July 24, 2016

Talman Brivio
ANTH 1020
Teresa Potter

RACE
What is race? .Is it biological or is it socially constructed?
Overview:
Race, a relatively new word that was used in the 16ths and 19ths centuries to
denominate groups of people by geographical location, but this word has been
tergiversated in the last century leading to a Racism, in order to keep power against other
racial groups with the belief of superiority and inferiority to other with different race,
discrimination and prejudice base on skin color, place of origin and different
characteristics among populations.
Even today, in general elections 2016 The United States of America is facing a
wave events base on racism, a big racist response to a candidate that is running a
campaign based on racialism, bigotry and xenophobia.
In order to defeat this feelings and reactions from some people to others, we need
to do more education, to inform people and canalize our efforts to a better understand and
unity to respect, to tolerate and to accept each others.
According to the Biology Encyclopedia, the biology definition of race is a
geographical isolated breeding population that shares certain characteristics in higher

frequencies than other populations of that species, but has not become reproductively
isolated from other populations of the same species.
I would like to add that Race are groups of people or individuals that shares very
similar traits, traits that has been pass on by generations, traits that has been adapted by
natural selection and to the environment where they live and develop.
In accordance with the movie-documentary Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
produced by Spencer Wells, an American geneticist, anthropologist, author from the
University of Texas at Austin, leader of the Geographic Project and National Geographic
until 2015 and winner of the Kistler Prize in 2007, where He explains that for over 15
years scientist has been using cutting-edge technology to investigate your family history,
looking to find where we come from, using blood samples and using instruments and
computerized laboratories scientist are now able to read the past and our billions of
DNAs in order to find our ancestors.
In this film, Spencer Wells takes blood samples from different individuals around
the world and tracking down the DNA to a different regions of the world, leading to a
answer that we all descent from a group of individuals that start their journey in Africa
and because climate change, weather and looking for more resources as food and such
they had to move to a different regions as Australia and Asia populating all this areas with
and natural selection has played a big role to individuals to adapt a different types of
weather and environments, skin color has also adapted to this conditions having lighter
and darker depending on the area they live in.
To watch full documentary follow this link bellow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dDXIX-y6aY

On the other hand, Society has played a role to create such illusion of race, many
societies has been created base on racism, with the existence of slaves for centuries,
exercising a social construct of the differentiation of races base on social status, skin
color and place of origin in order to take advantages of others and to keep the imperialism
and the suppression and abolition of other racial populations breaking and destroying
entire cultures believing that they are superior to the others.
As explain Angela Onwuachi-Willig, a professor of Law at the University of Iowa
and author of According to our hearts and the Law of the Multiracial Family,
Race is not biological. It is a social construct. There is not gene or cluster of genes
common to all blacks or all whites, Unlike race and racial identity the social, political and
economic meaning of race or rather belonging to particular racial groups, have nor been
fluid
In many countries, racism has been Institutionalized in many of the institutions
for instance Housing, justice, police profiling, police brutality towards minorities, mass
incarceration of minorities, jobs, health care, education among others.
Having a history of Social Racism we can sadly mention events as Apartheid
1948-1994 in South Africa, a century of Racial Segregation in the United States from
1849-1950
To conclude, the word Race has been distorted to Racism instead, where there is
not genetically proves of differences but socially there are many differentiations among
populations and privileges to certain groups within populations.

According to the film, Race: The Power of a Illusion, created and broadcasted by
PBS Public Broadcasting Service, there are Ten things Everyone should know about Race
that I would like to share with you:
1. Race is a modern Idea.
2. Race has not genetic basis.
3. Human Sub-species dont exist.
4. Skin color really is only skin deep.
5. Most variation is within, not between races.
6. Slavery predates race.
7. Race and Freedom evolved together.
8. Race justified social inequalities as natural.
9. Race isnt biological, but racism is real.
10. Colorblindness will not end racism.

Works cited
Journey Of Man; A Genetic Odyssey. Prod. Spencer Wells. Perf. Spencer Wells. Journey
Of Man A Genetic Odyssey. N.p., 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 July 2016.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dDXIX-y6aY>.
Halfond, Irwin. "Race as a Concept." Research Starters. Salem Press Encyclopedia, Jan.
2015. Web. 24 July 2016.
"TEN THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT RACE." PBS. The Power of
an Illusion Ed. California Newsreel. PBS, 2003. Web. 24 July 2016.
<http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-01-x.htm>.
Huxley, Angie K. "Biology of Race." - Biology Encyclopedia. Biology Reference, n.d.
Web. 24 July 2016. <http://www.biologyreference.com/Ar-Bi/Biology-ofRace.html>.
Angela Onwuachi-Willig. "Race and Racial Identity Are Social Constructs."The New
York Times. The New York Times, 17 June 2015. Web. 24 July 2016.
<http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/16/how-fluid-is-racialidentity/race-and-racial-identity-are-social-constructs>.
The Difference Between Us: Race--The Power of an Illusion. California Newsreel, 2003.
Documentary.