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What is race? (1776 hits)

Please define...

"Bottom-line: Race is something you are born with. It has nothing to do with your behaviors...how you learn ....or how you or your group thinks. Learned behavior is called culture and you're not born with that... "

Okay, YOU are Ahmad! No, Dr. Ahmad! Nice to meet ya. And the above quoted is what i mean by " What is race?"

Technically, "race" doesn't exist. Black skin, blonde hair, etc are physical traits. Eye color does not determine intelligence, nor does brown skin determine how one would act or behave.

"Race" is an illusion - a "mental construct"... and a "prison for the mind".

Yeah yeah i know that line is borrowed, but it fits perfectly.
Race is not something you can feel, taste, or touch. But it is something that I am?
If so, then what is it? Is it simply the similarities I share with other people? And because we have the similar traits, or the same phenotype, we are to be grouped as though we share ONE consciousness?
Culture determines how people eat and behave. Society is natural. However, grouping ourselves according to physical traits, whether our ideas are the same or not IS unnatural.
One could point to the animal kingdom as evidence that creatures that look alike behave the same, but there are many many aniamls that are nearly identical but are completely different species from the other. Dingos and Coyotes are almost identical, and belong to the canine family, but they are from different continients and have wildly different behavior patters.

So no, I am not a race. I am an individual. My thoughts, behavior and appearance is unique.
There are people who share similar qualities, but by no means do we experience the same sensations or consciousness.
The journey is in coming to terms with Who and what we are as individuals. To relate to each other as HUMAN BEINGS first and foremost - with that in common, we all belong to one race, and that is the human race.

By even playing into the "race" game, we give away our power. Love our brothers and sisters across all religions and cultures, and identities.

It would not mean that you are ashamed of your culture or the way you look, or that you are ashamed of your complexion. But it is simply rejecting this system.

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Friday, August 1st 2008 at 8:22PM
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Ha, Ha, Ha...thx Isaac,

Although I don't recommend Wikepedia as a reference...they have a pretty good definition of race:

The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of dividing humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of characteristics. The most widely used human racial categories are based on visible traits (especially skin color, cranial or facial features and hair texture), and self-identification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(classif...

In the good ole USA, race was/is used as a means of control and power: Majority versus Minority status. Our US Census counts and labels the number of folks in each race and then decisions are made based on majority versus minority.

In our American past...the US Supreme Court has intervened to accept folks who didn't meet the aforementioned definition and deny folks who did meet the requirement....based solely on maintaining the "White- Majority".

Over the years, we have come to accept race as a key indicator. In almost all forms of very important stuff...race is used as a variable. From medical decisions or insurance rates...to voting trend and food choices...folk's race is used to track, treat, or guide. Please keep in mind...that race has nothing to do with any of these things! But we use race...because we always have...

Bottom-line: Race is something you are born with. It has nothing to do with your behaviors...how you learn ....or how you or your group thinks. Learned behavior is called culture and you're not born with that...

Friday, August 1st 2008 at 10:03PM
Dr. Ahmad Glover

Well said...you should be grouped by your shared/ learned behaviors (Tribe = ethnicity).
Saturday, August 2nd 2008 at 12:01AM
Dr. Ahmad Glover

There is no such thing as race. If you want to know why, go to this link:
http://blackinamerica.com/cgi-bin/blog.cgi...

Saturday, August 2nd 2008 at 4:55AM
Dr. S. Maxwell Hines

Thx Dr. Hines,

As you know...I've been trying to get mainstream researchers to stop using this made up variable (race) in important areas of study. We should either measure based on learned behavior or some other measurable construct.

I've made some headway in the Org Behavior, Org Developement, and Bus Admin journals...but we need others pushing papers forwards.

v/r
AG
Saturday, August 2nd 2008 at 8:39AM
Dr. Ahmad Glover

P.S. Dr. Hines-

Re-Post your Race Blog (often)...
Saturday, August 2nd 2008 at 8:55AM
Dr. Ahmad Glover

Race is just the indication of your ancestor's geographical orgin. Most people near the equator are darker, and people further away have lighter skin. White supremacist in America just what to sound smart and add much more definition to it.
Saturday, August 2nd 2008 at 11:20AM
Harold Causey

too many words to explain away the pain.. here is my defination of "race"... its what you are not..
Saturday, August 2nd 2008 at 11:46AM
Andrea HAughton

Dr. Glover:
Thank you for your comments on my blog about race. The study of the sociology of science (ie. how science is used to shape society) is one of my passions. I am past chair of the special interest group, Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender in Education within the American Educational Research Association, so I have also been working to dismantle this false and pernicious notion. We need to stop buying into the idea that skin color is some kind of predictor of behavior or ability. One of the newest conceptions employed to make people believe race is real is to market drugs to people based on skin color. Check out information on BiDil. The pharmaceutical companies know better but they count on us to remain ignorant. The bottom line is that race has ALWAYS been used to make money and acquire wealth. The only thing that has changed in the new millennium is the approach.
Saturday, August 2nd 2008 at 10:55PM
Dr. S. Maxwell Hines

What do I define as race? It is an orgin which separate people. We should only be called human. Then, a race would disappear.....
Sunday, August 3rd 2008 at 10:08AM
MIISRAEL Bride

Gary, I agree with you 100%. I have learned from the Native American "tribes" (culture)that they have and always do show respect by refere to them selves as "family" and use their family names to say if they are Soux, Crow, ect. Ethnic study is so new as the way to correct the social/education school system until it mayvery well take yet one more century for us to get to pass things like this along on to the public at large. But, please do not give up trying to get at least "1" of us to pay just a little attention to what it is you have to say, today. One step at a time is the only way to get to where it is we want to go, right??

Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA