Race Is Socially Constructed Essay

Race is something people thought was biologically based. However, scientists are starting to agree that race is something socially constructed, meaning that race is based on the different physical qualities that different societies view and use to group people into different groups which has many unfortunate consequences. Fields, Bernand and Mullainathan, and the video seen in lecture all further elaborate on how race is a social construction, how it segregates us, as well as what consequences this social construction has on society. Race is something that is socially constructed, but what exactly is race and what does that mean? According to Professor Smith in lecture, race is a “grouping of people believed to share common descent, based

The video we watched in lecture, “The Difference Between Us,” discusses why race is a social construction and why ultimately it is not possible for people to be defined as a single race based on genes or a certain trait. It discusses differences in races, how the idea even came up in the first place, and talks about some of the possible consequences of race. In this video, Evelynn Hammonds explains what it means for race to be a social construction by saying, “Race is a human invention. We created it, we have used it in ways that have been in many, many respects quite negative and quite harmful” (“The Difference Between Us”). Goodman then talks about specifically why people should think race is socially constructed by stating various examples and explaining, “Think about race in its universality. Where is your measurement device? There is no way to measure race. We sometimes do it by skin color, other people may do

In, “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiement on Labor Market Discrimination,” authors Bertrand and Mullainathan discuss job and callback discrimination based on race. They employ the use of audit studies to examine discrimination which are different because they place comparable minority and White into actual social and economic settings to measure how each group fares. In their studies, they examined different factors such as social status, jobs being applied for, and neighborhoods which people live in and ultimately conclude that racial discrimination is something that is very real in the job market. For instance, they found that a 50% gap in callback rate between Whites and Blacks and say, “This 50 percent gap in callback rates is statistically very significant... Since applicants’ names are randomly assigned, this gap can only be attributed to the name manipulation” (Bertrand and Mullainathan 12). They also find that, “In every industry except for transportation and communication…African Americans fare worse than Whites” (18). So, discrimination based on this social construction is something that is unfortunately very real; employers are more likely to hire somebody else just based on some physical characteristics that they possess. In addition to discrimination, there are many other consequences due to