Joseph Groot

Lisette Guizar
Mandy Tran
Sawyer Player
Mrs. Maya Silver
Writing 2010

Bibliography

Andersen, M. L., & Collins, P. H. Systems of Power and Inequality. Andersen, M. L., &

Collins, P. H. (Eds.), Race, Class & Gender An Anthology. Cengage. 2013, pp. 51-73

Race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality are socially constructed. They construct groups in binaries,

meaning they have one or the other. They are a part of an individual and is also a group's

identity. They are not a fixed category because they change with time. Also these social

constructs are not just our experiences and identities. These social constructs shows us how the

systems of power works, working to advantage and disadvantage others.

Anderson, Kay. "The Beast within: Race, Humanity, and Animality." Environment and

Planning D: Society and Space 18.3 (2000): 301-20. Web.

Compares our physical Animal to our cultural human that each of us has. Talks about human

nature and what makes us human. There is also data from a micro study done in Sydney,

Australia of the geographies of savagery and civility.

Andreasen, Robin O. "Race: Biological Reality or Social Construct?" Philosophy of Science 67

(2000): n. pag. Web.

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Introduces the idea of Cladism(a school of classification that separates taxa by appeal to common

ancestry). Talks about how constructivists believe that biological realism and social

constructivism are incompatible views too hold, but the author believes that they both can be

compatible with each other.

Baker, Lee D. From savage to negro: anthropology and the construction of race, 1896-1954.

Berkeley, Calif: U of California Press, 2007. Print.

Bakers academic writing explores the relationship between African Americans and Caucasian

scholars. The book outlines the both race and social darwinism and how they support one

another. Baker briefly touches on the concept of cultural relativism. He includes examples of

how laws enforced racial classification and discrimination in the United States, such as the

Separate but Equal clause and Jim Crow laws in the American south. Lastly, Baker expands

upon the popular issue of racial identity and cultural appropriation.

Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckmann. The social construction of reality: a treatise in the

sociology of knowledge. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966. Print.

Origins of the term Social construction. One theme is that over time humans develop behaviors

from each other and use those behaviors with each other dependending on the situation that they

are in. It also delves into how reality itself is a social construct.

Ferguson, Roderick A. "Race." Keywords for American Cultural Studies. Eds. Bruce Burgett and

Glenn Hendler. New York: New York University Press, 2014. Credo Reference. Web. 28

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 June 2015.

Insights about race have changed over time through several movements. There are arguments

that placed race as only a biological inheritance. These arguments claimed that race was not a

social construction, but something that could be biologically proven. This claim created a large

separation of political and cultural groups. Race became a way of defining someone political

standings. Minority movements worked to stop the cultural split and argued for things like land

redistribution, end of police brutality, and community control over economic.

Gannon, Megan. Race is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue. Live Science. 4 February. 2016.

Today the key belief is that race is a social construct without biological meaning. There are many

assumptions about genetic difference between people of different races. Today these assumptions

are one thing that fuel racial beliefs.People assume that people are separated by race due to

genetic difference. There is no scientific research that has proven that there is a common set of

genes that can be traced throughout one race of people.

Gates, E. Nathaniel. Racial classification and history. New York: Garland, 1997. Print.

This book encompasses a global history from the beginning of racial classification to present

time. Gates discusses key points throughout time that racial classification has resulted in racism,

discrimination, violence. He includes excerpts from the colonial era pertaining to

institutionalized African American Slavery, as well as the United States Civil Rights movement.

Gates highlights the development of minorities and their class struggle, as well as their fight for

equality and liberty.

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Hirtle, Jeannine St. Pierre. "Coming to Terms: Social Constructivism." The English Journal 85.1

(1996): 91. Web

Displays the goals of social constructivism as providing a critical learning experience for

students through the building of knowledge about self, school, everyday experience, and society.

Talks about the implications and practical applications of the philosophy.

Ian F. Haney-Lpez. "Social Construction of Race: Some Observations on Illusion, Fabrication,

and Choice, The" Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review Vol. 29 (1994) p. 1

Today the key belief is that race is a social construct without biological meaning. There are many

assumptions about genetic difference between people of different races. Today these assumptions

are one thing that fuel racial beliefs.People assume that people are separated by race due to

genetic difference. There is no scientific research that has proven that there is a common set of

genes that can be traced throughout one race of people.

Jeffers, C. The Cultural Theory of Race: Yet Another Look at Du Bois's The Conservation of

Races". Ethics, 123(3), 2013, pp. 403-426.

Race is political, they separate people into dominant and subordinate groups, they privilege some

and disadvantage others. We should acknowledge that there are surface level differences but

remember these do not explain all the differences in their history. The reality is that we group

people together because of their differences. The political theory of race says, racial difference is

a social phenomenon where the reality is an ongoing history of discrimination and oppression.

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Johnson, Allan. Privilege, Power and Difference. McGraw-Hill, 2006. Lopez, Ian. The Social

Construction of Race.

It is a myth that people are naturally frightened by difference. People are not naturally afraid of

what they dont know or understand. Instead people use this idea of natural fear to keep people

who are not classified as white Americans on the outside. Those who are privileged use this fear

to justify their actions towards people of color. People learn to fear difference through the society

around them. If society did not recognize difference it would be socially irrelevant and would not

exist.

Jones, Brian. The Social Construction of Race. JACOBIN. 2015

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/06/racecraft-racism-social-origins-reparations/

People wanted to define what white is because of the court case Plessy v. Ferguson. They

defined it as a person who is an Armenian born in Asiatic Turkey, and any other traces of blood

is excluded. This shows the power of the dominant population. They have the power to define us,

which makes it hard for us to say race is a part of our identity because someone is plastering it

onto us. Race is a new thing that the United states had created without relating it to our genetics

or biology.

Lusca, Emanuel L. Race As A Social Construct. Anthropology. 2008

https://anthropology.net/2008/10/01/race-as-a-social-construct/

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Race was created by the dominant group, this showed us that they had the privilege and power to

define people. While defining one's race, the dominant group can also define our status. By

marking a status, you exclude and include people, allowing some to have a certain amount of

power. People have created the meaning of race and we all agreed, accepted, acknowledge its

existence, even if it is biologically not real. Although it's not biologically real, it is socially real.

Machery, Edouard. Social Construction and the Concept of Race. Philsci Archive. 2004.

The social construction of race is a topic that many people disagree on. It was first said that race

could be proven biologically, but it was later found that there is a lot of genetic variability within

racial groups. Biological advances have fueled the idea that race does not exist. Those who

believe in the social construction of race state that traits such as skin color, body type, and hair

can not fit people into racial groups.

Mcintosh, Peggy. White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible backpack. Peace and Freedom

Magazine. August 1989.

In society today white people receive what is called white privilege. It is common for a white

person not to be taught to see this privilege. No one is taught to see this privilege because once it

is acknowledged people have to be accountable for its unfair advantages. These privileges are

unearned and given to only those who fit into society's standards. Unearned skin privilege puts

people of color at a great disadvantage in settings such as the work place or in court.

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Mitchell, William John Thomas. Seeing through race. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard U Press, 2012.

Print.

Mitchell creates an argument that a colorblind world is neither a possibility in this day an age,

nor is it desirable. He believes race to be biological rather than a construction. The argument

include the claim that racial distinction is essential and fundamental to society. Race is the most

powerful tool against racism, and assists people in discovering their identity pridefully. Race is

helpful in furthering human individuality, but also community.

Moore, John H. Encyclopedia of race and racism. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson

Gale, 2008. Print.

This text explores the creation of the concept of race. Race and racism are clearly presented as

different from one another, but the connection between the two is clearly established. Moore

includes a global perspective, with particular focus on United States history. Insight to

multiculturalism, immigration, and ethnicity is provided within the book. The author attempts to

answer the ongoing question of how people attain racist beliefs and why racial hierarchy is often

the result of the creation of race.

Morning, Ann Juanita. The nature of race: how scientists think and teach about human

difference. Berkeley, CA: U of California Press, 2011. Print.

This text explores the differing opinions of scientists pertaining to race. Morning includes insight

into the ongoing debate between Biologist and Anthropologists of whether race is a biological

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element or a social construct. The author goes into depth in defining race, and poses the question

of whether race is determined by appearance, ancestry, genes, or culture. She explores the

science behind how the environment can shape its inhabitants. Lastly, Morning relays the idea

that racial differences have developed throughout the course of time due to adaptation to the

climate, landscape, and materials of a particular area.

NCHPEG Social Construction of Race. Genetics and Social Science. 2012

http://www.nchpeg.org/bssr/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=102:social-const

ruction-of-race&Itemid=137

Race is a loose connection of people who are historically bounded. How we are categorized by

race is through our origin, skin color, face structure, hair texture, and our blood. This affects how

others see us and how we see other people. It is also affected by our ancestors, phenotypic

characteristics, cultural practices, economic needs, and political affiliation. Even today, the

dominant group use race to unequally distribute power. People try to prove through biology that

there is a difference between the difference races, but when we are trying to see races through a

biological lense, we become divided.

Not just a Social Construct: Theorising Race and Ethnicity - Jul 02, 2016. N.p., n.d. Web. 16

Feb. 2017.

In an attempt to answer the question of what does race mean and why is it useful, the author

theorizes that racial construction was an attempt to organize. This is reflected particularly in

anglo-america. Both the disadvantaged and the advantaged are clearly recognizable and

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categorized. Motives for this categorization were both social and political, such as the creation of

racially based enslavement created by white people. The text explores the debate between the

difference of race and ethnicity.

Onwuachi-Willig, Angela. "Race and Racial Identity Are Social Constructs NYTimes.com."

N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2017.

How race is perceived is in the eye of the beholder. Talks about how unlike race and racial

identity, the social, political and economic meanings of race, or how you associate with

particular racial groups, have not had a fluid meaning.

Sesardic, N. Race: a social destruction of a biological concept. Biology & Philosophy, 25 (2) ,

2010, pp. 143-162

There are many intelligent people who says race doesn't have a biological reality. They say if

race is related to biology then it implies that there is a common ancestry, different morphological

characteristics between races, and differ in psychological characteristics. They differ in heritable

characteristics that divides humans from one another because some people have certain traits and

tendencies that they don't share with others.We want to say race isn't biologically real because

we want to be politically correct and cautious about what is being said, so we can't just take

scientist for their word because they might be pressured to be cautious.

Smedley, Audrey. Race as Biology is Fiction, Racism as a Social Problem is Real. American

Psychologist. 1 january. 2005.

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Race can not be defined biologically it is a problem that was recently constructed. Race was

created long after groups of people from different continents came together. People who see race

to have biological origins feel that races are naturally unequal and must be ranked. Physical

features continue to be the key makers of racial identity. Race ideology began developing during

the 17th century with the legal establishment of slavery.

Smedley, Audrey, and Brian D. Smedley. "Race as biology is fiction, racism as a social problem

is real: Anthropological and historical perspectives on the social construction of race."

American Psychologist 60.1 (2005)

The author is angered by the idea that race is not a social construct. He refutes the scientific

claims that race classifies people by biological differences in health, intelligence, education, and

wealth. Race is not scientifically meaningful. A modern discussion of racial differences outlined

historically is offered. This journal offers evidence that racial groups are not entirely genetically

connected, and multiracial groups prove race to be a social construct as opposed to a biological

component of mankind.

"Social Construction of Race: Some Observations on Illusion ..." Berkeley Law, N.p., n.d. Web.

16 Feb. 2017.

The author explains how the American colonial era was incredibly influential to the roots of

racial construct and racism. Slavery, which had formerly been based on social class, indentured

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servitude, or punishment for crime became racial. One of the many reasons is that slaves could

easily be identified by their appearance and skin color, making it much more difficult to claim

freedom. This source claims that race is problematic. The claim that human fate is determined by

ancestry and appearance is prevalent throughout. According to the text, this limits ones ability to

acquire their potential liberties.

Tolia-Kelly, D. P., & Crang, M. Affect, race, and identities. Environment & Planning A. Oct.

2010, pp. 2309-2314.

Race has no biological foundation, it is a myth, and is socially and culturally constructed. What

is counted for race differences is a person DNA, cells, and inherited physicality. There has been

a history of trying to classify human species through racial identities. They tried to define what it

means to be human. What they had came up with is one who can feel emotions, is capable of

power, has beauty, literature, art, and nature. We need to engender anti racist action in everyday

life.

Witzig, Ritchie. "The Medicalization of Race: Scientific Legitimization of a Flawed Social."

Annals of Internal Medicine 125.8 (1996): 675. Web

Race categories are social constructs, in other words concepts created from the appearance of a

person, and then separating people by appearance into their racial group. These racial groups

have been medicalized, then have been legitimized by their use in medical learning materials and

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use as descriptive labels. Talks about ethnicity versus race and how ethnicity is the correct term

that should be used for medical purposes.

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