Race: The Power Of An Illusion

Reflection Précis 1, Race and Ethnicity

Part I: During the last lecture sessions, Dr. Jendian spoke about appreciating diversity. In his lecture, we learned that many people believe that race is something biological. However, the professor explained that race is a social construct and not a biological one. For example, the documentary Race: The Power of An Illusion, mentions that there are more variations between people of what we call the same “race” than with people of a different “race.” However, physical differences like skin color create prejudices against minority groups. The professor continued by explaining that throughout the years, racial categories have changed constantly. During the lecture, Dr. Jendian introduced to us about ethnocentrism. The definition that he presented for this

For instance, not paying attention to the skin color and making them feel inferior to the “white” people. Perhaps many of us believe that racism and discrimination is something from the past, but, that is not true. I believe that there is still a long way to go to treat all people with equity and respect. Throughout the years, we have seen how “white” people have acquired privileges that people of color did not obtain or are still struggling to obtain. Sadly, people of color continue to face the effects of discrimination and racism. However, as Dr, Jendian explained, I do understand that not all whites are equally advantaged and not all people of color are equally disadvantaged. Ethnocentrism, a new term the professor introduced, made me think about how we assume that we know how each person is or acts based on what we know about our own culture. I think it is important to teach children from an early age that we cannot be making assumptions about people. I believe that ethnocentrism hurts people because it leads to prejudices which influence