Sign In
Not register? Register Now!
Essay Available:
Pages:
2 pages/≈550 words
Sources:
3 Sources
Style:
APA
Subject:
Social Sciences
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
$ 8.64
Topic:

The Social Construction of Racial and Ethnic Groups

Essay Instructions:

This discussion will help you think about race and ethnicity as socially constructed concepts. Rather than being rooted in any major biological differences, race and ethnicity are systems of thought and human behavior constructed within specific social contexts. Therefore, race and ethnicity are not directly based on nature or biology but instead result from social ideas and practices. In other words, racial and ethnic categories exist because people believe they are real and important. Furthermore, certain groups have historically decided who belongs to a given racial group, as well as the characteristics and values attributed to these groups.
Today as home DNA tests are illuminating people’s genetic diversity, long-held ideas about racial and ethnic groups are being challenged. In your initial post, please address the following:
Watch the video The Story of Race: A History (Links to an external site.) or review the web page RACE - The Power of an Illusion (Links to an external site.). Explain the difference between race and ethnicity. What do sociologists mean when they say that race and ethnicity are socially constructed?
During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, how was race socially constructed? How did colonizers benefit from how they constructed race?
According to the article Race ≠ DNA: If Race is a Social Construct, What's Up With DNA Ancestry Testing? (Links to an external site.) what makes race a socially defined identity rather than a biologically defined one? Does race matter if it is not a biological concept? Provide an example to support your answer of why race does or does not matter if it is not a biological concept.
Home genetic (DNA) testing has become a multibillion-dollar industry and millions of people globally have taken these home tests to uncover their genetic stories. According to the resources you reviewed, how do DNA test results shape people’s perceptions of race and ethnicity? Why are some people resistant to their test results?
According to the article To Bring a Divided Country Together, Start With a Little Spit (Links to an external site.) how might taking a home DNA test help bridge the deep racial and ethnic divisions in our society? Explain why you agree or disagree with this.
https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=No5ai6LZLFg&list=PL96119C77BCBA135E
http://www(dot)pbs(dot)org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm
https://www(dot)washingtonpost(dot)com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/12/24/to-bring-a-divided-country-together-start-with-a-little-spit/?utm_term=.30c9b98f7785
https://www(dot)tolerance(dot)org/magazine/summer-2015/race-dna

Essay Sample Content Preview:

The Social Construction of Racial and Ethnic Groups
Student Name
University
Course
Instructor Name
Due Date
The Social Construction of Racial and Ethnic Groups
Racial and ethnic differences are among the major causes of conflicts worldwide and across history. Biological theories underpinned earlier perceptions of race and ethnicity. They established the differences that bring about inherent conflicts along racial and ethnic lines, a position that has long been held and advanced by governments, science, and culture. In recent decades, however, sociologists have taken the view that racial and ethnic groups are social constructs that do not have a biological basis. The current paper explores this view, especially with modern DNA testing concepts.
Social Construction of Race and Ethnic Groups
Race refers to a category of humankind in which people share distinctive physical traits such as the color of their skin. On the other hand, the term ethnicities refer to a large group of people categorized based on cultural origin, nationality, race, tribe, language, cultural origin, and religion, among other features. Thus, while race is fixed on differences in phenotypic traits, ethnicity encompasses national, religious, & cultural affiliations as well as traditions, tribe, and language. While the two-term mean almost the same thing, they have this subtle difference. Accordingly, sociologists have argued that the two terms are nothing but social constructs. Social constructs are ideas created and accepted by the people in a society (Leeds-Hurwitz, 2018). This view means that race and ethnicity are human-invented classifications. In other words, as argued by W.E.B. Du Bois, race has been used as a biological explanation for social and cultural differences between different populations (Gannon, 2016). Often, these social constructs have been weaponized for some races to oppress others.
Social Construction Process: Spanish Colonization of the Americas
Colonialism and slavery are ways through which the biological basis for racial and ethnic differences has been utilized for subjugation and domination. For instance, when the Spanish arrived in America in the 1500s, the land was already inhabited by Native Americans (UnderstandingRace, 2009). While est...
Updated on
Get the Whole Paper!
Not exactly what you need?
Do you need a custom essay? Order right now:
Order

You Might Also Like Other Topics Related to racial profiling:

HIRE A WRITER FROM $11.95 / PAGE
ORDER WITH 15% DISCOUNT!
Order Now