Look Deeper Than Race! 

Ajee Smith

August 30, 2014

          Through my own perspective I believe the differences between racial groups are idea’s society has constructed, through what is observed and heard. The idea of race and how individuals are categorized by it, shows a divide of how majority of the world identifies and looks at race. I personally see a divide between cultures and customs but when it comes down to race alone I believe we are all people who only differ in skin color. Is that enough to divide individuals completely into different categories which label their identity? I do not believe so. Referring to “Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode 1,” microbiologist Pilar Ossorio comments “There’s as much or more diversity and genetic difference within any racial group as there is between people of different racial groups” and after watching this episode to its entirety I do agree with this comment. At first, I was open minded to this statement because I do believe all races can be similar in a variety of ways but I still questioned could this comment be accurate? Can one really be more similar to someone of a completely different race than one of their own? I found it compelling to discover that this is extremely possible and not rare.

The African American race was addressed a lot in the film as well as Caucasians from discussing athletic abilities, to level of intelligence, appearance, etc. and being African American myself I have heard of all the ways we are characterized as a people. Being African American is an important part of my identity and the comment made by microbiologist Pilar Ossorio only shined light to my mindset in an optimistic way.  Emanuel Lusca mentions in "Race As A Social Construct" provided through “We all see the world through a racial lens that colors our world black, white, Asian, Mexican, minority, or “other” which really gives insight into the perspectives of individuals in reference to race which can be found in Race as a Social Construct. How we are seen and how we see others affects various domains of our lives and the lives of others.” Provided through With this being said I personally have always believed each race has similarities to a certain extent because we are all people who in a majority have the same human features and may share certain characteristics but it never crossed my mind to think I could be more similar to someone biologically or scientifically that was of another race than of my own.; meaning I believe I could be similar to an individual of another race but not more similar to my own.

The DNA workshop amongst several students done in the film is the main factor that supports microbiologist Pilar Ossorio’s comment. While comparing their DNA, the students who were of a variety of races all believed they would have more genetic similarities to those of the same race as I believed in the beginning of the episode as well, but the tests determined they were actually more similar to other races. For example, the reactions of certain students such as Gorgeous an African American student showed how many individuals just see themselves by their skin color and follow this notion of race that society has constructed. Gorgeous viewed her results as wow my genetic trait is mixed with a variety of things and wow my trait can be similar to a Caucasian individual or any other race. I am African American as mentioned earlier and I have usually looked at myself as being in that category of a specific race just as Gorgeous did in this film. The evidence gathered from the DNA workshop changed my perspective on how deep the idea of race has been constructed in the world we live in.

 I did a little research after watching this episode and came across an interview done with Pilar Ossorio which can be found on Background Reading,where Ossorio mentions that “Now, I would never say that race doesn't exist. One of the things we're hearing now is that the human genome project is somehow showing us that race doesn't exist. Well, what it's showing us is that the simple biological notion of race is wrong.” This is a powerful comment I have come to agree with based off of the evidence from the film because the idea of race has allowed many individuals to characterize themselves and divide themselves based off of it alone. For people to believe they cannot be genetically similar to an Asian because they are Caucasian, or they cannot be genetically similar to an African American because they are Mexican is wrong and in all reality the outer layer of our skin tone is what many see as a divide. This evidence has allowed me to view my own racial identity of African American as no longer a label or just a color dividing who I am from other races but a racial identity that is deeper than the term race, there’s so much more behind one’s physical appearance such as connections to other individuals who may look completely different  and I find that extremely interesting. 
 Although scientists are unable to find a genetic basis for social ideas of racial differences, I believe the idea of race persist because it has derived in such early history as an important concept. Once something is learned it is hard for an individual to adapt to change. In this case, how can individuals not consider the idea of race when it has been the main factor in identifying and categorizing individuals for so long? I would have to say that the idea of race will continue to persist because we as a people create this notion that we are divided based off of race and this is what makes us different. Evidence from Race: The Power of Illusion also supports this notion that the idea of race is something that we as a nation have created and decided to live by. When something is so rooted and we are accustomed to it the fact that there is no genetic basis found for racial differences is not going to have much of an effect on how race is perceived because some individuals do not like change and are comfortable with the divide. Predominantly Caucasian individuals who created the idea about race in the first place meaning the White race was superior and anyone other than this race was of a divide and different. I would have to say that the White race has benefited from the division of racial groups and not so much other races because it made their race seem more valuable. All individuals no matter African American, Native American, Asian, etc. were known to be different and told that the White race was the race to be. The way racial differences was seen and how other races other than Caucasian were treated leads me to believe that no one benefits from this idea that there is difference between races except for the Caucasian race. Referring back to how the idea of race is continuing to persist, I honestly believe that if majority of the people in our society look deeper than race and actually find out we are not at all as different as we may seem this idea can soon fade away. In the meantime if people continue to keep the same mind set about race as they have for years, sadly it will remain the same.