Jill Platts
“To speak of the myth of race is to say that it is largely a social construction, a set of
stories we tell ourselves to organize reality and make sense of the world, rather than a fixed
biological or natural reality” (Conley 322). The concept of race and racism began to develop in
the seventeenth century. It was a way to organize and classify people and to justify imperialism.
During the nineteenth century it became a way to justify colonialism and slavery. Additionally,
scientists began trying to legitimize the concept of race during this time period. “Scientific
racism, what today we call the nineteenth-century theories of race, brought a period of feverish
investigation into the origins, explanations, and classifications
“To speak of the myth of race is to say that it is largely a social construction, a set of
stories we tell ourselves to organize reality and make sense of the world, rather than a fixed
biological or natural reality” (Conley 322). The concept of race and racism began to develop in
the seventeenth century. It was a way to organize and classify people and to justify imperialism.
During the nineteenth century it became a way to justify colonialism and slavery. Additionally,
scientists began trying to legitimize the concept of race during this time period. “Scientific
racism, what today we call the nineteenth-century theories of race, brought a period of feverish
investigation into the origins, explanations, and classifications