Race and Social Construction Flashcards
What is race essentialism?
There are racial essences that people have, which are inherent essential properties of people that make them the race they are. People are classified into races based on their having a corresponding racial essence. Such essences are biological realities that explain differences between races (typically this meant explaining why nonwhites were less “civilized” than whites).
What does Franz Boas argue about the coherence of racial classification?
Argues that in order to identify a taxonomic level in biology such a a subspecies requires concordant traits (variation in race should mean variation in some other traits, including psychology, physical, and cultural).
Boas states that bodily form, language, and culture are not concordant. Therefore, there cannot be races understood to be human sub-species
What does Naomi Zack argue about race?
Eliminativism:
“The ordinary concept of race in the United States has no scientific basis because race essentialism – the view that there are inherent, discrete, and biological races and racial essences - has been debunked, there is nothing in the world for race talk to uniquely refer to”
What does Kwame Antony Appiah argue about race?
Race Nominalism: race is a nominal kind that collects groups of people, not because they all have a feature in common, but because there is an interest in grouping them. Race does not have any explanatory power, the real properties are of the members.
There are no races, but people nevertheless come to live as certain racial identities and take them to be central to the constructing of our lives. Racial labels are functioning social identitites.
What does Michael root argue about categorization by race?
Root argues that because race was originally used to divide people into categories, and now exists in the present as a political social construction.
He argues that race can be used a descriptive or analytical variable to explain differences in social and economic status. He argues that the methods used to categorize racial groups will affect how they are classified, therefore different measures may provide better explanations than others, depending on the topic of interest.
What does Sally Haslanger argue about racial constructionism?
Sociopolitical Constructionism
–> Race is real because racism is real - there are no races prior to, after, or independently of racism. Therefore, in a post-racism future, the social hierarchies that constitute the concept will cease to exist, and with them, race itself.
According to Sally Haslanger, what are the three approaches to the question of what race is?
Conceptual approach - articulate concepts
Descriptive approach - more accurate through carful consideration of concepts
Analytic approach - Questions the point of these concepts and what they should be used to accomplish.
Describe the Racial Contract, who coined this term?
Charles Mills
–> A set a meta-agreements between Whites to categorize non-whites as sub-persons, or inferior moral or legal status compares to whites, or otherwise subordinate to whites on a social hierarchy.
What is Chike Jeffers’ opinion on racial constructionism?
Sociocultural Constructionism:
Agrees that differential power relationship were essential to the origin of race, but argues that they are not more important to the present reality of race. In the present, differential power relations and culture are equally important to the concept of race. Therefore, it is not a necessary consequence of the end of racism that races cease to exist because racial groups can persist on a purely cultural basis.
Describe W. E. Du Bois’ argument for racial conservatism.
He argues that racial identities are cultural identities and that it is imperative for the Black community to to affirm and value their racial identity because doing so contributes to human progress.
How does Lucius T. Outlaw speak on Racial Conservatism?
He argues that there are discernable racial communities of meaning that are highly desirable for many people. Therefore, they would remain desirable even in a world where racism was to disappear forever.
