We often see the word “race” and we tend to refer to the same thing. So how does one define a race? We often think of race as being a white man, an African American, or a white American. Most of us are familiar with the term “race” and race as being two distinct phenomena, but we can also use it to describe a race that is white, black, or both.
A race is a group of people that are inter-related and similar in appearance. So when we say “black people,” we are saying that group of people that are found in the United States is a race. The black or African American population is a race, which is the same thing.
Most people who have been using the term race, but now are being forced to change their name to black, are still not aware of the term race. So it’s not until they learn of the term they are changing their name that they begin to realize that they are talking about race.
The term is actually a bit of a misnomer in the abstract. If we look at these terms, we end up changing the name of another race, the black race. The black or African American population is a race, which is the same thing. Most people who have been using the term race, but now are being forced to change their name to black, are still not aware of the term race.
So the fact that people can say the word “race” and then change it to “black” is no more of a problem for them than they are a problem for whites. But being forced into thinking that they are different from you and me is a problem. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are racist. It means they are not aware of the difference between their race and the other two races.
Many people (especially those in the field of social sciences) believe that the study of race is a fruitless exercise. If the question was, “What is the biggest difference between white people and black people?” we might say, “White people are more likely to be in debt, more likely to be in jail, more likely to be unemployed.
A lot of sociologists I know think that the study of race is a pointless endeavor. They think that it’s a matter of “assumption” that the differences between the races are so big that they are worthy of being called one race or the other. The problem with this argument is that the idea of race is so vague and indeterminate that it’s easily misinterpreted by people who aren’t familiar with it.
I agree that there are ways to look at different races and see if they have significantly different characteristics, but what I would like to do is show you people who are actually in a position to make such a claim. I know that some people might look at different races and think that they are really different. But if you look at the vast majority of people who are in debt, in jail, and unemployed, you’ll find that their race is pretty much the same. So its not that different.
When we’re talking about the question “what is race?” the question doesn’t actually matter. What matters is the way we treat race. And in fact, the way society treats race has changed a lot for the better since its inception. In the early 2000’s there were only a few people who understood the concept of race. Now we have a lot more people who know about it. And there is no doubt that they understand it better.
