Essay on Definitions of Race ⋆ Sociology Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Of all the terms in the social science lexicon, few have generated more heat and less light than ”race.” It has variously meant:

an entire biological species (e.g. ”the human race”);
a biological sub-population within a species, however loosely defined (e.g. ”the Caucasoid race”);
a mixture of several such sub-groups (e.g. ”the mestizo race”);
a group socially defined by ancestry, irrespective of physical appearance (e.g. ”the Jewish race”);
a synonym for ethnic or linguistic group (e.g. ”the French race”).

Perhaps the term ”race” would be best discarded altogether. Yet, many argue that race still matters, both those who believe in it, and those who do not. Perversely, some even claim that the ultimate form of ”racism” is denying the significance of race.

What sense, if any, can one make of all this confusion? The general consensus among scientists is that the biological concept of race has little if any use for our species because:

there is not much genetic variation in our species;
there is more genetic variation within human groups than between them;
differences in gene frequencies between groups do not clearly co-vary, and, thus, do not distinguish the same groups;
whatever genetic differences may have developed over tens of thousands of years of climactic adaptation during our dispersal out of Africa (e.g. in skin pigmentation) have been extensively blurred by mass migrations and interbreeding in the last few centuries.

Thus, most scientists would conclude, ”race” is a social construct, highly variable from culture to culture (e.g. the widely discrepant definition of ”black” in, say, Brazil, the USA, India or the Sudan). Its only significance lies in what people in a given time and place make of it, with often serious consequences for the unequal distribution of resources in society.

That said, however, one cannot dismiss the importance of human biology. As a species, we evolved both genetically and culturally in a process of adaptation to a wide range of environments. Our biology and our culture complexly interact to produce genetic, somatic and cultural diversity between human groups. Sometimes a single mutation can have vast cultural consequences, such as the development of adult lactose tolerance and the milking of cattle. Human history is a tale of gene-culture co-evolution. But little if any of that complex process can be captured by the simplistic concept of race, however defined.

Bibliography:

Banton, M. (1977)The Idea of Race. Tavistock, London.
Cashmere, E. E. (1984) Dictionary of Race and Ethnic Relations. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
van den Berghe, P. (1978)Race and Racism, A Comparative Perspective. Wiley, New York.