Race Social Construction

Definition of Race Race is a social construction which involves putting people into categories to determine which group of people were to be considered privileged or otherwise superior to others. This categorization of people has been a concept not always understood. Therefore, to gain greater insight regarding this concept, one must fully examine the motivating factors that led Americans to construct racial categories and learn how race relations affect society as a whole.
How Social Construction Compares to the Biological View of Race As previously stated, race is a social construction that occurs when society places individuals in categories that are based solely on their physical differences such as skin color and other physical attributes (Schaefer, 2013). This type of racial ideology has been politically supported and reinforces the belief that one race is superior or inferior to another. The Holocaust and slavery are examples of the detrimental impact this type of racial categorizing has on society. Just like social construction, the biological view of race was utilized to justify and perpetuate racial discrimination. However, unlike
Assimilation is a process in which distinct and separate groups come together as a culture and merge socially. When this occurs, the majority dominates in such a way that the minorities become less distinct, causing conformity to the dominant group to occur (Schaefer, 2013). The alternative to relationships between majority and minority groups is pluralism. Unlike assimilation, pluralism occurs when groups maintain their individual identities and have mutual respect for one another’s culture and groups (Schaefer, 2013). While these two approaches appear to be contrary processes, they are not mutually exclusive because they often occur in various ways depending upon where individuals live in