I think that the statements on race from both the AAPA and the AAA make extremely valid points about the way that race is viewed and constructed in our society. The AAA makes a very valid point in arguing that race was essentially created as a way to justify horrific things such as slavery and the Holocaust; the important thing to note too is that race was created by society. There is no scientific evidence to defend the classifications of race. What really stuck out to me in the AAA’s statement was that there is more genetic variation within racial groups than between racial groups. That means that everything that we “know” about race is entirely based on social stereotypes; there is nowhere to draw lines between races geographically or genetically.
Humans are essentially a giant melting pot. The AAPA states that we are ALL classified as homo sapiens, and there are no biological barriers that prevent us from mating which means that we are all the same species. Today is it very common to see “interracial” couples and people who identify themselves as belonging to many different “races”. For those people who are considered biracial, it can be very difficult to feel like you fit in in a society where race holds so much meaning. Our classifications of race are really not doing anything good for our society; race is still used as a reason to treat someone differently, which creates many social and political issues.
I have gotten into many arguments with family members or friends regarding the nonexistence of race. The way I try to see it/explain it, there is nothing in our genes that is able to distinguish us racially, and there are no specific traits or boundaries that can be drawn to classify people racially. So if we can’t really make these boundaries, then how can we properly classify people? And even if there were specific traits that we could use to classify people racially, how would we begin classifying individuals who belong to multiple racial categories?
It’s difficult to argue for the removal of “race” as a whole because it is so ingrained in our society. Sauer mentions in his article that they had to use a racial classification to help the police investigate a murder and unfortunately, because of the way our society functions, this racial classification was actually very beneficial in helping the police. There’s no arguing that these racial classifications do make things much more simple and it makes things easier to sort through. But we, as a society, cannot just give in to these arbitrary social classifications for the sake of simplicity.
Overall, these racial categories that we have in society only lead to bias and unfair treatment of fellow human beings. There are too many inconsistencies in the way we regard race and there is too much baggage that comes with each racial category that every single person is forced to carry for the rest of their life. We need to begin rethinking why we have these categories and what harm they actually cause.
Hey Julia!
Hey! I agree that the statements both made by the AAPA as well as the AAA are valid and important. I like how they address the point that although we may be different, we are still all some sapiens amd are one species. I love how you refer to humans as a giant melting pot. I could not agree with this more, just like the USA is a melting pot! We can reproduce with other “races” which just makes our melting pot bigger and bigger. I also agree that classifying races is not good for our society. All it does it point out our differences and separate us to join into groups and work against one another. I hope one day, we will all be on the same team and just be the human race.
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During the formation process of different physical appearances of human beings, various factors will exert their influences. I agree with you that the concept of race we use nowadays are socially constructed, instead of biological constructed. We all belong to the same species, and there is no reproduction isolation within our species. It is great that you have mentioned the serious consequences resulted from the emphasis on races. It might result in the othering processes, and when a group of people treat themselves more superior than the other groups, they might do very cruel things towards those vulnerable groups, such as slavery and holocaust you mentioned here. Also, I like the expression you used here, “giant melting pot”. What’s more, with the process of globalization, human beings might travel across the continents, they might be influenced by the environments they live in, and they might also marry other people from various cultural backgrounds with quite different physical appearances. I do not think we should put so much emphasis on the concepts like races, or on the distinguishing within the same species.
A lot of this week’s blogs have talked about how interesting it is that the variation between races is smaller than within a race. I think when we talk about groups of people we generally think about their physical appearance and forget that there are a ton of other genes besides the ones that code for skin color and those are what are likely similar to each other. I wonder why there isn’t more variation between groups especially as there are more and more people of mixed races. I agree that for people of mixed races it can be difficult to fit in. I’m of mixed races and only identify with one of my races but I’m sure other people categorize me in another race.
I agree with you that it is difficult to remove race from society. Although it is harmful by creating this completely fabricated hierarchy, it is so deeply ingrained I’m not sure where we would even start in order to remove it. Many people have a strong attachment to their race, as it signifies a sort of unity within their culture. I feel that in this way, eliminating the label would be quite complicated. In regards to your comment about the police using race to find suspects, this is difficult as well. By labeling someone with a race, it helps to narrow down who you are looking for. Isn’t it in this case just being used to describe physical characteristics? That seems like it would be the same as saying someone has blonde hair but instead saying they have light/dark skin. You’re right that although this does make it simpler, we need to challenge it because of the harm it does.
I agree with you when you say that the statement on race from both AAA and AAPA make sense and can be seen as valid points. It is true from the statement that has been argued by AAA that the issue of race was created as a way of trying to justify the negative and horrific events such as slavery and Holocaust. In my opinion, I also feel that there is no scientific evidence to prove or rather defend the classifications based on race. It was also interesting that you were able to talk about the statements of AAPA that regarded all humans as Homo sapiens and this means that we are all the same regardless of the difference in race that we might be having at any given time