Discussion Post: The Social Construction of Racial and Ethnic Groups
This discussion will help you think about race and ethnicity as socially constructed concepts. Rather than being rooted in any major biological differences, race and ethnicity are systems of thought and human behavior constructed within specific social contexts. Therefore, race and ethnicity are not directly based on nature or biology but instead result from social ideas and practices. In other words, racial and ethnic categories exist because people believe they are real and important. Furthermore, certain groups have historically decided who belongs to a given racial group, as well as the characteristics and values attributed to these groups.
Today as home DNA tests are illuminating people's genetic diversity, long-held ideas about racial and ethnic groups are being challenged. In your initial post, please address the following:
a. Watch the YouTube video The Story of Race: A History or review the web page RACE - The Power of an Illusion. Explain the difference between race and ethnicity. What do sociologists mean when they say that race and ethnicity are socially constructed?
b. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, how was race socially constructed? How did colonizers benefit from how they constructed race?
c. According to the article Race ≠ DNA: If Race is a Social Construct, What's Up With DNA Ancestry Testing? what makes race a socially defined identity rather than a biologically defined one? Does race matter if it is not a biological concept? Provide an example to support your answer of why race does or does not matter if it is not a biological concept.
d. Home genetic (DNA) testing has become a multibillion-dollar industry and millions of people globally have taken these home tests to uncover their genetic stories. According to the resources you reviewed, how do DNA test results shape people's perceptions of race and ethnicity? Why are some people resistant to their test results?
e. According to the article To Bring a Divided Country Together, Start With a Little Spit how might taking a home DNA test help bridge the deep racial and ethnic divisions in our society? Explain why you agree or disagree with this.
The response must include a reference list. Using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, double-space, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.