The term race is a relatively modern phenomenon, which can be defined as ‘a category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society deem socially significant” (Macionis & Plummer, 2013, p. 350). Sociologists argue whether race is a natural or socially constructed category of difference and whether we should actually use the term race at all to categorise people. By differentiating people based on biological differences, race could be deemed as a natural occurrence but without humans identifying groups from these differences, the actual use of the term race in daily life might not have existed, and therefore race would be considered a social construct.
Historically, groups of people were labelled based on their physical features and biological theories were used to justify prejudice against certain social groups (Giddens & Sutton, 2013). Fulcher & Scott (2007) suggest the earliest use of race as a category of difference was in the 17th century when people became more aware of different skin colours and characteristics but also in different cultural practices. Charles Darwin said that all human characteristics occur due to natural selection where certain traits that benefited humans would become more prominent through selective breeding (Darwin, 1859, as cited in Banton, 1998). As Darwin’s theory became more popular, this prompted people to believe that race was down to evolution and racial thinking towards certain races increased because people believed it was a legitimate theory (Fulcher & Scott, 2007). Considering this, skin colour, which is primarily used to define race, is only a minor genetic difference and through the process of selective breeding, gene patterns can change massively. Whilst there are obvious differences in people’s physical features, discriminating and prejudicing based on these factors has no biological basis, concluding that race cannot be a natural construct based on scientific reasoning (Giddens & Sutton, 2013).
Race is mainly seen as a social construct by sociologists because people will consciously separate themselves into groups based on similar traits and cultural practices or even due to oppression from the majority, which is then deemed as a ‘race’ rather than it occurring naturally. Majorities, to show that they are superior in race often use forms of prejudice and racism. Racism is “the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another” (Macionis & Plummer, 2013, p. 354) and is a huge issue in the world historically and today. For example, in the 1960’s, black people were considered so inferior after the slavery period that they were segregated from white people in all aspects of life from separate schools, public toilets and even park benches making them unable to live a healthy, normal lifestyle. Whilst the white race believed they were superior because they looked different, this is not true as explained before. On the other hand, minorities can use their race to stand up against minorities, which has become more common in the modern world. The Black Lives Matter movement (2013) was created after Trayvon Martin was posthumously place on trial for his own murder whilst the killer was not found guilty of the crime. The #BlackLivesMatter hash tag was created to respond to the anti-black racism in our society and they are working towards a world where black people are no longer victims of prejudice and demise.
Many sociologists believe that race and racism should not exist or be used because it is purely a decision made by society that is collectively accepted, but theories have been suggested as to how the issue arose. During the Enlightenment era, Immanuel Kant suggests one of the first concepts of race that is now considered to be a racist argument because he constructed race in a hierarchical way (Bernasconi, 2001). He suggested that races were defined by hereditary characteristics and that people were predisposed with the ability to develop culture, and so forth placing them in an order. At the bottom of the hierarchy, the American Indians were said to be unable to sustain culture at all, next were Negroes who Kant said were a culture of slaves and full of passion but with no ability to control it. Asian Hindus were supposedly able to become civilised but were not a culture of science, only skill. At the top of the hierarchy were white people, Kant suggesting that they were of the highest perfection and the only race capable of achieving progress and success in life (Bernasconi, 2001). This theory was quickly rejected due to its racist implications linking culture and race together.
The second theory looks at the relationship between race and the ability to gain citizenship and one’s freedom in their country. Warner (1936, as cited in Fulcher & Scott, 2007) proposed that racial categorisation could limit the ability of minority ethnic groups to gain citizenship to a new society. Warner introduced the idea of an ethnic melting pot where ethnic minorities who migrate to other countries e.g. America, are expected to assimilate the traits of the superior culture. He also stated that it didn’t work for African-Americans because of the stigma around the slave period. The melting pot should have guaranteed their acceptance and integration into society, but the severe racial attitudes towards the slave period were still prominent, which limited their ability to gain citizenship. Therefore, people create a social construct that African-American’s are inferior, maintaining the prejudice and segregation towards them even in the modern world.
One of the main theories of race is the link between colonialism and race and how superiors make racial groups inferior. When the European nations expanded over the world, they created colonies and established powerful control over the territories created. The Europeans, because they felt they were the most powerful, believed those with white skin colour were superior. Rex (1970, as cited in Fulcher & Scott, 2007) said that due to the Europeans creating the idea that white people were immediately given the status of power, colour was the only indicator that decided whether someone was eligible to gain access to a colony and their status. Therefore the European colonial empires that were established made Asia, Africa and America subject to enslavement, which labelled them as inferior to white people (Macionis & Plummer, 2013). This influenced the attitudes and views of those in the colonies, increasing racial thinking towards the inferior groups of people. Consequently, black immigrants are put outside the normal ranking of categories of groups into a hierarchy, meaning they are restricted to low paid jobs and poverty (Rex, 1970, as cited in Fulcher & Scott, 2007). This status continues throughout the years, even to this day and age, because prejudice is still a common occurrence. Thus, it can be said that race is purely a social construct established by those who have the most power. The ‘white race’ decided that black people were inferior and could not have the same privileges as them; this became rooted in people’s minds for years to come. Although they convinced themselves it was a natural occurrence that black people were inferior to them, it is clear that it was solely an accepted agreement that there should be a distinction in society between those with different skin colour.
The final theory, racial discourse, can also help our understanding of how race is increasingly become more of a social category of difference. It can be defined as “a set of ideas, meanings, and representations that structures people’s communication and encounters with each other … it informs significant social actions and practices and becomes embodied in social institutions” (Fulcher & Scott, 2007, p. 202). People create negative stigmas about certain races and because humans are each other’s biggest influence, if one person says that a certain race is inferior, others will begin to believe this too. The Thomas theorem states that ‘if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”; by the majority race socially constructing the minority to be inferior, it will become a real thing (Thomas, 1928, as cited in Merton, 1968). The minority race becomes socially disadvantaged and the majority will understand this not to be their fault for prejudicing against them, but that the minority is innately inferior which is not true, that is purely what they have convinced themselves is reality (Macionis & Plummer, 2013). It becomes a cycle that shows people will categorise those who don’t look the same as them into races and treat them differently until it becomes real, rather than separating people into groups being a natural occurrence.
Race is considered to be a consequence of society creating groups based on physical traits. From this, racism occurs which is a severe issue in history and in today’s society. Today, there is a considerable effort from many to reduce the use of race as a way to distinguish people and prejudice. Fanon (2008) suggests we should abandon the idea of race completely; he believes race is not a real thing stating, “in no way should I derive my basic purpose from the past of the peoples of color” (Fanon, 2008, p. 176). He believes that society must stop seeing race as a legitimate way to categorise people, which would in turn eradicate racism. Considering this, no matter how much of an effort people make in creating equality and stop defining people by their race, it has been embedded in people’s culture for many years (Macionis & Plummer, 2013). Adolf Hitler is an example in history where prejudice against inferior groups was influenced by his upbringing. He was raised to believe that Jew’s were inferior to German’s and during the First World War, Hitler and the Nazi’s believed people could be divided into different races and that the ‘Ayran race’ was superior and the Jews were inferior. So much so that they were not considered people and so the Nazi’s undertook mass genocide in order to eliminate the Jewish population from Europe. Hitler had no scientific grounding for his actions; it was purely due to the influences from his childhood that made him have racial attitudes towards Jews and caused the Holocaust and death of millions.
In today’s society there are many examples where racial thinking is still prominent even though people may not realise it; from how ethnic minorities are often judged on their financial position, job performance and public speaking skills, to the fact that plasters are primarily suited to white skin tones only and there is a far wider variety of pale skin shades in women’s make up than darker skin shades. Many influential political leaders have racist attitudes towards people, the most recent being Donald Trump. During his presidential campaign, there have been many accounts of racism including claiming a judge was biased because of his Mexican heritage even though he was born in America. He then proposed to build a wall between American and Mexico in order to reduce immigrants, showing that, although this is a case of extreme racism, it is still alive in the world today and to attempt to eradicate race from society completely would be highly difficult to achieve.
In conclusion, race can be defined as a social category of difference that is real in our society and shapes the way we value and see one another. Whilst some believe that race should not exist and have so much influence on the world, it is difficult to change the minds of people who have been influenced by their own cultures and the majority views. Today, people are becoming more sensitive towards the issue of racism and are attempting to reduce it but must be aware that racism will never cease in society. Historical acts of racism and how beliefs about certain races can be rooted into people’s minds mean that race is a part of the structure of society. It is a known fact that race is no longer deemed a natural occurrence based on biological traits, it is purely a collective agreement of ideas, placed in society and considered to be a concept that has always existed.