The social construction of race and the conjured up idea of different races affects many Americans on a macro and micro scale or institutionally and individually, respectively. To sociologists, this idea of a socially constructed race matters because race has a tremendous influence on people’s lives.
It may be difficult to believe, but race is socially constructed. Race is something humans have fabricated; therefore, it has no biological meaning. Race is without basis in our natural world, yet humans have self-divided ourselves into different groups or “races” based on our appearancesx and awarded those groups different stereotypes and privileges. There are no genes specific to white people that black people don’t have, and vice versa. We are all one human race with very similar DNA, but socially have divided ourselves into different groups. The truth of the matter is we are all human beings we just look a little different. One great example that shows how socially constructed race is can be seen in the documentary “Race: The Power of Illusion” Episode, 3, “The House We Live in”, a discussion took place about how the United States in the early 1900s could not seem to categorize race. In 1922, a man by the name of Takao Ozawa petitioned for his right to citizenship in the United States. He was a Japanese immigrant and he argued two points to the courts. One point he mentioned was that his skin was white, and in some cases even whiter than the white race. Therefore, he should be considered white, since race was seemingly mostly based on skin color. He also argued that race should not matter when it comes to citizenship because in his heart he felt like a true American, and his values are what should matter instead of his race. The courts ruled that he shall not be deemed as a white person and therefore not a citizen because the Japanese were not white, a conclusion they came to based on science. However, the same court contradicted itself not even a year later when an Asian Indian man named Bhagat Singh Thind petitioned for citizenship as well. The courts ruled he was not white and therefore not be a citizen because legally, Asian Indians are not white, even though, according to science, they are classified as Caucasian. This contradiction of the description and classification of race proves how socially constructed it really is. In an attempt to keep white people in power and as the only citizens, the court proved how impossible it is to classify or categorize race. It is difficult to do this because race does not exist to the extent that we think it does. One cannot scientifically classify race if it is socially constructed.
Just because race is socially constructed doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Race matters because it is the idea of separate races, and the thought that these separate races have contrasting characteristics and qualities, that is the very basis of racism. Essentially, although race may be socially constructed, that doesn’t mean its socially constructed existence doesn’t create real, factual, and tangible consequences such as racism. Racism, or “the belief that members of separate races possess different and unequal traits”, comes in different forms. There is individual racism, and on a larger scale, there is institutional racism. Individual racism is much like it sounds. It refers to an individual’s racist beliefs or assumptions. On another level, there is institutional racism, which is the idea of an institution (like laws, for example) creating disadvantages for people of color and minority races. Individual racism would be somebody acting on their prejudices toward a certain race. For example, racism on an individual level could be someone locking their car doors when a black man walks by, or an employer not hiring a Hispanic woman because he views Hispanics to be lazy and not hardworking. An example of institutional racism, taken from the textbook, is: during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic, a law called the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was passed by the United States. It said that 1 gram of crack cocaine was equivalent to 100 grams of powdered cocaine. This meant that those caught with crack cocaine would be sentenced to 5 years in prison, even if it was a first possession charge. This is an example of systemic or institutionalized racism because crack cocaine is a cheap drug, cheaper than powdered cocaine, and therefore was found predominantly in low-income and black neighborhoods. In other words, this Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 targeted black communities because those were the communities that predominately used the drug. This resulted in a large inconsistency of drug possession sentencing when it came to race. Powdered cocaine, with its higher costs, was predominately used by richer white America. Although crack cocaine is simply a different, diluted form of cocaine, the United States decided to target crack cocaine users instead of cocaine users, which just so happened to be poor black groups. This is institutional racism because it negatively and specifically affects a certain race, aka black people. Again, to highlight another example of institutional racism, we can look at the 1967 race riots and what the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders found was the root of them. Essentially, a commission of 11 senate members was created to look into the recent race riots and disturbances in Detroit, Michigan. Essentially what the commission found was that the frustration of such an unequal society for blacks and whites is what caused the riots. African Americans had worse housing, schools, no transportation, etc. Even worse, the commission found that white America was deeply implicated in the terrible conditions blacks faced, “white Americans have never fully understood but what the negro can never forget is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintained, and white society condones it.”
When it comes to positive social change and race relations in the U.S., the social construction of race is important because the color of your skin can deeply affect the way you live your life: what opportunities you may or may not have, how people treat you, or the level of privilege you receive in life. The social construction of race, (for instance, a white person believing a black person is lesser than them) can lead to serious problems for black people. For example, the fact that black people were not sold homes in Levittown because the developers knew that black people being in the neighborhood would depreciate the value of not only the home the black person owned but also the homes in the whole neighborhood. This reality is what can cause a lot of poor black neighborhoods. One black person would move into a white neighborhood, and all the whites would quickly move out in order to get a higher sale on their house because they knew it’s value was tanking. Taking their place and buying their homes would be black people. Eventually, the prices of the homes would be worth very little. The documentary gives an example of a $20,000 house in a black neighborhood being worth $320,000 in a white neighborhood. That is a $300,000 dollar difference in possible net worth, a safety net, etcetera. This depreciation of home value in black neighborhoods makes it impossible for them to get ahead in life. This is just one example of how racism can deeply affect black people. This is why socially constructed race matters. Until we learn to break these socially constructed ideas we have of certain races, our society will be inherently unequal. Positive social change of race relations cannot occur in America if our socially constructed visions of race don’t change first.
By now you should realize that race is socially constructed, albeit it has real impacts on people’s lives. The social construction of race is what leads to racism, one group thinking they are above another because of negative stereotypes put on many minorities. All in all, race has a huge impact on people’s lives and social progress cannot happen until we realize our prejudices are socially constructed and begin to look at each other as we really are, all humans who just might look a little different.