Politics of Race

Racism is one of the problems that have plagued American society for centuries. As far as race is concerned, more attention has always been given to differences in people’s skin color. However, this paper argues that race is a social construction that has social, political, and economic consequences that persist in American society today.

To begin with, race is a biological myth. Genetically, different groups of people share many similarities. Scientific studies have revealed that there are more genetic variations in intragroups as compared to intergroups (Ifekwunigwe, Wagner, Yu, Harrell, Bamshad, & Royal 423). As such, race is not a reliable measure of a person's level of belonging to a certain group. This means that race is a social construct since it does not have a genetic backup. Besides, there are no human subspecies (Race: The Power of Illusion 04). This means that all people are the same genetically.

Apart from being a biological myth, race is a social construct. On this note, sociologist Melvin Oliver argues that skin color and hair texture has no meaning unless these traits are given social constructs (Herbes-Sommers, Smith, & Heather). Americans courts and legislations have always taken the mandate of conferring racial identities to various groups. For instance, Virginia had a law defining blacks as a person with one-sixteenth African ancestry (Herbes-Sommers et al.). Other parts of America had laws that offered a different definition of who comprises of a black person. For instance, Alabama considered a black person as any individual who has any degree of African ancestry (Herbes-Sommers et al.). The differences in the definition of who comprises a black person in various parts of America suggest that racism has nothing to do with one’s skin color or hair texture. Instead, racism is a social construction that is reinforced by a society’s legislations. If racism is about one’s skin color or hair texture, there would have been only one definition of what comprises a black person.        

In addition to being a social construct, racism has economic, political and social consequences. Throughout history, there has always been contemporary cue conferring some advantages and disadvantages to various racial groups (Salter, Adams, & Perez 153). For instance, Europeans felt that being “White” came with some privileges. This explains why Europeans settlers felt the need to enslave blacks and force them to work in land stolen from indigenous groups (Salter et al. 153). This is what occurred during the first years of European settlement in America. Practices, such as slavery were very prevalent in America a few centuries ago since certain groups of people were not considered to be biologically equal to the whites (Harvard Extension School). Apart from forced labor, slaves were denied opportunities to advance their lives when it comes to getting education and acquiring properties. Traditionally, people from minority races have always been disfranchised economically, politically, and socially. Individuals working in low-paying blue collar jobs are likely to be immigrants or minorities (Herbes-Sommers et al.). Individuals working in these jobs have less likelihood of affording to buy houses in parts of town where there are good hospitals, schools, and roads.

  At the same time, race plays a crucial in determining the extent to which a person can participate in political activities, such as voting. Several decades ago, Congress passed a law that granted citizenship through naturalization only to free white immigrants (Herbes-Sommers et al.). As such, whiteness was not just an issue of skin color. Instead, whiteness meant a higher chance of being naturalized or an opportunity to vote. This means that a person’s whiteness could determine not only his or her chances of being an American citizen but also his or her likelihood of voting. In the United States, some many practices and policies discriminate people who have certain racial features. For instance, there exist stereotypes perpetrated by the mass media and the police that portray blacks as violent and likely to be criminals. As a result of such stereotypes, the rate of incarceration of blacks is relatively higher in comparison to Caucasians. The practice affects the economic and social welfare of minorities.

 To sum up, race is a social construct as evidenced in the way there is no genetic justification for categorization of human beings based on their skin color. Besides, this paper has demonstrated that legislations are used to determine what benefits certain groups of persons should receive which further shows how race is a concept created by the society and passed from one generation to the other. Most importantly, one’s race plays a crucial role in determining one's likelihood to succeed in society.

Works Cited

Harvard Extension School. “Exposing bias: Race and racism in America.” Harvard Extension School, n. d. Web.  Retrieved from https://www.extension.harvard.edu/inside-extension/exposing-bias-race-racism-america

Ifekwunigwe, Jayne O., Jennifer Wagner K., Joon-Ho Yu., Tanya Harrell., Michael Bamshad, Charmaine Royal.  A qualitative analysis of how anthropologists interpret the race construct." American Anthropologist, vol. 119, no, 3, 2017: 422-434.

Race: The Power of an Illusion. Directed by Christine Herbes-Sommers, Llewellyn Smith, & Tracy Heather Strain, California Newsreel, 2003.

Race: The Power of Illusion. “What is this thing called race.” PDF File.

Salter, Phia S., Glenn Adams, and Michael J. Perez. "Racism in the structure of everyday worlds: A cultural-psychological perspective." Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 27, no. 3, 2018, 150-155.