What is "Race"? What is "Identity"? 

An analysis using two readings from the text highlighted below:

"Race" and the Construction of Human Identity by Audrey Smedley

and

Who is Black? One Nation's definition by F. James Davis

"What seems strange to us today is that the biological variations among human groups were not given significant social meaning...No structuring of inequality, whether social, moral, intellectual, cultural, or otherwise, was associated with people because of their skin color" (Smedley, 49)

Written from an anthropological standpoint, the author was able to explore the concept of "race" from a perspective in which it is seldom discussed. This reading truly opened my eyes to the contingencies associated with the human desire for power and the need to belong. This author describes how throughout the course of history, human's have changed their perception of "race" drastically. As human nature dictates, we easily identify with categories, and therefore different niches were established in the past - but they were ones that were purely objective, and dramatically different from today's perspectives. The text explains that there were three original categories used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - caucasoid, mongoloid, and negroid -  and individuals were put into these cohorts based on geography and/or biological dispositions. This matter-of-fact mentality that humans had during this time was truly conducive to human development, as no one group was perceived as better than another, just different. Mere variances were simply regarded as such, and these differences only meant that one group came from another area of the world. It is truly intriguing to think that at one point in history humans as a society were objective - how easily we are manipulated as time progressed...The reading later goes on to discuss how some dominant groups in society needed to find a way to denigrate the masses in order to remain in power, while paradoxically justifying these unethical actions. Somehow, once power came into the picture, human morality was immediately questioned, and as anticipated, power prevailed. 

They say that power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely, and once the "dominant" groups within society found a way to maintain their power, it would forever justify the litany of immoral acts that were to come. Taking a look at society today, we are completely opposite from the objective nature of the past. According to the text, "American society had made 'race' (and the physical features connected to it) equivalent to, and the dominant source of, human identity, superseding all other aspects of identity" (Smedley, 51). It is truly appalling to see that when given the opportunity to be subjective, humans will take the road leading towards truly negative connotations. Never in the past had race been considered a terrible thing. Women and men were revered for their intelligence, occupations, and contributions to society as a whole, not by the color of their skin. A further vilification regarding this aspect can be seen in the second reading regarding the "one-drop rule". Once society had deemed "black" as negative, drastic measures were taken to ensure that identification of the "lesser kind" was examined with the utmost detail. Davis states, "In the south, it became known as the 'one-drop rule, meaning that a single drop of 'black blood' makes a person black" (Davis, 58). This rule further justifies the fact that as humans, we strive to find what is "better", not accept anything less, and belittle all other things that don't fit into that contrived category. Ironically, we are entirely mistaken, as this was the beginning development of the complete opposite of the identification of a perfect society.  What's even more bothersome to me concerning this is that society is actually taking the time to identify people - talk about inhumane - we were fully stripping humans of their right to have a voice - ultimately an unpleasant foreshadowing to a dismal future...In my opinion, this could be analogous to identifying animals, as they cannot speak for themselves...

These two readings truly made me feel angry at the way the world has turned out to be. My trepidation may be visible in the aforementioned paragraphs, due to the fact that while reading and writing, some sort of value-driven fire built up and ignited at some point, but I digress. In today's world, you would think that we'd be educated and sophisticated society, yet instead, we've turned into a categorical society bereft of morals. We still judge based on skin color, and if we are unsure, we inquire so that we may acquire adequate understanding to bolster our preconceived notions of someone's "race". This is unbelievably ignorant. 

As an educator, I find that awareness and knowledge is truly the key to solving any problem, and thus I believe that moving forward, I am very excited to learn more and more about topics of diversity. I hope that I may assist in passing on the knowledge that will help to assuage our conditioned "racist" thoughts. I admire the objective ways of the past, and truly despise the negative subjective world in which we live in today. I almost feel that if we could all go back to the age during childhood when skin color never mattered, we would all be in a more pleasant place...

For an awesome example of how terrible preconceived notions of people can be, here is a link to an amazing video that I've watched many times called "The Danger of a Single Story"... Enjoy!

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=the%20danger%20of%20a%20single%20story&safe=off 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg