Reflection on “Race”

Race has always been associated with power, wealth, and privilege.  This association started with the conception of the ideology of “race”.  Accord to Smedley, race was a social invention that came about in the eighteen century to separate humans based on their differences.  It was deemed necessary to stop rebellions in the Colonies.  Leaders fears that poor whites, Native Americans, and African’s would rebel against the colonial government.  In order to prevent this they created this social ideology of race.  Race was based on the differences in a humans physical features, predominately skin color.  Creating a “race” allowed Europeans to create laws the provided certain rights to one race and restricted rights to another.  Most of the power, wealth, and privileges were granted to the “white” race.  This separation of human beings based on physical features became an identity known around the world as race.  This term race started separating human beings on a wide scale and has been the reason for many of the problems in our nation today.

If race is based on skin color, how can Mrs. Phipps, who skin color is white, eyes are blue, and hair is blond, be considered black?  According to Davis, Mrs. Phipps was determined to be black because she had some amount of black ancestry.  She said she was white and her physical features were considered white features.  If no one knew about Mrs. Phipps black ancestry, wouldn’t she then be labeled by society as white?   If you think about this race really doesn’t make any sense.  What is it really?  In the colonial times it came about to allow privileged people to feel ok about the way they treated other people.  You would have thought that we would have moved beyond that as a nation today.  So how come Mrs. Phipps race today was determine by some amount of black ancestry?  Why does it matter to anyone whether she considers herself white or black?  What purpose does it serve?

I have a niece whose mother is white and her father is black.  According to her physical features, society would probably label her as black.  I have never thought about her race.  By law she would need to identify herself as black since she has black ancestry.  Why couldn’t she say she was white?

In reading 3, The Evolution of Identity, in small letters at the end of the graph it states that in 2000, the Census bureau allowed Americans to select more than one race.   So my niece could now identify herself as black and white.  What if she wanted to say she was Native American too? This again makes me wonder what the purpose is of race.  I think it is time we stop asking people what their race is. 

Reading 1, Smedley, Audrey “Race” and the Construction of Human Identity

Reading 2,Davis, James F.  Who Is Black? One Nation’s Definition.

Reading 3, The Evolution of Identity