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Stephanie Reinheimer

Professor Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

22 October 2017

The Social Construct of Race

Every day, there is a joke made about how it is 2017 and how advanced as humans we

should be. The movie Back to the Future depicted flying cars and automatic lace-up shoes in the

year 2015. Yet, we still face problems of discrimination regarding sex, regarding gender, and

regarding race. It is difficult to know how much humans have advanced with technology and

with human rights, and yet acts of racism are as common as all the Starbucks that sit on every

street corner. Acts of racism occur in all different sizes in all different situations. There are

manifested acts of racism that still occur through white supremacist groups, and there are jokes

about how smart one may be because of their slanted eyes. Race is an assumption one person

makes towards another based upon their appearance. These assumptions regarding race have

originated from ideas about genetics, based off appearance, and then applied in social situations,

making race a social construct that is assumed by other people and instilled in a particular area.

When Europeans colonized Africa, many thought that the natives living there were less

than human. This is because of how they were underdeveloped as a civilization, with a darker

complexion, and bigger lips. During World War II, Nazis wanted to gain racial purity. By

figuring out who in the race was not pure, they measured noses to find those that were not pure.

Historically, race was a scientific idea that was based off genetics. The scientists who applied

this line of thinking were Social Darwinists. In a South African History article about pseudo-

scientific racism and Social-Darwinism, it is explained how Social-Darwinists thought, some

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human beings are biologically superior to others, the strongest or fittest should survive and

flourish in society, and the weak and unfit should be allowed to die (South African History

Online). In other words, people believed that some races were superior to others based off

scientific research. However, much of the scientific research was based off exterior appearance.

They took their perceptions and

applied them to ideas that

benefitted them to gain power.

Author Ta-Nehisi Coates

describes in his book Between the

World and Me, that racism is the

need to ascribe bone-deep features

to people and then humiliate,

reduce, and destroy [African Americans] (Coates, 7). His definition exposes how the

assumptions regarding a persons appearance, leads them to face violence. This description can

be applied to the Imperialists that colonized Africa, to the Nazis that killed Jews, and to those

that are killed today by cops because of their skin color.

Although little people today think that one race is stronger than another because of the

genetics one has and the other does not, racial stereotypes are still instilled in society. Because of

the history and those who are in leadership positions today, there is a system that causes those

whom are white and male to be at an advantage. In his article Black Men and Public Space,

Brent Staples discusses how the fearsomeness mistakenly attributed to [him] in public spaces

is why he is so often being taken for a criminal (Staples). Staples is aware that because he is an

African American male, he is feared in public because the image of a rapist, or mugger, or
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criminal is often associated with African Americans. Racism is applied to people of every

ethnicity though. In the movie Gran Torino, Ahney Hers character is harassed. Her character

defends herself and exploits those harassing her, saying, oh great, another asshole with a fetish

for Asian girls (Gran Torino). This reaction shows how Hers character is commonly

objectified not only for her gender, but for her race as well. Both Staples and Hers character

face prejudice and stereotypes while out in public. Some ideas are so established about race, it is

difficult for them to be eradicated.

Even though people may think we have made a lot of progress over the years regarding

racism, it is difficult for it to be completely gone. In Between the World and Me, Coates says,

The Dream seemed to be the end of the world for me, the height of American ambition

(Coates, 116). The motif of the American Dream along with the diction of cosmic worlds, allows

Coates to describe how he feels like such an outsider in his own country. His world is not that of

the American Dream, his world is one where he had to protect his body because of how easily it

could be taken from him. People use pride to cover up their fear and to reject the idea that their

body can be so easily taken or assumed by others. Law professor Angela Onwuachi-Wilig, states

in her article Race and Racial Identity are Social Constructs, that unlike race and racial

identity, the social, political and economic meanings of race, or rather belonging to particular

racial groups, have not been fluid. (Onwuachi-Wilig). In other words, people can be fluid in

their identity. A person can feel more attached to one identity if they are connecting to it more

through family, culture, or actions. Identity is the self-perception. Onwuachi-Wilig exposes

though how socially, politically, and economically, it is not as easy. The majority of those that

are the leaders and the representatives socially, politically, and economically are white males.

Socially, politically, and economically, the American Dream and the system instilled in
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American is structured so that white males are the main benefactor. It is difficult for those who

were raised in ghettos to have the same opportunities of those that were raised in a suburban cul-

de-sac. There are more hoops to jump through, more restrictions they must break, and prejudices

they must face.

Racism can be traced back to the beginning of time. Although progress has been made,

and America has equal rights, racism is still alive today. Racist ideals have originated from ideas

about genetics, based off appearance, and applied in social situations, making race a social

construct that is assumed by other people and instilled in a particular area.

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Works Cited

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. Spiegel & Grau. 2015.

Gran Torino. Directed by Clint Eastwood, performances by Ahney Her, Clint Eastwood. Warner

Bros. Pictures, 2008.

Onwuachi-Wilig, Angela. Race and Racial Identity are Social Constructs. The New York

Times. 6 Sep. 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/16/how-fluid-is-

racial-identity/race-and-racial-identity-are-social-constructs . Date Accessed: 23 Oct.

2017.

Pseudo-Scientific Racism and Social Darwinism. South African History Online. 22 March

2011. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/pseudo-scientific-racism-and-social-darwinism-

grade-11 . Date Accessed: 23 Oct. 2017.

Staples, Brent. Black Men and Public Space. The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction,

ed. Goldthwaite, Melissa A., shorter 14 ed., W.W. Norton, 2017, pp. 141-43.
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