I’m currently educating myself about racism and anti-racism, and I keep reading that “race is a social construct”. I see how much subjective social views condition our ideas of different races. And yet, people from different places have certain traits that are quite obvious, and shared in common. If I’m not mistaken, that can apply to more than just visible things – things like susceptibility or resistance to certain diseases, if I’m not mistaken. Obviously no one deserves to be mistreated for any of these traits. But what I’m reading and what I seem to experience don’t add up. Anyone able to clarify things for me?
In: Biology
Humans are all the same species from a biological standpoint. There is some variation in features. There are a few factors that influence how common these features are in certain areas, but no one feature is defining of any particular group. All of the features we think of as defining race exist on a gradient – there are no clear lines or boundaries. Furthermore, the features are not limited to one group (eg: someone from a stereo-typically light skinned group can have darker skin, someone who is not of Asian ancestry can have epicanthial folds, etc).
All these sets of features really mean is what we, as a society, ascribe to them. We could have just as easily picked different features (attached or free-hanging earlobes, widow’s peak, etc) to focus on – or none in particular. In fact, people in different cultural groups often define ethnic background or “race” groups differently than you may be used to, and how these groups are defined in the US has changed over time.
Latest Answers