Race is groupings of people believed to share common descent based on perceived innate physical similarities (Lecture 3/28/16). Some physical similarities include skin color, head and shape, hair color and texture, shape and size of the nose, eye color and shape, size and shape of the lips, body size, shape musculature, and size of genitalia (Lecture 3/28/16). To say that race is a social construction means that the concept of race results from a process of signification whereby only certain physical characteristics are attributed with meaning and are then used to organize populations into groups which are defined ‘races’ (Smith Lecture March 28). In my own words, this means that people are viewed based off of their race. With a person being
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Instead, notions of race change depending on social context. With race not being fixed, objective, or concrete, within societies, notions of race change over time, and across societies, notions of race differ (Smith March 28). An example Professor Smith used in class was the twins, Kian and Remee. With this set of twins one was black (Kian), and the other was white (Remee.) Although they are twins, what will make the big difference in both of their lives is their skin tone. Because of the difference of their skin tone, this will later on affect both of their social classes (education, income, occupation), and political power in other parts of the world. Because of their race, and the way race is socially constructed, this will lead to their lives being structured by their …show more content…
This facet of race can be explained by Fields concept of race as an “ideology,” where race has been maintained through “day-to-day action and experience” (Berkowitz March 28). Fields defines the term “ideology” as the “daily methods through which people make sense of the social reality they create” (Fields). In my words, race became an everyday habit that the people used to validate what was going on in the world around them. In 2010, George Cunningham of Texas A&M led a study called (Race ideology Perpetuated: Media Representations of Newly Hired Football Coaches.) In his study, he focused on how the media perceived hiring’s of new assistant coaches. In his studies, he found that white coaches received jobs because they were good strategically while blacks received jobs because they were good at recruiting and forming relationships with players. He later concluded that for this reason whites have a better chance of being hired for coaching positions. This study relates to Fields because this is something I personally have observed here. Working for the Football team, I saw that the head coach and assistant coaches are white while the ones who recruit the players and who are seen often talking to the players are black. This leads to exclusion because in the NCAA there is a smaller percentage of black football coaches than
Instead, notions of race change depending on social context. With race not being fixed, objective, or concrete, within societies, notions of race change over time, and across societies, notions of race differ (Smith March 28). An example Professor Smith used in class was the twins, Kian and Remee. With this set of twins one was black (Kian), and the other was white (Remee.) Although they are twins, what will make the big difference in both of their lives is their skin tone. Because of the difference of their skin tone, this will later on affect both of their social classes (education, income, occupation), and political power in other parts of the world. Because of their race, and the way race is socially constructed, this will lead to their lives being structured by their …show more content…
This facet of race can be explained by Fields concept of race as an “ideology,” where race has been maintained through “day-to-day action and experience” (Berkowitz March 28). Fields defines the term “ideology” as the “daily methods through which people make sense of the social reality they create” (Fields). In my words, race became an everyday habit that the people used to validate what was going on in the world around them. In 2010, George Cunningham of Texas A&M led a study called (Race ideology Perpetuated: Media Representations of Newly Hired Football Coaches.) In his study, he focused on how the media perceived hiring’s of new assistant coaches. In his studies, he found that white coaches received jobs because they were good strategically while blacks received jobs because they were good at recruiting and forming relationships with players. He later concluded that for this reason whites have a better chance of being hired for coaching positions. This study relates to Fields because this is something I personally have observed here. Working for the Football team, I saw that the head coach and assistant coaches are white while the ones who recruit the players and who are seen often talking to the players are black. This leads to exclusion because in the NCAA there is a smaller percentage of black football coaches than