Race

This week in Sociology, we are learning about race. Along with social class, this can also be an uncomfortable topic to talk about. We started our lesson with a spectrum of sports balls. Without talking we were supposed to sort them into categories. Our language has constructed our mind to put the sports balls into different sports rather than size, shape or color. The reason we did this was to realize that we have been socially constructed to think a certain way: in categories. So when dealing with race we do the same thing. We sort people into categories like white, black, asian, hispanic etc when in reality race doesn't exist. Race is not depended upon your genes and it is not biologically defined. Also, if we reflect on history we find that minorities in America have changed. For a while, the Irish were disliked because they were non-white, then the Italians and so fourth. I guess we group people by how they appear. For instance if you see someone with darker skin you would categorize them as black but they could be Jamaican mixed with Cuban. Just like I categorize myself as white but I am a mix of English, Irish, French Canadian, Bohemian and so much more.