Deconstructing the Social Construct of Race: Understanding the Power of Perception

Abstract

Assignment Three: Social Construction of Race What does it mean to argue that race is socially constructed? Race is a social construct that analyzes people/groups based on socially and biologically attributed aspects (Pitones, Chapter 11). People tend to view and classify each other based on socially perceived beliefs attributed to physical characteristics like color tone, hair texture and facial features. For this reason, one can attribute the human-invented classification system as the primary identifier of race as a social construct. The system works when people invent and accept the idea of analyzing each other based on physical characteristics coined around stereotypes. It is a system that defines physical differences between people making race a vital tool for violence and oppression as each race try to define its superiority and uniqueness over the other. When societies generate formal and informal rules about perceptions (what people see) and how to act towards them, it enhances the strength of defining race as a socially constructed aspect. Therefore, race from socially constructed perception as a label that people create and enforce into society as the primary identifiers of specific groups of people, and such labels remain passed from one generation to the other. According to Pitones (Chapter 11), social constructs of race makes race have different meaning in different times and different places. Societies create and recreate racial categories that best fit societal perceptions and beliefs towards a particular group or individual. Stereotypes remain well-defined within society as the primary identifier of a certain race. What people fail to understand or think about is the effects of the changing racial categories that define racism which is a threat to the peace of many Americans. When people construct their ideas towards race, these ideas become a powerful force of practice. The practice serves as a mechanism for defining what is best and not best for a specific race. For instance, In America, skin color plays a significant role in determining privileges entitled to a particular person. Society believes in the superiority of white color and the inferiority of dark color. For this reason, White people enjoy many privileges related to job opportunities, civic rights, health-related matters, and education. On the contrary, race subjects’ people of color to oppression in most areas of life as inequality defines their difference in acquisition of the privileges mentioned above with their white counterparts. Race as a social construct makes society believe that some people are superior or demand special attention over others. When such beliefs are enforced, they lead a certain race into taking advantage of others. It is imperative to note that no biological evidence defines one group as more robust, better or more intelligent than the other; thus, such assumptions remain coined...