The Growth and Development of Ideas on Race Without examining the past, our views today would be shallow and misleading. In making comparisons it is important to look at aspects of history to provide a more in depth understanding of certain social phenomenon. As comparisons are made, ideas emerge which can raise our levels of such understanding. In this way, by examining the meaning of race two hundred years ago, we can discover that the concept of ‘race’ has evolved; it has changed over time and remains ever changing. Concepts like ‘race’ demand us to study broader social structures and their interaction with smaller social life; in order to do this, we must understand history. Before beginning to discuss ideas on ‘race’ and how they have changed over time, it is important to acknowledge the problematic nature of the term ‘race’. Cox (1948) states that there is no universally accepted definition of race. However, in a sociological context, Cox defines race as “any group of people that is generally believed to be, and generally accepted as, a race in any given area of ethnic competition” (1948:319) Racial Ideology refers to a set of ideas which relate to ‘race’, in the way of actions and consequences, for example, distinguishing between more than one so called race to deem one superior. Ideas about race and racism assume particular condition i.e. they take into account the political and socio economic climate and historical era. When referring to race as a concept, it is also important to consider broader aspects such as race relations, racial difference and of course, racism. After all, ideas which have emerged on race c... ... middle of paper ... ...the black population in England and how it would threaten the purity of English blood. But by 1760s, intellectual arguments were formulated against black slavery and in the nineteenth century Britain became proud of its role in supporting black freedom, forgetting the role they had played in black oppression and exploitation. The decades after the abolition of the slave trade saw the emergence of new ideas on race, including a scientific approach and the emphasis on equality and the right to be different. The way in which a change in ideas and broader ideologies can affect many aspects of social life is particularly evident as today we find constant emphasis on equality in our everyday lives, regarding rights, status, function and mobility, just what the black population were deprived of in Britain centuries ago.
First, I will examine Omi and Winant’s approach. They made a clear distinction between ethnicity and race and only discussed how races are formed. They also define race as a constantly being transformed by political struggle and it is a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by
In order to help combat against these tensions, there needs to be a restarting of global and political forces. The present system treats race as a scientifically proven separator of individual and instead should be seeing race for what it really is, a socially constructed
Race-thinking: what is it? Isn’t the world past the issue of race? Do races even exist and if so, what does it mean to have a racial identity? Is colorblindness possible and how important is it? These are the questions Paul Taylor addresses in the book “Race: A Philosophical Introduction”. Paul Taylor is a self-proclaimed “radical constructionist” who will maintain that race is very real in our world and in the United States as a whole (p. 80). Taylor takes care to ensure he addresses the real needs concerning racial dynamics in the U.S., referencing historical events, prevailing policy affairs, and even pop culture to explain that everyone capable of forming opinions ought to have some sort of grasp of the concept of race-thinking. As Taylor will analyze, race and race-thinking “has shaped and continues to shape private interactions as well as the largest political choices” (p. 8). In other words, race-thinking encompasses everything we do and every interaction we have. In this paper I will attempt to interpret and expound Taylor’s views and definitions of race, concepts associated with race, and input my own interpretations as they are appropriate.
Winant, Howard. 2000 "Race and race theory." Annual review of sociology ():-. Retrieved from http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/winant/Race_and_Race_Theory.html on Mar 17, 1980
Racism is often considered a thing of the past, with its manifestation rarely being acknowledged in the United States today. Race: The Power of an Illusion, is a documentary that addresses the legacy of racism through its significance in the past, and its presence in society today. To understand racism, it is vital to understand the concept of race. Race is a social invention, not a biological truth. This can be observed through the varying classifications of race in different cultures and time periods. For instance, in the United States, race has long been distinguished by skin color. In nineteenth century China, however, race was determined by the amount of body hair an individual had. Someone with a large amount of facial hair, for example,
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
According to Omi and Winant, the term race can be defined as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies.” From their framework of racial formation and concept of racial projects, Omi and Winant asserts that race is a matter of social structure and cultural representation that has been intertwined to shape the nature of racism. Racism has been seen since the events of early English colonization of the indigenous people and the racialization of African Americans through slavery, all in which the United States is molded upon as a nation. Thus, this social structure of domination has caused European colonials and American revolutionists to create racialized representations, policies, and structures in order to oppress indigenous and black populations in their respective eras.
Some people define race as if it is something solid or concrete, but what they don’t see is that it is a “social fabrication”(Mathew Desmond, Mustafa Emibayer,2009;2). Race is based on the difference in physical appearance which is determined, for example, by the most apparent trait; skin color. Inequality emerges when people living, whether on the same sovereign terrain or across continents, are not treated with the same amount of respect and not given the chance to engage their rights in a free and fair manner. Race and inequality are often linked together because of the “issues that began in the 1800s”(NFB;Journey to Justice;2000) such as racial segregation. Over the years issues of race and inequality have decreased dramatically. How did racial inequality decrease and through what? To study this case, two theories need to be put in practice, “resource mobilisation theory and new social movement”(Tremblay;2013).
Race has been one of the most outstanding situations in the United States all the way from the 1500s up until now. The concept of race has been socially constructed in a way that is broad and difficult to understand. Social construction can be defined as the set of rules are determined by society’s urges and trends. The rules created by society play a huge role in racialization, as the U.S. creates laws to separate the English or whites from the nonwhites. Europeans, Indigenous People, and Africans were all racialized and victimized due to various reasons. Both the Europeans and Indigenous People were treated differently than African American slaves since they had slightly more freedom and rights, but in many ways they are also treated the same. The social construction of race between the Europeans, Indigenous People, and Africans led to the establishment of how one group is different from the other.
In the past, races were identified by the imposition of discrete boundaries upon continuous and often discordant biological variation. The concept of race is therefore a historical construct and not one that provides either valid classification or an explanatory process. Popular everyday awareness of race is transmitted from generation to generation through cultural learning. Attributing race to an individual or a population amounts to applying a social and cultural label that lacks scientific consensus and supporting data. While anthropologists continue to study how and why humans vary biologically, it is apparent that human populations differ from one another much less than do populations in other species because we use our cultural, rather than our physical differences to aid us in adapting to various environments.
The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.
In today’s society, it is acknowledgeable to assert that the concepts of race and ethnicity have changed enormously across different countries, cultures, eras, and customs. Even more, they have become less connected and tied with ancestral and familial ties but rather more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Moreover, a great deal can be discussed the relationship between ethnicity and race. Both race and ethnicity are useful and counterproductive in their ways. To begin, the concept of race is, and its ideas are vital to society because it allows those contemporary nationalist movements which include, racist actions; to become more familiar to members of society. Secondly, it has helped to shape and redefine the meaning of
Race is particularly pertinent to the rise of colonialism, because the division of human society in this way is inextricable from the need of colonialist powers to establish dominance over subjects’ powers and to justify the imperial enterprise. Looma is of the view, “race has thus functioned as one of the most powerful and yet most fragile markers of human identity, hard to explain and identify and even harder to maintain” (121).Today skin colour has become the privileged marker of races which are, as Miles points out, “either ‘black’ or ‘white’ but never ‘big-eared’ and ‘small-eared’. The fact that only certain physical characteristics…‘races’ are socially imagined rather than biological realities” (qtd. in Looma 121). The basic myth of racism is white skin brings with it cultural superiority that the whites are more intelligent and more virtuous than the black by the mere fact of being
Nazism and the ‘Final Solution’ temporarily stigmatised racial-biological thinking after 1945. However, the ‘New Racism’ that emerged in the 1970s evaded the opprobrium of biological racism and eugenics by superficially relocating difference away from phenotype and genes and on to culture. This has had dramatic effect on nature and appearance of racism in Britain. By camouflaging hereditary qualities as cultural inheritance, it became possible for mainstream politicians to inject racism back into debates about nationality and citizenship.
The origin of race must first be established before it can be fully understood as a social construct created for colonial reasons regarding power. Omi and Winant explain that race is not necessarily a biological phenomenon, but a concept originated by European’s to establish a dominance over other cultures (1064). The idea of race sparked the notion that one skin tone is different than the other and they cannot be held to similar status (Omi and Winant 1064). How was this concept of race constructed? Omi and Winant explain that European settlement initiated race for economic and territorial reasons, thus furthering their development (1066). Essentially, the authors discuss that European manipulation and force over different skin tones perpetuated the idea within their own society that Whites are superior, therefore any various skin tone is lesser than the counterpart (1066). Therefore, it can be seen that European, specifically British, colonization manifested the concept of race within each society it overtook. What occurs when this