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Racism: Socially Constructed Or Justified?

780 Words4 Pages

"We have made enormous progress in teaching everyone that racism is bad. Where we seem to have dropped the ball… is in teaching people what racism actually IS." - Jon Stewart. In today 's society and culture the accusation that something is racist or someone is racist is used too often and loosely with very small understanding of the terms. So, what is racism? What is race? By definition racism is : "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." Webster also cites : "race is a category of mankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits." This commonly believed definition is not only inaccurate but it also denies the fact that race is socially constructed. Racial classification, a tactic as old as time, one used to maintain complete power in one group, this is the main purpose of the existence of race. As the recent murders of innocent black men would suggest, racism is of social significance, but through the eyes of science, all human beings are virtually the same, even with the deceptive traits such as skin color or hair …show more content…

The concept of race refers to the fact that people still believe that races are based on physical traits such as skin color or hair texture. However, what they are doing is stereotyping, which just leads to discrimination and racism. Also, these actions deny the fact race is socially constructed. As proven by Robert Sussman, the patterns of biological variation among humans are extremely complicated and constantly changing. We could all be put into different "races", depending on what traits are emphasized. Focusing on traits like skin color, body shape, and hair texture causes us to magnify differences and ignore the many similarities between us. Instead of celebrating our similarities, we focus on the differences. The concept of race is an attempt to scientifically divide humans into races and further this

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