Race As Biology Is Fiction Analysis

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An Analysis of Race as Biology Is Fiction, Racism as a Social Problem Is Real For centuries, the concept of race has been a major social issue in the United States and its definition has changed over time. Today, the concept of race is defined as "a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits" (e.g., "Race," n.d., para.1). The article "Race as Biology Is Fiction, Racism as a Social Problem Is Real: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives on the Social Construction of Race" by Audrey Smedley and Brian D. Smedley, explains the difference between race and ethnicity by providing historical and anthropological context, it reviews the concept of race and how it originated in society. This essay will aim to analyze the authors’ idea of race and ethnicity. The article starts by discussing that race is an idea that was…show more content…
The article follows by explaining that in multiracial nations especially in the United States, there are profound ethnic and racial differences in political power, socioeconomic status, wealth, educational status and occupational status. The first point the authors’ explain what is ethnicity and how it is different from race. Ethnicity has no connection to human biological variation or race. When we mention ethnicity we are referring to the common cultural traits individuals share in comparison to other people. Ethnicity is defined as a group of people who share the same religion, language, values, food habits, beliefs, traditions, sense of history, place of origin and so forth. On the other hand, to understand race, the authors provide content about the scientific conception of race, the history of race and the ideology of race (pg.17). They state, “When geneticists appeared who emphasized the similarities among races (humans are 99.9% alike), the small amount of real genetic differences among
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