Julian Miranda

ANTH-1020-001 Research Paper

Race
Before I go into the concept and history of race and how it has evolved through time. I
want you to know that I am in no way shape or form against other cultures and ethnicities and
am open to meeting new people of all cultures (including their food). In accordance to the
Dictionary, the anthropology version of the definition of race is Any of the traditional divisions
of humankind, the commonest being the Caucasian, mongoloid, and Negro, characterized by
supposedly distinctive and universal physical characteristics. (Dictionary, Anthropology) Race
has had its way in history by classifying the people, now the concept of racism has been
deteriorated, and we look at everyone in an equally respective manner.
In history race was used to classify the people in a form of category such as dark skinned,
light skinned, or by their physical features or names of their state/country such as Asians,
Africans, Native Americans, Mexicans, etc. The reason for Race is not for justification, but it is
natural for humans to categorize so that there is order in what we are discovering. The most
popular form of categorization from race is the tone of our skin. The past has exposed to a lot of
negative propaganda regarding other races and has made the lighter skin color or Caucasian the
dominant race between all, and to this day has affected the world in a global scale that it is said
no matter who you are looking at, you will make some sort of assumption or employ some sort
of stereotype to that person. This may include race but more importantly hierarchy or status
judgment. (Tashaspawn)
Race is a very dynamic human category. It is not the same anywhere at any given time
due to the different constructs set up within a society and the personal translation of that
construct. The world as we knew it was at one point under the form of a hierarchy government.
Meaning that everywhere in the world there was a form of king or super power, and a form of
slave or worker. The construction of race is based on the history of that society. In America,
race started out by the decision of whether or not the peoples of darker skin were animals or
men. (Tashaspawn) In this context it means that Race was classified because of the history of
the people, and was molded from that point forward.
Along with how Race has been molded throughout time. Ivan Hannaford wrote a book
call Race: The History of an Idea in the West, Ivan Hannaford guides readers through a
dangerous engagement with an idea that so permeates western thinking that we expect to find it,
active or dormant, as an organizing principle in all societies. (Hannaford) Ivans book educates
and guides the reader on how the western culture has evolved the word Race and its ideology
in history. It provides a more detailed perspective of how race has evolved in the western culture,
and how it has shaped how we look at people today. It also provides a distinct point of view from
the writers side where it questions our political traditions, institutions and civic arrangement.
Another novel that I found was; More than Freedom: Fighting for Black Citizenship in a
White Republic, 1829-1889. It is a novel that depicts the struggles of blacks fighting for
independence. It quotes Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation is generally understood
as the moment African Americans became free, and Reconstruction as the ultimately
unsuccessful effort to extend that victory by establishing equal citizenship. (Kantrowitz) Even
after the emancipation proclamation there were still racism towards blacks. They overcame these
challenges by building their own networks and institutions and by fiercely challenging pro-
slavery. More than Freedom helps to explain the extent and the limits of the freedom achieved in
11865 and the legacy that endures today.
Race today is widely viewed as dark skinned and white skinned, but now that we have
finally reached to the conclusion that we are all the same on the inside. It has broadened our
perspective and had helped further advance our technologies. It has even given the opportunity
and responsibilities of being a President of the United States. The concept of race is truly in the
eyes of the person. It depends on who is looking, judging, assuming and has little or nothing to
do with biology, but the history of a society that makes assumptions or stereotypes of people
with darker skin tone to create a social hierarchy that is visible or easily identified. We now
know that skin color varies from where one person originates. But the emphasis on the skin is the
creation of race. Race is just an idea, not a fact of inferiority.














References
Hannaford, Ivan. Race: the history of an idea in the West. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson
Center Press ;, 1996. Print.

Kantrowitz, Stephen David. More than freedom: fighting for black citizenship in a white republic,
1829-1889. New York: Penguin Press, 2012. Print.

"race." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/race?s=t>.

"The Concept of Race." Anthropologynet. Tashaspawn, n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2014.
<http://anthropology.net/2008/06/30/the-concept-of-race/>.