What does it mean to say race is a social construction? Give two examples of how the social construction of race has varied across cultures or time periods. If race is a social construction, does this mean race is meaningless? Why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Race is now largely understood to be a social construction that uses certain traits-physical, religious, cultural, socioeconomic, or some combination-to organize people into hierarchical groups. Cultural and historical examples may include the following: Societies have incorporated hair texture, nose, eye shape, religion, and socioeconomic status into their racial formulas. In Nazi Germany, Jews were considered a separate race, and for several decades the U.S. Census considered "Hindu" a race (Lee, 1993). In some Latin American cultures, the saying "money whitens" reflects how mixed-race persons are perceived-the wealthier they are, the more likely to be considered "White" (O'Brien, 2008). Under the "one-drop rule," a U.S. legacy that continued well after slavery's end, anyone identified with Black ancestry (no matter how distant) was considered "Negro," even those with skin so light they could pass as White. Today, the U.S. Census considers Hispanic to be an origin, not a race, so those who identify as Hispanic must choose "some other race" on the census form.
But race is still meaningful. Various social and political arrangements thus shape what we know as race but treat it as a fixed biological reality rather than merely a human idea.
Despite the lack of evidence for race, constructions of it are entrenched in social structures and organizations, leading scholars to view it as a "well-founded fiction. "