Race is a socially constructed idea that was created by Westerners which places people into categories based on appearance. It is a biological myth because race has no scientific evidence that supports it. The idea of race becomes problematic because it ranks individuals from less to more civilized humans.The hierarchical construct of race leads to discrimination because one group is superior than the others. Carolus Linnaeus created four race categories: Caucasoids(White Europeans), Australoids(Native Americans/Indians), Mongoloids(Asians), and Negroids(Africans). He ranked their superiority respectively. These four categories exclude many ethnicities such as the Latin American/ Latino and Brazilian populations. This is an example as to why race is not accurate.People cannot be forced to fit into categories based on appearance because people from different ethnicities may have similar physical characteristics. In the Latino population, individuals range form having fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes to very dark skin, brown eyes, and tight curly hair.This also proves that people cannot be placed in a category they simply do not fit into.
Race is a biological myth but the social construct behind race is real. The concept of race influences individuals on how they relate with others. The stereotypes and misconceptions of groups of people influence one to assume assumptions about somebody's wealth, health, employment, education, and physical ability is natural or biological. Ethnocentrism and discrimination are just two concepts that have affected individual's lives due to race. Some people believed that people belong to different races because they are different species of human. Therefore, people of different races cannot intermarry. In the 1930s and 1940s the Nazi used the science of eugenics to kill and sterilize the "unfit people". Others used science and the race concept to defend slavery and dehumanize individuals.
People need to start embracing the multicultural and diversity within humanity and stop trying to fit and classify each other into categories that were created by man.There are many diverse ethnicities but there is only one race...THE HUMAN RACE.
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