The concept of race being more cultural than biological can be linked with history and the conquering quests of Western Europe. Over time as Western Europe began expanding they became the dominant and superior group. When the Europeans started colonizing the United States there was a desperate need to increase manual labor to work fields and create a secondary food supply. .
With a food supply shortage and poor living conditions slavery was introduced as a means to solve the problems. Unable to use Native Americans as slaves, they instead imported black people from Africa. Slavery was the answer to reduce the horrid conditions that early settlers were suffering from and to improve the lives of these settlers. As time went on, slavery progressed into a business, which grew in popularity due to economic reasoning and the huge profit margins. It would only cost a person about $12.00 to sustain one slave, while they profit as much as $300.00. .
White people adopted a feeling of superiority over black people, and racial distinctions were the primary focus, which categorized a person. The racial distinctions used were facial features, skin color, and hair. These distinctions over time were not viewed as dominant traits and in had negative implications. . .
Black servants were treated more harshly than white servants. Plantation owners were also fearful of white servants interacting with black servants. Black slaves were labeled as non-human and it was believed that they could endure more pain than white people. This led to more psychological and physiological effects where slaves were led to believe that they were less human than white people. .
As time progressed, little had changed for the slaves since they were still seen as beast-like and non-human. White people created a false belief that they were biologically different from black people. This behavior can be attributed to a learned pattern that was taught and accepted because black people were seen as a threat.
So the question I pose is this: Is race still a useful concept for anthropologists? ... Race is not a useful concept for anthropologists. ... Another issue that the concept of race brings up is racism. ... The concept of race makes racism a prominent issue. ... Anthropologists will continue to investigate the concept of race. ...
Many people may wonder why it is that people are racist, especially when race seems to be a socially constructed concept. The idea of genetically different groups is known as biological race. ... Race is simply a socially constructed concept. ... Hitler used to call the Jewish people, a "Jewish Race." ... Unlike functionalists, concept theorists think that ineq...
The word "race" is defined as one of the group of populations constituting humanity. ... These questions among others arise when thinking of race. Does race really exist? ... Anthropologists stress the heterogeneity of world population, and many reject the concept of race outright. This concept is not understood by most, and must be emphasized to people around the world. ...
I believe that "Race" is an arbitrary and meaningless concept because race among humans does not exist. ... Racism, racial stereo types, race and cultural prejudices, and anti-Semitism, cultural and racial bigotry result in people being attacked, abused, oppressed, or enslaved. ... While there seem to be genuine relationships between blacks and whites, some whites, including myself, hesitate to talk about race for fear of being taken the wrong way. ...
Social constructions of gender and race and intersectionality have a tremendous impact on all institutions throughout the world. These concepts contribute a lot of knowledge in order to spread the word on the oppression of gender and race. ... Defining intersectionality is a key concept in knowing why it is so crucial to women's and gender studies. ... Crenshaw illustrates three fundamental concepts of intersectionailty. Structural, political, and representational intersectionailty are the three concepts she thought were critical to understand. ...
Without any scientific pretense whatsoever, the concept of race was constructed to classify people by arbitrary physical or geographical characteristics. ... The Interplay Between Ignorance and Evidence Apart from the dubious and dangerous origins of the term race, we also have the problem of misunderstanding concepts which apply themselves to our practical reason " of chameleon-like terms which confuse the understanding of identity issues. ... I maintain that counselors and others in the mental health profession should abandon the misdirected and fallacious concept of race and approach...
Race or Ancestry? Is there really an argument as to whether or not race should be a decisive factor in the identification of an individual? ... A passage from Sauer's article reads, "From whatever viewpoint one approaches the question of the applicability of the concept of the race of mankind, the modalities of human variability appear so far from those required for a coherent classification that the concept must be considered as of very limited use . ... Sauer said, "Perhaps we could avoid the term "race" in our communications about cases, substituting "ancestry" or some other word t...
More than understanding and critically engaging with relatively new concepts, this exercise has turned into autobiographical experience of discovery. ... intimidation in predominantly white ex-model C primary and secondary schools; the University experience- the primarily homogenous experience; the sudden development and transferral of affection towards "South Africa"; and most saliently, the birth of new "identifying criteria", the re-invention and substitution of one imagined concept over another: the continued "end of race debate". ... Firstly, "identity" and "social identity" as theo...
