The book The Emperor's New Clothes; Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium, by Joseph L. Graves Jr. discusses the concept of race throughout human history. He discusses how humans perceive race before Darwin’s discoveries, in colonial America, and looks at eugenics. He presents common theories and “truths” about race for the era in each time period. He starts the book by comparing the story the Emperor's New Clothes to how humans perceive race. He makes the connection through the mass majority going along with who is in charge, this being the king, and the children who speak the truth. He shows through his book that race is a ‘recent social and political construction” (Graves Jr. 1). He wants to show the reader that there is no scientific support to separate humans into races. I agree with him that people are not born to view race. It is something learned through the social atmosphere and practiced through generations. He begins
…show more content…
It has been carried and passed down through generations and has had a major influence on the social construct of society. I agree with the question and the two futures Graves Jr. poses in his final thoughts. In order for the future society in America to get rid of racial thinking, our thinking needs to change. We can have a future that is a healthy environment where is accepts the expression of the different genes that are present in the nation. The second is to rid the belief that the environment in which a person is raised is a direct connection to their characteristics. The bulk of the book showed the different theories of race through the different eras of human history. The author only provides his thoughts at the very beginning and at the end. This book was a harder read mainly because it was theory after theory as to why people in history viewed race and superiority the way they
It has been carried and passed down through generations and has had a major influence on the social construct of society. I agree with the question and the two futures Graves Jr. poses in his final thoughts. In order for the future society in America to get rid of racial thinking, our thinking needs to change. We can have a future that is a healthy environment where is accepts the expression of the different genes that are present in the nation. The second is to rid the belief that the environment in which a person is raised is a direct connection to their characteristics. The bulk of the book showed the different theories of race through the different eras of human history. The author only provides his thoughts at the very beginning and at the end. This book was a harder read mainly because it was theory after theory as to why people in history viewed race and superiority the way they