Race As A Social Construct - 1566 Words

Rachel Marx PHL-137-01 Dr. Wolf March 17, 2017 Race as a Social Construct Charles W. Mills argues that even if there is no biological notion of race that can underwrite our social one, our social one still has some objectivity to it. He provides details for many hypothetical and real life instances in order to back up his argument. My view, along with Mills’, is that race is socially constructed, and has been socially constructed long before I even had an opinion on the topic. I will explore every avenue of what Mills offers on the topic and will formulate a further opinion based on each subject individually. Mills discusses a word with attached meaning called quace. This is a hypothetical system where you are assigned a code, such as†¦show more content†¦Along with quace, you cannot say who you truly are in the horizontal racial system because it is so randomly decided with hardly any individuality behind it. In a vertical racial system the polity and economic order are expressly structured on a hierarchical axis in which R1 R2 R3. This means there is a superior race in this system, which is those who are R1. The simple goal of the system is to give privilege to the R1s and to classify the R2s and R3s as the subordinate groups. R1s are seen as more intelligent in this racial system and we would even have the opportunity to speak of the R1s as a supremacist system. With this system, you can identify yourself because there are so many distinctions between classes, however, you cannot identify yourself in the exact same way as race. You cannot identify yourself in this way because to the eye we cannot distinguish if someone is an R1, R2, or R3 as easily as the way we could if they were Caucasian, African American, Asian, etc. Mills next discusses objectivism. This suggests the independence of what we choose and what we believe. Within objectivism, there is realism and constructivism. Starting with realism, it can be defined as viewing that it is objectively the case that there are human races. For instance, we know that there are multiple and specific human races attached to human beings. Digging deeper on the meaning, constructivismShow MoreRelatedRace as a Social Construct646 Words   |  3 PagesRace as a social construct An imagined concept with real consequences The concept of race is fundamentally a social construct. It is based on a notion of difference, of ‘otherness’, ‘blackness’, ‘whiteness’, identity, nationalism and multiculturalism. ‘Race’ matters, as despite being biologically disputed, its social impact is immense. Despite being an unreal social construct, it is real in its consequences. It affects life prospects and influences health, wealth, status and power. 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