Race and identity

 These videos offered a lot of depth into the view of race. After watching them, I can concur with the fact that race is a social construct, and in that aspect, is real to people. I can understand how race is a large part of identity because race and culture are very much intertwined. Overall, race is used to categorize.Categorization is a great way for humans to understand things! However, when we too broadly categorize humans, we sometimes lose sight of the humanity within us and within one another. But on the other hand, categorizing to a lesser scale can offer a sense of comfort because the similarities can bring ustogether. The issue arises when we become unaccepting of categorizations that we do not belong to, when we condemn them on the basis of being different from us. This is when we strip away humanity. I think the biggest issue in regard to race is that we don’t know how to define it. It’s mythological on a biological scale and yet very real on a social and cultural scale. How do you approach that? The fact that humans have substantially less genetic variation than chimpanzees, yet vary in appearance on polar ends of the spectrum, is a huge puzzle. Yet, this puzzle is proven with genetics.  In the grand scheme of things, we are more than our shell, more than our race. We are a person, an energy keeping the outer shell alive. There was a really great example in one of the videos. The speaker used the analogy of a man named Jim. He said that Jim died on the operating table. Once others found out that Jim had died, they said something along the lines of: “oh my god, Jim died”. The speaker then went on to explain that Jim’s race was still there, his body was still there, but Jim, Jim wasn’t there anymore. The person he was, his energy, his inner light, it was no longer. This spoke to me a lot, because it puts into perspective how much importance we attribute to race during life, and how little it matters in death. Race is a paradox that I can’t completely comprehend. I think we as a people need to look at what’s on the inside. What affect do the people we see have on our lives? How do they make us feel? Are they kind? These are the bigger pictures that should capture our attention. We need to start teaching this approach. It is possible to change the way we think. It is possible to overcome unconscious bias and prejudice.