As a society, we’ve come to see race as something made up by people, a way to group people without any science or biological basis. Humans may have made up the idea of race, but it is still essential in our cultures, laws, and everyday lives. Why has this scientifically flawed classification made hundreds of years ago continued to have such a significant impact on society? There is still a lot of racism because of the long past and present realities of racial prejudice, discrimination, power dynamics, and socialization that affect how people think and what happens based on race. During hundreds of years of slavery, colonialism, segregation, and systemic inequality, race categories and stereotypes were formed and kept alive. As a socially created idea, race doesn’t have any biological basis, but it still has a significant impact on modern society for many connected reasons.
Slavery, colonialism, and segregation, among other wrongs, happened hundreds of years ago and have deeply rooted racial divisions in society’s structures and attitudes, shaping how things work today. Stereotypes and beliefs about race are reinforced by cultural narratives that are spread through media and popular culture (“Scientific racism”). These narratives affect how people see themselves and others. When economic factors interact with race, they can lead to differences in wealth and access to resources, which reinforces racial tensions. Racial identities also affect how people interact with each other, with prejudice, discrimination, and “microaggressions” changing the way people engage with each other on an individual level (“Racial Formation Theory”). Using racial differences for political gain also makes societal tensions worse and makes race more critical in public debate and policymaking. Reducing systemic racial inequality takes a multifaceted approach that challenges the structures that keep racial differences going while supporting fairness, justice, understanding, and humanity between people of different races (Omi and Winant 408). Because they became a part of everything, it is hard to get to a place where racism doesn’t exist.
Race often affects how people and groups are portrayed in the media and social situations, forming stories and keeping stereotypes alive. Race has come up in many situations in my life. When gunshots rang out in my neighbourhood, I saw an egregious case of racial stereotyping. Several police cars showed up to look into what happened. But instead of questioning everyone who might have seen or heard something, the police quickly focused on my African American neighbours. The fact that this person was unfairly targeted shows how biased law enforcement systems are against people of colour. Nowadays, another worrying race dynamic comes up on social media sites. Comment areas and forums are often the scene of racialized arguments that make racism seem normal.
A recent example is a popular conversation about African American hair (“Race & Ethnicity”). The spot quickly filled up with hurtful comments and false information, mostly from white users. People said everything from disrespectful things about African hairstyles and textures to plain insulting them. These platforms separate communities and keep racism alive by letting harmful stereotypes thrive without holding people accountable.
In the end, race still has a significant impact on people’s lives and their ability to get resources because the idea of race and the social roles it assigns is so deeply ingrained in society’s culture, psychology, politics, and economy (Gross). This deeply held and made-up belief in racial differences still leads to discrimination, stereotyping, missed opportunities, and acts of racism in the real world, from minor to large scale. Biologically, the idea of race may not mean anything, but society gave it meaning, and that meaning has power and consequences. Even though there is no such thing as race, there is racism, which happens because of the choices people make, whether they are aware of it or not. As racism changes in more subtle or hidden ways, many people still fight for racial progress that hasn’t been ended.
Works Cited
“Scientific Racism.” YouTube uploaded by Harvard Library, https://library.harvard.edu/confronting-anti-black-racism/scientific-racism.
“Race & Ethnicity: Crash Course Sociology #34.” YouTube uploaded by Crashcourse, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7myLgdZhzjo.
Gross, Terry. “A ‘Forgotten History’ Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America.” Npr, 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america.
Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. “Racial formation.” The new social theory reader. Routledge, 2020. 405-415.
“Racial Formation Theory.” YouTube uploaded by Tanya Golash-Boya, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f7Pe5bO82E.
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