The term race is very much imbedded into today’s society, but it’s a very problematic term because it doesn’t really apply to humans, and also because of the social issue that comes with it.
The term race was created so that Europeans can categorize other ethnic groups separate from the Europeans, but the problem with racial classification is that it’s based on human phenotypes, especially skin color. The reason why race, being based on phenotypes, is a problem is because humans have not been isolated long enough for an ethnic group to have a specific characteristic trait. For example, Charles Darwin studies of finches on the Galapagos Islands. The finches from different islands were isolated long enough for them to evolve and adapt characteristics for their particular island, so …show more content…
By labeling an ethnic group with a race, you’re removing the human aspect of that person and focus on the label of race –Which relates to ethnocentrism. For instance, the 16th century colonization of Africa was justified to the Europeans by ethnocentrism, and Intrinsic Racism, belief that perceived racial difference is sufficient reason to value one person less than another, played a role. Focusing towards the United Stated, in the 17th century, the American Slave Trade was beginning. Slavery, and the period of segregation after it, greatly reinforced Intrinsic Racism. During those periods in American history certain laws and practices were but in place to purposely discriminated against certain ethnic groups, for example Jim Crow. Those practices are still relevant today and is called instructional racism. Examples of Instructional Racism is that a black man is three times more likely to be searched at a traffic stop, and six times more likely to go jail than a white person, and If a black person kills a white person, they are twice as likely to receive the death sentence as a white person who kills a black
The term race was created so that Europeans can categorize other ethnic groups separate from the Europeans, but the problem with racial classification is that it’s based on human phenotypes, especially skin color. The reason why race, being based on phenotypes, is a problem is because humans have not been isolated long enough for an ethnic group to have a specific characteristic trait. For example, Charles Darwin studies of finches on the Galapagos Islands. The finches from different islands were isolated long enough for them to evolve and adapt characteristics for their particular island, so …show more content…
By labeling an ethnic group with a race, you’re removing the human aspect of that person and focus on the label of race –Which relates to ethnocentrism. For instance, the 16th century colonization of Africa was justified to the Europeans by ethnocentrism, and Intrinsic Racism, belief that perceived racial difference is sufficient reason to value one person less than another, played a role. Focusing towards the United Stated, in the 17th century, the American Slave Trade was beginning. Slavery, and the period of segregation after it, greatly reinforced Intrinsic Racism. During those periods in American history certain laws and practices were but in place to purposely discriminated against certain ethnic groups, for example Jim Crow. Those practices are still relevant today and is called instructional racism. Examples of Instructional Racism is that a black man is three times more likely to be searched at a traffic stop, and six times more likely to go jail than a white person, and If a black person kills a white person, they are twice as likely to receive the death sentence as a white person who kills a black