James Nacua
Who amongst us is always questioning to themselves, is race just in the biological
side in which we are connected to one another by our genetic code, sickle cells and
enzymes or is it in actuality a social construct whereupon it separates a population of
people by their skin tone, facial features, cultural and social ethics? My answer to
describing race would have to be the social side. No matter what, society, especially for
people in who are not well informed in biology or science, will classify an individual to a
certain race by their physical exterior. To a regular Joe Schmoe, he would agree that this
person is Hindi, Chinese, and African etc. because society acknowledges that this person
has a certain characteristic to look like a certain ethnicity or follows a certain religion to
make him that type of ethnicity. Based on my trips to museums, interesting videos that I
have viewed and strong arguments made by Diamond and Davis my statement that race is
socially constructed is ever more concrete now.
Before we can talk about the race we should clarify that we all came from the
same continent and a descendent from a common ancestor. Based on what
paleoanthropologists said and the “Out of Africa” model we have evolved on the
continent of Africa 200,000 to 100,000 years ago and then different branches of these
homosapiens started leaving 60,000 years ago. Even in greater detail was the video
called “Journey of Man” in which Dr. Spencer Wells, a geneticist, uses techniques and
theories of genetics and evolutionary biology to trace the geographical dispersal of early
human migrations out of Africa. From this info, I concluded that my ancestors are from
Africa as well as every human being living on Earth. So, yes you can say that we are all
from one common ancestor by looking for that one single mutation on our genetic code
but, in the view of social construct we can’t see the identical similarities between an
Indian man with an aborigine in Australia or an Eskimo with an African. This just will
not concord or follow certain conventional rules.
Upon finishing reading “Who is Black?” and “Culture and Race”, race is still
justified a social decree. No matter the proof these authors back up their arguments with
how Swedes can be in the same classification with the Nigerians biologically or how we
should be all equal in terms of status, it will ultimately come down to the people and
how they see things from the media and their social surroundings. The mixed races like
the mestizos, lobos or mullatos and the Africans would be perceived to be inferior
compared to the white Europeans. For instance the mestizos in Mexico were to give up
on their native Indian blood and culture and stick to the much successful thinking and
culture of the white Europeans. We are to take note that the “white” way of living is the
way to go. If by any chance you are African or living in a third world disease stricken
place in which they call a land and not having a single tall structure to show their
engineering capabilities would be looked down upon.
Furthermore, having race and all the negative effects it has to offer is shown in
bright display in a social environment. What a better way to show all the awful things
race has to offer than in an innocent group of third-graders. For example, these children
would be divided up, one group would be the smart and functional cluster based on their
hair and eye color while the other set that did not fit that description would be dumb or
unable to comprehend thinking. From this I see a mini society classifying one group
from another based on what their faults are and it was not until they were told that they
were second-rate that they started being shunned and being shown mediocre by wearing a
black band. Much like the Jews during WWII in which they had to wear the Star of
David at all times to show that they were Jewish. This just shows how much of an
impact race can be played as socially when treated negatively. Give the right accusations
of one group people and watch how it evolves into something more.
Finally, race is an unspoken rule in which people will act or portrayed a certain
way just because they are of that specific population. Race can never be analyzed to the
public biologically for people cannot accept that we are one. Showing that in different
parts of the world “whites” has their own culture; “African blacks” have theirs and
“Mongoloids”, “Aboriginal Australians” and “Khoisans”. Despite having a common
ancestor these races have evolved to a unique group of their own alongside with their
own sets of traditions, culture, history and social relationships will them diverse from one
another.