The Justice Behind Social Inequalities Essay Example

also acknowledges his findings of the term “scientific racism” and the theory that one race is superior to another only to prove that his works were flawed and imprecise. The author quotes Craig Venter, a pioneer of DNA sequencing, on his remark that race has no genetic or scientific basis. Kolbert then mentions two revolutionary findings that all humans have the same collection of genes and that our species first evolved in Africa.

These findings are supported by episode 1 of the documentary Race: The Power of an Illusion, saying that individuals between different races have no fundamental distinction in their genes and that there is more diversity within one race than between races. Kolbert further adds that dark pigmentation is only an innovative modification of human genes to cope with intense sunlight. In his article “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’,” Ta-Nehisi Coates also asserts that race has no fixed definition, it is merely a product of social context and that we have ascribed biology to it.

However, just because race is a made-up concept does not mean it is any less powerful. It has been and is still being used to justify inequalities in American society, especially for African Americans and Native Americans. Race and the sense of racial inferiority

are often used as a weapon to suppress African American. James Baldwin, in his paper “On Being ‘White’ … And Other Lies,” points out that “no one was white before he/she came to America” (178) as well as no one is considered Black before settling in this country.

Blackness and whiteness are relative definitions, invented in order for “whites” to obtain privileges and deny “blacks” of their rights. The definition of race, in these cases, is flexible and ever changing to suit the purpose of depriving non-whites of their inclusion in American society. Episode 3 of Race: Power of an Illusion mentions the Supreme Court decisions in Takao Ozawa and Bhagat Singh Thind cases in the 1920s to demonstrate the power to change “race” of the United States authority. Ozawa was denied of his citizenship because he was Mongolian, not Caucasian and therefore he was not eligible to be a US citizen.

Three months after Ozawa case, Thind came forward to appeal for Indian’s citizenship on the grounds that Indians were Caucasian. The US Court then contradicted itself by ruling that scientific evidence was not critical in determining citizenship, but whiteness must be defined by what the “common man” said it was.

Not only is race made up to defend slavery and the submission of African American, but it also justifies inequalities in Native American society in the form of blood quantum. Blood quantum is a way of determining a person’s American Indian identity by tracing a person’s Indian ancestry. In the paper “American

Identity and Blood Quantum in the 21st Century: A Critical Review,” Ryan W. Schmidt argues that Native Americans must constantly prove their identity to obtain federal recognition.

By coining terms like “mixed blood,” “half-blood,” and “pure blood,” the US government was able to classify “Indianness” and therefore, assigned privileges to these different statuses of Indian identity. With the help of blood quantum, the US authority was able to shape and reshape the definition of race to the best of their interests. In this case, race is once again used as an excuse for social inequalities.

In conclusion, race has constantly been used to rationalize racial inferiority in American society because it is socially constructed. Although first created as an arbitrary concept, race has been and is significantly affecting people’s lives and experiences. As opposed to pretending race does not exist, we must admit its cruel existence and work our way towards social equality.

Works Cited

1. Baldwin, James. “On Being ‘White’ . . . And Other Lies,” 1984. http://bannekerinstitute.fas.harvard.edu/files/bannekerinstitute/files/on_being_white.and_other_lies_baldwin_0.pdf
2. Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “What We Mean When We Say 'Race Is a Social Construct',” The Atlantic, May 15, 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/what-we-mean-when-we-say-race-is-a-social-construct/275872/
3. Kolbert, Elizabeth. “There’s No Scientific Basis for Race—It’s a Made-Up Label,” National Geographic April, 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/04/race-genetics-science-africa/
4. Schmidt, Ryan W. “American Indian Identity and Blood Quantum in the 21st Century: A Critical Review,” Journal of Anthropology, Volume 2011, 2011. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/janthro/2011/549521/
5. “The Difference Between Us.” Race: Power
   

of an Illusion, episode 1, PBS, 2003.