Functionalist Perspective On Race In Society

Race is one of those subjects that you have to basically walk on egg shells to talk about, so you don’t offend anyone in the process. Race can be a good thing, since it can give someone their own cultural identity. But, it can be used as a way to justify the mistreatment of someone because of their race. You’ve seen that side of race being used heavily in the United States just for that reason. This paper will analyze the idea of race in society from a functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist point of view. From a functionalist perspective, race in society serves a purpose, as to give someone something non-material to call their own. Something that a whole group of people share in common, and can interact with each other because of it. Different races can also make society more diverse as well. It shows that as a society, we have grown up in the sense that people are no longer offending others because of their race. This, in turn, makes our society more stable than others who still discriminate towards other races. …show more content…
Which again makes the society even more diverse, as it allows any person of any race to adopt another races culture, and how they practice or celebrate different aspects of it. This can also be a factor in bringing everyone in a society closer together. Again, this shows how mature our society has become over the years. By allowing different cultures into society, and letting each one mix into the population and evening let them be taught in the schools to show the youth the many different cultures that are out