Blog#9-William Campbell

Blog#9-William Campbell

Race is a relatively modern sociological concept manufactured by man to explain, justify, and condone social inequalities. It is a concept constructed from real social experiences, from value systems that were in conflict with circumstance, and it remains, even today, a concept that is driven by the historical imperatives that formed it. The concept of race has been so intricately woven into the fabric of our social policies, government, and laws it can appear as part of the “natural order” of life, even though there is no biological basis for this thesis. And the concept of race is intrinsically self-perpetuating as it provides the needed fuel, produced from its effects on whole populations, to drive the race machine forward. Ironies arise within this system from time to time, that can contradict, define, and teach.
While we often equate race with slavery, the existence of indentured servants and slaves far preceded the concept of race in history. Slavery was a part of life even before Medieval times. Race, as it applies to the United States, is an ideology that rose from a unique set of circumstances surrounding the birth of the nation. Our colonial economy was mainly slave supported, first with indentured whites and later with African slaves. The concept of freedom and free peoples was contradicted by the practice of slavery when we gained independence after the American Revolution. Science came forward in the late 1700’s with theories that were “fueled by preconceived notions of inferiority and superiority” and supported the birth of a racial philosophy by validating the belief that whites were of a higher natural order. (PBS) This new concept of race, or the separation of a population considered naturally inferior, allowed our fore fathers to explain, justify, and condone slavery. Views then evolved to include the premise that the superiority of whites was not only inevitable but was a moral responsibility. This attitude went beyond slavery to the taking of Mexican and Native American lands and the acquisition of overseas territories.(PBS)
“There is not one gene, trait, or characteristic that distinguishes all members from one race from all members of another.”(PBS) The two requirements for the development of a new species or subspecies are time and geographic isolation. Modern humans have only been around for a brief tic of time on the evolutionary clock, or about 150,000-200,000 years. This is not enough time to show any species altering recombinant or mutated variance. Humans are a young, adaptable and mobile species as animals go and have always been able to overcome the problem of geographic isolation. Humans evolved in Eastern Africa then quickly populated the world while mixing their genes, creating one large homogenous population. Thus, 94 percent of all genetic variation can be found in any continental population of humans. And, by comparison, the lowly fruit fly has ten times the genetic diversity of humans.(PBS) Certainly, there are obvious visual differences between populations, but these phenotypic, or visual traits do not guarantee certain underlying genetic traits. Humans simply do not have the groupings of genes that would result in what we want to define as races of people.
Biologically describing race, as discussed, lets one overlook the social factors that support discrimination. Turned around, though, the social reality of race does have biological impacts on persons of color. Native Americans have the highest incidence of diabetes in the nation, and African American males die of heart disease at five times the rate of white men.(PBS) The causes here are not genetic but social, such as access to health care, health insurance, decent living conditions, and, ironically, the stress of racism itself.
“Ideas of racial inferiority have been institutionalized-both explicitly and implicitly-within our laws, government, and public policies.”(PBS) This institutionalization of race has been historically applied to different groups in an inconsistent and arbitrary manner, and the definitions of what is race have often changed to match the political climate of the times. At one point, African Americans were classified by “blood” ancestry, an arbitrary percentage that varied from state to state. It was possible, ironically, to cross state lines and in the process, change ones race.(PBS) Existing laws and public policies are often constructed to be racially discriminating. Examples are the home lending system’s biases that view ones net worth as a major factor in granting a loan, and this can create a catch-22 riddle for persons of color. African Americans and Latinos are 60 percent more likely to be turned down for a mortgage.(PBS) George Lipsitz, a professor of Ethnic Studies at University of California, San Diego, points out that “net worth is almost totally determined by past opportunities for asset accumulation, and therefore the one figure most likely to reflect the history of discrimination.”(PBS) This ironic twist effectively bars many African Americans and Latinos from moving to desirable communities where they could gain real estate net worth. In other words, one needs a loan to own a home, but at the same time, one needs a home in order to get a loan. Another result of these discriminatory laws and policies is the separate and unequal segregation of wealth, opportunity, and living conditions. Whites are the most segregated of all groups and are 86 percent more likely to live in choice neighborhoods where 74 percent of them own their own homes.(PBS) Non-whites are forced to live in decaying urban centers or segregated at risk suburban areas where poverty becomes concentrated, further eroding the communities so affected. This vicious cycle of segregation continues as these areas decline and become home to violent crime, drugs, homelessness, poverty, and resource depleted schools. A culture of poverty is now associated with people of color, who are, ironically, the ones being blamed for the poverty, the crime, drugs, and homelessness, thus perpetuating the concept of race. John Powell, professor of ethnicity and civil rights at Ohio State University, states, “Not only have we racialized our space, but it is
through space that we do our ‘racing’ in the 20th century.”(PBS)
The gap between whites and non whites continues to widen. The dichotomy has been attacked with anti discriminatory laws, but because the issue of race is so deeply intertwined, it simply does not go away. In fact, some legal attempts have ended up perpetuating the same arbitrary categories they were enacted to combat.(PBS) There are those who urge affirmative action but vilify racial profiling and vice versa.(Kennedy) There are those advocacy groups who often feel that with free expression, someone might “hand hate a microphone.”(Ramirez) Randall Kennedy, a Harvard law professor, in his essay “Blind Spot,” reached only one conclusion, there was a real need for debate on the matter. “Although exasperating, this is actually good for our society: and it would be even better if participants in the debates acknowledged the simple truth that their adversaries have something useful to say.”(182) This conclusion was reached by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. Their belief is that “colorblindness” as a solution, even with the best intentions, would be a huge mistake. They feel “The critical question is not whether to use race, but how to talk about race in a variety of contexts.”(Kirwan Institute) To them the question is an empirical one. And to support their fact based methods, it should be understood that the freedoms and rights fought for and won by the victims of discrimination have ended up being the freedoms and rights that everyone enjoys today.


Works Cited

PBS, “Race: The power of an Illusion.” http://www.pbs.org/race.

Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, “Talking About Race.” http://www.osu.edu.

Randall Kennedy, “Blind Spot.” The Atlantic Monthly, April, 2002

Jessica Ramirez, “When Hate Becomes Hurt.” Newsweek, March 10, 2008.