Why Is Race Considered A Social Construct

A social construct is the theory of knowledge in sociology and communication theory that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world. Race is considered a social construct because it is an idea reproduced by human thought and interaction rather than something that exists as a material fact of life on earth. One major importance of a social construction is that people rationalize their experience by relating it to other models of the social world. Another major importance is language. Language is essential because this is the way that people are able to communicate their opinions, feelings, and emotions.

Race is considered a social construct because people choose to recognize and focus on the race of other people rather than viewing them as an individual. People in today’s society are being separated into groups based off of their race. For example, when a person sees a group of people and their skin is dark they view them as “African Americans” or a group of “Caucasian” people rather than viewing them as human beings. All people are homo sapiens and share the same characteristics of life as one another. Everyone regardless of …show more content…
The first question that is generally asked is if the person being employed, “Is a person of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin?” If the person is not of Hispanic origin, then the employment screening moves to the next question determining race. One of the first questions that is asked on an employment form is what is this person’s race. The three main category options for this question generally consist of: White, Black, or American Indian. This employment screening is a perfect example of how race can be viewed as a social construct. Not only does this questionnaire separate people into different race bracket based off of their skin color and race rather than viewing them as the human being that they