If you and I walked into a room and laid eyes on each other, if you’re like most people, one of the first things you’ll notice about me my race. I’m not “white”, not “black”, but “Asian”. And attached to that label are often questions about my ethnicity, origin and background. The question of most people’s choice tends to be, “where are you from?”, and if I’m being honest, the reaction of my choice tends to be frustration.
My “race” has always been something I’ve struggled to
understand and grasp. It’s always been somewhat of a mystery to me, so when I
was first introduced to the idea that “race is only a social construct”, I
jumped on that idea immediately. A chance to completely ignore something so
confusing, and often frustrating, sounded too appealing to turn down.
The idea, already commonly accepted by most scientists, is
gradually gaining support in other realms, especially in the field of genetics,
where categories including “black” or “white” were still being used in many
studies in major scientific journals. A recent study in the journal Science argues that race is a useless concept when looking at
genes.
This may sound like good news for anyone who values racial
equality. “Race is just a social
construct” definitely had a nice ring to it. But there’s a problem.
When we dismiss race is “just” a social construct, we also tend
to deny the enormous power that it has in our society, and in people’s lives. It’s
especially problematic when it comes from people who hold tremendous power in
society, like Bill Clinton,
who’s gone on record to say that we are all “mixed race”. It’s
like painting over a crack in the wall.
It’s really a confusing debate. On one hand, we need to
treat people of all races equally, almost as if it didn’t exist. On the other,
we need to recognize the reality of race as a social construct and the power
that it has in our society, and to take proactive action to ensure that those
from disadvantaged racial groups have the same opportunities as those from
privileged groups. Some convincingly argue for the need for racial blindness, while
others suggest that racial blindness “does the work of white supremacy”.
So how are we supposed to navigate this line?
The main issue with racial blindness, in my opinion, happens
when people adopt it as an attitude. When people actively try to not see race,
they don’t acknowledge all the many ways that it affects their own, and
others’, lives. That makes sense. However, there should be no reason why racial
blindness shouldn’t be a goal. Even
though we’re not there yet, we should aim to have a society where race doesn’t
influence the opportunities that are available to people. A society where
institutional and structural inequalities based on race don’t exist. A society
where people, to quote Martin Luther King Jr., “will not be judged by the color
of their skin, but by the content of their character”.
In the meantime, we need to acknowledge race. We need to talk
about race, and all the different ways it affects people’s lives. We need to
open our eyes to the reality of race – as it’s the first step to fighting it.
It isn’t until we can completely understand the problem that we can fix, or
eliminate, it.
But it’s not that simple. Talking about race is hard, as
people have so many attitudes and emotions attached to it. And a common issue
is people’s tendency to mix race with ethnicity. Ethnicity largely describes
people’s cultural background and heritage,
but how many times have we heard people attach cultural meanings to race? “Oh,
he’s white but acts black” or “why is this Asian acting so white?” are things
we hear all the time. This complicates any discussion of race, so ethnicity and
culture is something we need to factor out of our discussions of race.
Race isn’t biological, but there’s no doubt that it’s
complicated, powerful, and real. If you ask me if our society would be better
off without it, my answer would be “hell yeah”. But it’s not something that we
can achieve by simply ignoring it. We need to fight it, and to fight it, we
have to talk about it. So let’s talk about it – how does race affect your life?
