Social Construction Of Race example essay topic

In society, race clearly affects one's life chances. These are the chances of getting opportunities and gaining experience for progression. The social construction of race is based on privileges and availability of resources. Looking at society and the formation of race in a historical context, whites have always held some sort of delusional belief of a "white-skin privilege". This advantage grants whites an advantage in society whether one desires it or not. This notion is often commonly referred to as reality.

In order for one to understand how racism has come to be what we know it as today, we must first examine the Constitution of the United States. This document clearly states, "We the People of the United States". The question proposed from this statement is, who exactly are "the People?" The constitution deemed that only free people were considered whole, and ultimately they were the ones the Constitution reflected most positively upon. The rest of the population was considered to be three fifths of a human being.

That could be and in fact was interpreted by saying non-free people were only three fifths as important as a property owning white males. In addition to the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence also posed many questions of racism. The Declaration of Independence was written to sever ties in which people were denied their unalienable rights. However, the Constitution was still denying several people of their life, liberty, and or the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious to see that the Constitution laid the framework for which a segregated, racial society was formed in America. I believe that of the rights denied to many, the most significant were those that were denied to the slaves. Slaves were certainly people, although their rights were not secured in the Constitution. Being that their right to vote was denied, they were forced to live in a society in which the government officials did not represent their race.

Hence, this produced a nation that was segregated into two very separate classes. Segregated from one another on a social status level, the classes consisted of those who ran the country and those who worked to live in it. As you can see, inequalities have plagued America for hundreds of years and continue to do so. I believe racism to be as apparent today if not more profound then in the past.

A large portion of society believes that no man is still to this day denied any unalienable rights. I do not believe this statement to be true. We have adopted affirmative action programs and enforced strict equal opportunity employment laws to hinder discrimination. Although I believe it is still a very prevalent issue in today's society. Despite laws, investigations and results show that twenty percent of African Americans interviewing for jobs were turned down due to the color of their skin (Omi and Winnt 67-68). Indeed racism may be very subtle in most cases; it is not a thing of the past but rather a very serious problem in society that evolves socio historically.

There is a direct relationship with slavery in the past and discrimination today. In both cases there is an attempt to oppress a minority group. The oppressing group makes it difficult in many ways for the minority to rise above the harsh treatment towards equality. Just as slaves in the past were uneducated because of the threat to unite and revolt, employers today limit minorities for fear of their power within the company. The shift of the meaning of race and how it is socially constructed did not come about because of any dramatic effect. In fact, the concept of race has often been misapplied.

One of the most telling arguments against classifying people into races is that persons in various cultures have often mistakenly acted as if one race is superior to another. The superiority is based upon biological or inherent characteristics. Today's task is to be able to define what race is and how it is socially constructed. All we have to base the understandings of race upon is data from historical events, social interactions, and how people understand the world around us. However, I personally believe that everyday a little more of the race puzzle is solved. Maybe, the answers to racial identity are not as apparent as skin color, but rather lie within the depths of history.