Race In Anthropology

What is race? Race is used in governmental offices and forms. An example would be during the yearly Census when Americans take note of a number of which races they belong to. Other definitions of the term “race” are added as when a biologist talks about different races of a particular species of plants or animals. Although, the meanings attached to the word “race” are different in contexts, people continually blur the differences between the meanings in every day conversations. There is a biological, and cultural concept of race. Currently, it is a matter of debate on whether or not the biological concept of race can actually be applied to modern humans. When anthropologists say that "race" is a cultural concept, it is actually used as a …show more content…
Every human occupies a position in a complexity of groups with different sizes, constructions, and even purposes. These groups can include intimate such as families, religious organizations, fraternities, and tribes, or platonic such as bands, villages, companies, and nations. Our membership in these different sorts of groups adds a vital structure to our lives, allowing us to learn how to be human and placing us in a dense web of relationships with family, coworkers, friends, strangers, and enemies. Anthropologists study how humans create these …show more content…
Anthropologists have certainly had much to say about human races, and the results of our research sometimes reflect and sometimes challenge the various meanings given to this word “race” by non-anthropologists in the United States. People have been identified with different races, and on the ways in which race can affect interactions between individuals and groups. Anthropologists working within the different subfields of our discipline have different conceptions of race and the meaning of racial identifications, and non-anthropologists use the term without specifying exactly what they are trying to say. What are anthropologists talking about when they talk about