Race vs Genetics

The excerpt from “The Race Myth” really opened my eyes to what the biological definition of race actually is. Melanin, pigmentation, is why different skin colors exist. I had never thought in depth about the genetic difference between races. In reality, eye color differences are equivalent to skin color differences. People simply have different traits on their chromosomes that determine their appearance. It is amazing that these few genes that correlate to skin color create an entire racial hierarchy of who is better than who, who is worth more. This hierarchy, created by society, leads to “academic underachievement, the drug epidemic, health disparities, unequal justice, and the ongoing social and political division that still exists between the defined races.” I agree that in general, students of minorities may not be presented with the same educational opportunities as white students. This definitely takes a toll on the school system and the tools the teachers are able to provide the students with in order to teach them the necessary curriculum. Until society gets past the idea of a racial hierarchy, equality will not exist.

The social hierarchy of race is in place because society groups people with similar physical characteristics together. It generalizes an entire mass of people and describes them using a single name. Society does not take into consideration any differences among the people whatsoever because it is so stuck on physical attributes and characteristics that automatically classify a person into a particular group. True democracy and the American dream will not be fulfilled for all people unless there is equality for all. When equality exists, segregation is present. The invention of race creates segregation. People dislike others whose skin is a different color for no legitimate reason, the color of their skin is enough to base their dislike on. Race creates conflict and inequality. It makes life not fair.

When I read about the idea of a half-breed, and the confusion in determining what race someone is, it occurred to me that there are an endless number of races. Every person is a mutt. For example, if a person is part Native American, part Caucasian, and part African American, what racial group do they fall into? They don’t. There is no clear distinction of where the boundary lines are drawn between determining a person’s race. The genetics proves that race does not exist, that it is socially constructed within our society. Looking at a person’s DNA, it cannot be determined who is ethnically a certain defined race. I agree that, “Whenever an institution or society singles out individuals who are exceptional or outstanding in some way, racial differences will become more apparent.” African Americans are known for athletic ability, while Asian Americans are viewed as extremely intelligent in math and science, and so on. Once this generalization of a race has been created, people assume that all people that look Asian are good at math and science, and all people that look African must be good at sports. These assumptions lead to feelings of superiority and inadequacy between races.

I thought it was a really cool fact that genetically, “only 4.62 percent of our genetic makeup is responsible for all our individuality” and that “humans are 95.38 percent identical to each other.” We are all equal, one and the same. An African and an Asian could be more similar genetically than two Africans. I do believe that genetic distance and genetic variation play a slight role in this thing defined as race, but in reality the facts conclude that DNA doesn’t know the difference between race, and what better evidence could there be than that? Race really is a social construct. It is a title used to distinguish between people, creating racial groups that only correspond with physical attributes. These physical attributes result from many family lineages. I feel as though everything is just a huge mix, since people have different ethnicities. For example, when a Caucasian person is asked about their heritage, they don’t just say, “Oh, I’m white.” They say something along the lines of, “I’m 50 percent German, 25 percent Polish, and 25 percent Sicilian.” Mixing has already occurred between this defined race of Caucasian people, again confirming that there are way too many different personal attributes genetically and ethnically to create separate races. Everyone is different from each other, and social construct is what created groups in an attempt to cluster people that seem to be similar, but in reality, are not.