Race in the Scientific, Social and Political Sense Essay Example
It is an irony that although humanity has managed to use intelligence to modify the environment, we have often failed to differentiate opinions from facts in the social realm. For example, people have been unable to understand that race is nothing but a physical distinction and therefore, should not be used to segment the society. Gannon states that race is a minor difference that has been given too much attention which has transformed it into a core element. As much as the issue of racial discrimination dates back to past several centuries, we cannot blame our forefathers for giving the society a hierarchical structure because they did not have any proof to convince them otherwise. However, having such a mentality in this era cannot be excused due to the availability of volumes of scientific information that illustrate that there is no
...correlation between race and genetics which would have eliminated equality. This essay discusses the reasons why race has significant influence in the social and political sense even though it lacks any biological basis.
According to Onwuachi-Willig, race differences are as a result of preformed perceptions that associates people with a particular aspectfootnote. For instance, the level of IQ has always been used to differentiate whites from blacks. Although such factors are not familiar to everyone in a given race people, assume that it can work for the majority. Therefore, race can be seen as an element that can be used to organize the population into groups according to their similar features that are different from the other groups. In other words race is just a “social construct” and thus has no implication on other aspects
of life. This notion can be proven by the fact that race is subjected to various environmental factors such as time, experiences and boundaries. Such a nature indicates that races are perceptions that changed be modified when someone gets more exposure concerning other people.
Since a correlation exists between the social and political domains of life, any changes in one of the spheres influence the other. Since perceptions affect social realm, it also affects the nations’ politics. Abrajano, explains that there has been a mentality that some races understand politics better than othersfootnote. In this case, whites seemed to have more political knowledge than the Latinos and blacks and thus were the right people to vie and vote. Other than political education, most politicians view society segmentation brought about by racism as an opportunity to further their political agendas. For instance, a black politician would concentrate on the problems that this category experience in a diverse society.
In summary, our perceptions play a crucial role in racial discrimination. Studies have indicated that mentalities are shaped by culture whose effects tend to be influenced by the nature of the society. In a homogeneous community exposure to other cultural values are limited and thus individuals’ internalize everything that is passed down to them by their elders but this is not the case in a heterogeneous locality. The preformed mentalities are responsible the societal categorization which is often emphasized by politicians.
Bibliography
- Abrajano, Marisa. "Reexamining the “Racial Gap” in Political Knowledge." The Journal of Politics 77, no. 1 (2015): 44-54. doi:10.1086/678767.
- Gannon, Magan. "Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue." Scientific American. Last modified February 15, 2016. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/.
- Onwuachi-Willig, Angela. "Race and Racial
Identity Are Social Constructs - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Last modified June 17, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/16/how-fluid-is-racial-identity/race-and-racial-identity-are-social-constructs.
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