Running head: RACE OR THE CONCEPT OF RACE

RACE OR THE CONCEPT OF RACE

Michelle Dye
Anthropology 1020
Salt Lake Community College

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Abstract

I explore the concept of race from a reference, historical, ethical and social construct. I have also
taken the time to converse socially on the subject to get input on interpretations of race.
Keywords: Race, Concept of Race

Race or the concept of race as we know it in these modern times has been very prominent
in social media, news and workplace conversation. Just saying the word race, instills dread and
agitation at the mere thought of discussing it. Race from a biological point of view was initially
established as a way to determine ancestral markings in descendants or difference from one
population to the next. I found Funk & Wagnalls 2014 description of race valuable for my
narrative. Races, Classification of, the identification within a species of subpopulations whose
members share with one another a greater degree of common inheritance than they share with
individuals from other such subpopulations. It goes on further Applied to an individual, race
refers to membership in a group, and not to aspects of the persons appearance, such as skin
color. (Wagnalls, 2014). Then further to say that even twins are not identical when it comes to
underlying genes and DNA, and most differing characteristics were due to the populations
response to climate and geographic location.
In the periodical "Everyone Knows It's a Social Construct" by Ann Morning she posits
Sociological literature frequently claims that scientists across the disciplinary spectrum have
arrived at the common conclusion that race is socially constructed, not biologically anchored
(Morning, 2007) She investigated contemporary scientific thinking by interviewing more than 40
biologists and anthropologists and found that contrary to the sociological claims found that
racial constructionism is a minority viewpoint (Morning,2007). I have found through social

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interaction and straight out asking that culturally race is primarily used to denote a persons skin
color. I found that secondary qualifiers they used were speech, religion, family practices and
lastly geographic location. So even though I may agree with Ms. Morning regarding social
aspects of race versus scientific aspects of race, in this area of the globe, socially speaking, skin
color and race are synonymous.
To put this more in perspective I will explore some historical milestones of how RACE
has changed throughout history. Starting with pre-20th century in the ancient world most scholars
have come to understand that no concept truly equivalent to that of race can be detected in the
thought of the Greeks, Romans, and early Christians. (Frederickson,2002). Ancient Egyptians
would classify humans by color around the 1300s bit its not really till the 16th century when
exploration around the globe led them to discover human diversity. The first scientific
classification was done by a botanist named Carolus Linnaeus. His theory used the model set
forth by the Egyptians in using skin color but he also applied intellect and behavior. Then a
German Scientist used that foundation for his theory to create 5 racial types by skin color and
other characteristics, in most cases the darker the skin the less desirable characteristics. This
ranking system was Typical of the period and reflected the almost universal European
ethnocentric view that Europeans were superior to everyone else (Jurmain,
Kilgore,Trevathan,2013). Once these theories were established in the social mores of the day, it
fed into what can be considered the race determinism movement. A scientist named Galton used
this description system to create a fear of the inferior and having them part of the population
could corrupt the gene pool and lead to the white race losing its dominance. This study was the
basis for Germanys try at eradicating the Hebrew or Jewish race and culture. This also fed into
19th and 20th century scientific tests to prove the inferior aspects of the Africans that were

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brought to the Americas. Here in the 21st Century, science has been trying to move away from
the race aspect of categorization but socially and conceptually it is still used as way to typecast
humans into classes with some inferior to others.
Conceptually using a different descriptor to describe populations around the world than
the word Race is good practice. Race on its own has such negative connotation that trying to
use it in a teaching or scientific effort seems impossible. Even the most scientific of minds
would have a certain level of cultural and moral viewpoint that would automatically come to
mind when using the word race. In conversations today, if not talking about the Boston
Marathon, the moment you say race people think of the color of someones skin. The word has
been tainted by a history of using race, as in the color of ones skin, as a way to control the
population, using it to conquer and explain away perceived superiority.
It seems the advances we have made in the science of genetics has done nothing to
dismiss the belief in race biology. Society in general still struggles with finding ways to define
race that is not attached to color of the skin. As social media becomes more prevalent, we see
the effects of our long history of race determinism here in the United States within our African
American community (Black), Native Americans, (Red) and Mexican Neighbors (Brown).

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References

"Races, Classification Of." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1.
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 1 Aug. 2015.

Morning, A (2007). Everyone Knows Its a Social Construct: Contemporary Science and
the Nature of Race. Sociological Focus, 40(4), 436.

George M. Fredrickson,Racism: A Short History. (Princeton: Princeton University Press,

2002) p.17

Essentials of Physical Anthropology, Ninth Edition Jurmain/Kilgore/Trevathan

2013,2011 (Cengage Learning) p313