Mixed Blood By Jefferson M. Fish Summary

Race has been an issue in the United States since people began to colonize the country. They went as far as to ship Africans in for slave labor. Many colonists believed that the Africans were of a lower social order, or race. However, America is not the only country that prescribes to this idea of race. Each culture has something akin to race. Belgium divided the Rwandan population into races. This idea causes confusion and problems for most cultures. Rwanda experienced genocide because of the class system based on some kind of race. Jefferson M. Fish scrutinizes this idea of race in his article Mixed Blood. Race as a myth and the cultural descriptions of it are discussed by Fish.
As human beings, we tend to classify things into groups. This …show more content…
The same can be said for universal human characteristics and cultural differences. Something universal is widespread. An example of his would be the belief that humans are reincarnated when they die. While all humans will die, the idea of reincarnation is a cultural belief not a fact. The same comparison can be applied to genetic differences versus the idea of race. Genetics decide skin color, body shape, and even vision whereas race is a cultural concept. The United States does not have the patent on the idea of race. In Mixed Blood, Fish examines cultural differences in the way societies classify each other. Places such as Brazil have complex systems of classification. Brazil calls them tipos. Unlike its American counterpart, the Brazilian system is based on the person, not the descent. The simplistic view of people in the U.S. causes many people to feel over simplified in comparison to the way their home countries see …show more content…
In the article, he seems nearly bias. He explains race from several different aspects, but always maintains that not only is it a myth but that the ‘black’ people are right in a number of aspects. I expected him to be African-American. But, maybe that shows a bias on my part more than anything. I grew up in many different places around different types of people. Seeing someone as less because of the color of their skin is ridiculous. I have rarely seen more racial problems than in the Southern United States. However, the problem is not what most people would assume. The African-American people have this chip on their shoulder. I was once told that I deserved to be treated badly because of what I did to ‘their people.’ There are people who see in black and white, no pun intended. There are no shades of gray nor do personal actions matter. But I do not believe this is the majority of people. I have an African-American friend who is from Pennsylvania. He was agitated with the way the women in the vet’s office treated him. They were apprehensive, nearly fearful of him. Yet, he was rude and confrontational with them. If anyone wants to be seen differently, I believe they need to act differently. Even do, how much of this is seen through the cultural view of race? I am not sure I could answer