¿Hispana y Orgullosa?

Nathan Gibbs

Race Cube

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nathangibbs/275566679/in/set-72157594338622996/

“I am Hispanic,” is the phrase that I would proudly reply when asked what I was. However, after watching the film “Race: the Power if an Illusion. Episode 1” and after hearing Pilar Ossorio state that, “There’s as much or more diversity and genetic difference within any racial group as there is between people of different racial groups,” I truly question why we as a society created racial categories. Did we create racial categories for power? To discriminate? To explain external differences?

Pilar Ossorio’s statement was supported by scientific evidence that was readily provided in the film. Scientific reports from the past, such as Fredrick L. Hoffman’s “Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro,” insisted that race was biological and that there were differences between races, particularly between African-Americans and other races. These scientific reports illustrated that scientists literally bent backwards and failed to locate the biological origins of race. The research and studies that followed these pseudoscience reports supported Ossorio’s view that there is literally no genetic markers that define race. One of the studies that was repeatedly discussed in the film and that supported Ossorio’s statement was the class experiment that Scott Branson and his students conducted. Each one of Branson’s students expected to be the most genetically similar to the student of his or her own race. However, Branson’s students were surprised to find that their original expectations were incorrect and that each student had more genetic similarities to people of a different race than those individuals within his or her own race. Prior to watching this film, I would have expected the same outcome that Branson’s students initially expected, especially since I was proud to be Hispanic.

I have always felt extremely proud and have been quick to state that I am Hispanic. Due to this I feel that I am very influenced by my racial identity. I have followed my race’s customs and traditions: respected my elders, ate my beans, spoken Spanish, and so forth. I was so proud of being Hispanic that I always felt glad to find and choose the Hispanic option for the demographic sections of surveys and exams. However, this film has deeply affected my views of my own racial identity.

I feel that this film has opened my eyes to the reality of race. Before watching the film, I believed that race had some biological significance. After watching the film, I believe that there is no biological difference that separates races. Instead, (I know that this is extremely cliché) I now feel that the human race is the only race that should exist. We, the human race, should decrease our fixation on or completely eliminate racial categories in order to decrease racial discrimination and stereotypes.  

Although I strongly feel that the idea of race should be abolished due to its pseudoscience basis, this idea has persisted for numerous reasons. One of the reasons is that our history is so deeply rooted in racism. For example, the laws that enabled the enslavement of Africans were precursors to the ideology of race. Before the captivity of Africans, slave owners did not believe that Africans were born to be slaves. Instead, slave owners "only" anticipated to exploit the slaves for cheap labor. However, laws were created that made Africans inherently slaves. In other words, slavery was passed down from one generation of African slaves to their kin. Laws such as these enabled racial ideology by creating categories of people and attributing certain features or abilities to these categories. These categories were essentially created to benefit the individuals who have power. Referring back to the previous example of African slavery, the individuals who benefited were slave owners or the White wealthy individual. In a sense, individuals who are racially classified as White continue to reap the benefits of the hindering social construct known as race.
             After watching “Race: the Power if an Illusion. Episode 1,” I feel that race is an antiquated social construct that has created barriers within the human race. Race will remain persistent, but I will avoid this construct. When asked what I am I will no longer be inclined to answer that I am Hispanic. I will be inclined to answer that I am a part of the human race.