker, more "primitive" people as inferior and uncivilized
because they did not have their technology or Christianity (Lenchek). Since the Native American
people were seen as uncivilized, it was enough justification for the Spanish to convert them to
Christianity as well as enslave those native to the Americas, forcing them to give up their land,
their riches, which included minerals such as gold and silver as well as their way of life, in favor
of the way of life of the Spaniards (Lenchek). The breakup of the established native cultures
paved the way for the introduction of the Race-based class system known as Las Castas, with
people closest to pure Spanish decent at the top and those closer to pure native or enslaved
African at the bottom (nativeheritageproject.com). Slavery had been around since the times

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before the Bible and the Spanish were another example of one group using it as a tool to
disenfranchise the other groups due to feelings of superiority.
Slavery itself is probably the most influential historical event, based on race, because of
its long lasting effects. For example, ex slaves of post-Civil War United States could not vote
because of their "race" until the passage of the 15th amendment to the Constitution in 1870,
which granted any citizen the ability to vote, disregarding race, however, it was not until the
passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (95 years after the 15th Amendment) that most
African-Americans in the south were able to register to vote (loc.gov). Because of their "race"
Black Americans and other minorities, such as Latinos, Asians and American Indians, were not
able to live an equal life compared to their White American counterparts, and as a result, they did
not have the same opportunities of advancement, leading the government to implicate programs
such as Affirmative Action as a way to balance the disadvantages (inadequate education, poorer
living conditions, constant discrimination, etc.) Blacks and other minorities had compared to the
White majority (civilrights.org). In the grand scheme of things, the concept of race was initially
used as a way identify the distinctions between groups if people, which then transitioned to using
"race" as justification to oppress the "inferior" and now in the modern day, race is used as a basis
to classify a person for various reasons, whether it is registering for the SAT, reheat wrong for a
job, filling out a survey or even registering for learning at higher educational institutions, the
question of one's "race" is prevalent.
The concept of race represents and understanding that different cultures exist and we as
people have the right to express our differences. It also represents the casualties of understanding
that there are differences between groups, as the "inferior races" have been oppressed to the point
of government intervention. The word "race" itself has been misused to the point of it becoming

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a synonym for the phrase "ethnic group", as individually people identify with people like them in
similar ethnic groups and collectively as one race: the human race. The way race is used today
does not have a biological justification as all ethnic groups originate from the human beings who
immigrated from Africa to their present day locations and the fact that there are far too
differences between ethnic groups to create new races. For classification purposes, people should
not have to check a box that says "what is your race?", as we are the of the human race, the box
should read "which ethnic group do you identify with?", since there are differences that make
ethnic groups unique from one another. Race does exist, in the sense that there is only one race;
the human race, however when describing the differences within the one race, the term ethnic
groups is the best phrase to use because it implies that people can individually identify with a
specific group.

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Work Cited
American Anthropological Association. "Statement on "Race"" (1998): n. pag. American
Anthropological Association. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<https://learn.csuchico.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1320192-dt-content-rid6696882_1/courses/148-ANTH111-01-1127/AAA%20Statement%20on%20Race.pdf>.
The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica. "Ethnic Group." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/194248/ethnic-group>.
The Editors of National Geographic. "National Geographic News: Journey of Man." National
Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/photogalleries/journey_of_man/inde
x.html>
The Editors of Native Heritage Project. "Las Castas - Spanish Racial Classifications." Native
Heritage Project. Native Heritage Project, 15 June 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<http://nativeheritageproject.com/2013/06/15/las-castas-spanish-racial-classifications/>.
The Editors of PBS. "Sorting People Activity." Race: The Power of an Illusion. PBS, n.d. Web.
20 Sept. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/race/002_SortingPeople/002_00-home.htm>.
The Editors of The History Guide. "Lecture 2: The Age of Discovery."Lectures on Early Modern
European Hisstory. The History Guide, 2 May 2011. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture2c.html>.

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Work Cited
The Editors of The Leadership Conference. "Affirmative Action." The Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights. The Leadership Conference, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/affirmaction.html>.
The Editors of the Library of Congress. "15th Amendment to the Constitution." Primary
Documents in American History. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html>.
The Editors of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. "Race." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster,
n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race>.
The Editors of Travel China Guide. "Who, When and Why Built the Great Wall of China?" Who,
When and Why Built the Great Wall of China?Travel China Guide, n.d. Web. 20 Sept.
2014. <http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/facts/who-built.htm>.
Lenchek, Shep. "Slavery in Mexico." Slavery in Mexico: Mexico History. Mexconnect, 1 Jan.
2001. Web. 20 Sept. 2014. <http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/666-slavery-inmexico>
Perrone, Alexandra. "Lectures." Lectures and Lab (2014): n. pag. Print.
Wells, Spencer. The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2002.
Print.