It’s something we made up in order to justify slavery but it really is more of a social construct and we also only classify as white, black or Asian as human races and call everyone else not a human race. In order to explain more on how silly this is… imagine this hypothetical…
If the world was entirely white, we would have called blonde haired people a different race or made distinctions between ourselves based on eye color or some other random human characteristic. We would probably have enslaved brown or blue or green eyed people or something like that. The green eyed people would hate the blue eyed ones. Now apply this to skin color. See how silly that is?
Yes, it’s about time we stop the race classifications based on skin color or other random human traits.
No, we need to classify different races and we should move next to eye colors. White people with green eyes are a different race than blue eyed people.
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Would it be a good idea to drop the race classification in order to unite people?
The question is problematic. Race classifications, like ethnicity, like family names, like nationality, and all the rest are the means by which people define themselves. This is not, unlike the premise of the question, merely arbitrary but are the evolutionary byproduct of man's social nature. They therefore, even if ignored legally, cannot be erased.
Man defines himself not in an amorphous body called humanity. Rather by the sub-groups by which they are a part. Across history - and pre-history for that matter - that has led to a competition that sometimes produced unhealthy outcomes like slavery. One group will attain an ascendancy that allows it to impose its' will on other sub-groups.
This has both unfortunate aspects - see slavery, see the Holocaust, etc. It also has healthy aspects. Because, in part, of the sense of national identity, the Americans or the British attained great things. The sense of pride that such identity conferred resulting in extraordinary cultural and scientific accomplishments.
To correct the less than great things - see again slavery - the law has also recognized distinctions like race as a means to addressing the injustices that resulted from sub-group identities. Thus the civil rights laws in the United States. Applied to all, they nevertheless must recognize group identity in order to address the injustices perpetrated against certain groups.
The irony being that the dropping sub-group classifications may not necessarily result in harmony. See also the communist societies of the Cold War era. The premise of communism was that man was really an amorphous mass - a product not of various racial, ethnic and other identities, but a whole and product of the dialectic of History.
Suffice to say, ignoring the reality of various sub-groups did not produce harmony, but tyranny. With the irony being that the pretense that such sub-groups do not exist allowed certain groups to dominate other groups on the pretense that sub-group identity must not exist.
In fact, the real answer is that a balance must be struck. The reality of various sub-group identities must be recognized. At the same time, the law must seek to treat all such groups equally. There is an expression for this: e pluribus unum.
Man is both part of a broader humanity and a social being that derives his identity from being distinct from that broader humanity. Where this has been ignored - both in an intense sense of identity and a failure to recognize such identity - bad things have historically resulted.
The questioner's premise is noble, but the law of unintended consequences always pertains. Better to recognize that people derive their sense of self, in part, from the sub-groups, including racial and ethnic sub-groups, to which they belong. Then seek to make sure that the law treats all of these groups equally and fairly.
Race is a 17th century pseudo-scientific theory to define humans by physical appearance. It is a defunct concept yet a widely followed construct. It is a convenient way to divide people into tribes that are easier to control by the political overseer class. There is one race, Homo sapiens.
According to this Indians are not even considered humans 😢. I didn't know that since "Asian" means only East Asian. I think those who are benefitting from the racial segregation don't want it to be dropped. I have seen all kinds of phenotypes in India so I can safely say there's no "brown race".
Yes, it’s racist to say, human Indians are bloody humans! There’s no such ‘brown race’ because all the human beings are of one or more of the fifty or so shades of brown.
"Dropping race to unify people" sounds like what some of those folks who tell you to be "color blind" would say.
Let me give you a dose of reality. In theory, the idea sounds nice. Living in a place where everything is kumbaya and everybody gets along. Who wouldn't like that? The problem is you can't "erase race" without first dealing with DISCRIMINATION.
Black folks will continue to be discriminated against under "color blind" laws and practices, and then they will be gaslit for saying that they are being discriminated against because the laws are "race neutral". The problem isn't in the law itself, the problem is in who is enforcing it. If the enforcer of the law was "race blind" then we wouldn't have any issues. The problem is that often times you have a "race neutral" law being enforced by racIST officers/judges that continue perpetuating the problem, then wonder why people keep talking about race.
It's not just a social construct. There's scientific basis in the fact that people of different ethnicities have different health needs, are susceptible to different conditions and various other such things.
For example sickle cell anemia is much more common in black people.
Appropriate medication for some cardiovascular conditions can vary dependent on the individuals ethnicity.
Lactose intolerance is much more common amongst black and Asian people while conversely it's much less common in white northern Europeans... me I'm Polish/Irish but I still get lactose intolerance :(
Also apparently black and Asian people tend to be more susceptible to Vitamin D deficiency when living in not so sunny climates. Here in the UK I have known a few black and Asian people who have to take Vitamin D supplements because apparently they don't get enough from the sun or something... I don't know I don't really get it, science isn't a strength for me but it is what it is (which is an indication that ethnicity is in fact not a social construct, and that this can be proven scientifically).
To be fair though I also take Vitamin D supplements, as I think everyone in not so sunny countries should, because generally we just don't get enough sun. But my understanding is that people of a darker skin tone need even more Vitamin D than caucasians so when living in a country like the UK they are more susceptible to deficiency.
Oh and another one is people with pale, freckly skin burn way more easily. Me I love chillin' in the sun but I have some stereo-typical Irish looking friends who cannot share that sentiment due to how sensitive their skin is to the sun.
So yeah, it's not just a social construct. Different ethnicities ARE biologically different. We're not like wolves to bears, or ostrich to eagles... y'know we're the same species... but different ethnicities are not exactly the same.
I feel like race classification isn't necessary because we're all one race, with varying amounts a melanin. Race is a myth.
HOWEVER, what I would really hate to see is the disappearance of CULTURE. Culture is a beautiful thing, especially when we can appreciate the differences and nuances for what they are. Sometimes I am afraid that by uniting everyone under one racial label, we'll nullify the things that make us special and unique. Different doesn't mean unequal. So I feel torn on the matter...
I picked yes... drop the classification. I'm in America and it's sad to see only certain people will tell you when asked what they are... American. When I was in Japan, I never got any response other than Japanese. It's Civic nationalism we should push, we are all Americans. ... not the case though... divided by identity politics. You can hear it in mother fuckers that will literally tell you their identity from gender, sexuality, race, and even bullshit like their mental problems or physical disabilities. Identity politics. It's annoying.
With that said though... I would suggest taking a look at a country that actually did ban the race stuff... Mexico. Turns out, certain types of people still find themselves in certain neighborhoods or in particular socioeconomic classes. Because of stuff like that, I do have a sense of race realism. It doesn't matter the race though, they'll tell you which neighborhood is bad and which is good.
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Anonymous
(36-45)
+1 y
The more you talk about and focus on something the more people make their choices on its account.
Race has long been little more than a political football primary for the democratic party. As an immutable characteristic it really is a great thing to unite your members around or against. As a token enemy it will never change, and as such you don't have to worry coming up with anything new or getting any kind of results.
As a social construction blaming anything upon an immutable characteristic is creating a crutch people will use to justify not doing the hard work to improve themselfs personalty.
This is why on net the condition of the black community actually got worse since the 1960s. In the real world there is nothing an external enemy no matter how powerful can do to you that even compares to what you will do to yourself out of fear of trying.
12.2K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
People would just hate each other over wealth, height or other dumb shit instead.
Race as a construct was more or less invented by the Romans to "classify" their conquered citizens from their "natural" ones. The Nazi's took it a step further. Hence here we are today with it being an overwhelming problem in alleged democracies.
I think things are going to get worse. Even If people hate diversity they are now forced to live with it, You can't run from it any more like you once did. People prefer to live with people who have similar traits and backgrounds to them, people that look like them and have a shared culture. Immigrants often say they are proud Indians or Chinese. Their stomachs are in western countries but the hearts are in the places they left.
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Anonymous
(30-35)
+1 y
I'm in favor of this idea.
Neither in Germany nor in the East was I ever asked about my race or ethnicity and i almost never cared about that. Once I was in America I saw these in forms I was filling out. I have always chosen "prefer not to say". Failing that I'd deliberately pick a false answer. It is none of anyone's business.
We had slavery for tens of thousands of years before we acknowledged "racial" differences; forcing people to find NEW reasons to mark in- and out-group divisions will change nothing but where the lines are.
11.6K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
Also, classify people based on their like or dislike of tacos. People who like tacos are the best people in the world. People who dislike tacos are filthy scum.
Just because you decide to break down the words doesn't mean the reality is still there. You can stop classifying species, doesn't mean humans and dogs become the same. Classifications are a natural consequence of something real.
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