Race is a social construction created by colonialism in order to make distinctions in superiority between cultures. Race is not biological, it never has been and there is scientific data to back up this statement. One way we know that race is socially constructed is through looking at different cultures. In Brazil, for example, there are “intermediate” racial groups that do not exist in the United States. “One of the most striking consequences of the Brazilian system of racial identification is that parents and children and even brothers and sisters are frequently accepted as representatives of quite opposite racial types” (Omi & Winant 22). There are some instances in the United States where some members of a family are “white passing” and others are not but for the most part blood relatives are racially categorized the same way.
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There are also cases in which a person is considered one race in one country and a different race in another. Looking at Latin America and their different ways of categorizing race, a person who is considered black in the United States would not necessarily be considered black their or a person who is not considered black in the United States may find that they are classified as black in Brazil (Omi & Winant 22). Additionally, according to Omi and Winant, in British politics anyone who is not white is considered black even if they are Latino, Asian,
There are also cases in which a person is considered one race in one country and a different race in another. Looking at Latin America and their different ways of categorizing race, a person who is considered black in the United States would not necessarily be considered black their or a person who is not considered black in the United States may find that they are classified as black in Brazil (Omi & Winant 22). Additionally, according to Omi and Winant, in British politics anyone who is not white is considered black even if they are Latino, Asian,