Race as a Social Construct
The question about race in the United States of America may be considered as one of the most difficult questions which cause many conflicts between people. Unfortunately, only a few people think about the real nature of the race. This issue has different aspects such as biological, cultural, political, and social. The last one needs to be discussed more detailed. The reason is that it helps to realize the reason for long-lasting hostility between a particular groups of people. Moreover, it allows reestimating the significance of race and its role in the social order.
First of all, it is necessary to notice that any social construct is a generation of the particular culture. For instance, it may be religion, money, language. People behave in accordance with the rules established by these constructs. Stating that they are artificially created does not mean refusing their reality. On the contrary, social constructs are vital parts of everyday life. Many researchers argue whether race can be considered as one of such constructs. In different societies, there are original visions of race. Nevertheless, it is extremely important to realize that all of them are products of the culture which are based on biological differences. Thus, in the US, there are six officially registered races: Asian American, White American, Black or African American, Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian. Thus, it means that the US is a racially diverse country.
However, strict division of people based on biological differences often leads to oppression and discrimination of the particular group. Such a scenario always has different endings. In order to prove this fact, it is possible to mention numerous murders of African American in the US in the twentieth century. The root of such conflicts is in the lack of knowledge about the real nature of the race. In one of the most popular American newspapers, The New York Times, the author Angela Onwuachi-Willig wrote: “Race is not biological. It is a social construct. There is no gene or cluster of genes common to all blacks or all whites. Were race “real” in the genetic sense, racial classifications for individuals would remain constant across boundaries” (2016). It stimulates to discover the issue more detailed.
In today’s world, people need a deep and profound analysis of the key concepts, which exist in society. Thus, in the dissertation “An Exploration of the Social Construction of Race and Racial Identity: A Project Based Upon an Independent Investigation,” the author Elizabeth Castrellon states that it is incorrectly to define race based on the color of one’s skin and physical features because historically, racial identity changed under the influence of different external factors (2010). It is essential to notice that identity is one of the possible ways for the person to define himself. In the US, since ancient times, whiteness was considered to be a so-called norm. According to this norm, the person is endowed with the special power and rights. At the same time, people of color are considered to be different from socially and culturally established norm: “they are racialized by the performative act of others around them designating them as “other” (Castrellon, 2010). According to this fact, “other people” do not have the same rights as “normal people.” In some way, it leads to inequality and stimulates to perceive people of different races in a specific way which is not always just and fair.
In addition, social constructs may have a negative impact on how people perceive each other. For example, in the article “Race and Racial Identity Are Social Constructs,” Onwuachi-Willig mentions that belonging to the white race gives the person a set of privileges such as safety and positive reputation (2016). In order to prove this fact, it is possible to mention the fact that people of white race have more opportunities to find a job than colored people. It may be considered as the manifestation of discrimination. Ian Haney-Lopez in the work “Social Construction of Race: Some Observations on Illusion, Fabrication, and Choice, The,” emphasizes that “human interaction rather than natural differentiation must be seen as the source and continued basis for racial categorization” (1994). In some way, it means that in most cases, people misunderstood the basis for differentiation. Moreover, they do not want to accept the fact of diversity’s existence, which is related to genetics.
It is interesting that in the modern world, there are many theories such as narrative and queer which try to explain the concept of race. All of them place the issue in the center of the discussion, that is why they do not solve the existing problem with the misunderstanding of race. Often, the person’s attitude towards race identity defines his or her interaction with others: “To generalize further, among Whites, with the obvious exception of racial supremacists, community identity is rarely conceptualized in racial terms” (Haney-Lopez, 1994). Unfortunately, in many cases, it is based on a set of stereotypes. Thus, it is essential to remember that all racial indicators are imposed by society. Their shaping took a long time. It means that historically, people used to divide society and define the dominant group. The last one influences the social statuses of all other groups. Being a social construct, race exists only in the particular boundaries of the particular group’s agreement. It may be proved with the fact that European and American understandings of race are different. The reason is in cultural and ethnic differences.
Finally, in modern society, many stereotypes and prejudiced attitudes exist. Biological diversity has become the reason for dividing the society. That is how the concept of racial identity appeared. However, it is essential to remember that misinterpreted biological differences caused the division in rights, power, and status. It may be considered as the main root of the existing inequality between people. Years of discrimination, humiliation, and oppression forced people to reestimate their attitude towards race. Thus, nowadays, it is possible to find many pieces of research in this field. Some of them defend the position that race is just a social construct that must be interpreted appropriately. Unfortunately, people face manifestations of racial discrimination in different areas of their lives. In order to establish justice and equality, it is extremely important to pay more attention to education in this particular field and to study the real nature of racial identity. People’s rights and status should not depend on the color of their skin, and the significance of the racial identity should be rethought and re-estimated. The reason is that it may allow people to get rid of negative stereotypes and learn more scientific information about the issue. Achieving peace and justice in the society should be started from the correct understanding of the key social frames and concepts.