Racial Identity Through the Eyes of an Adoptee

The film Race: The Power of Illusion: The Difference Between Us discusses the multiple meanings of race socially and scientifically.  Instead of confirming older beliefs that people within races are genetically similar, scholars and scientists in the film reveal the vast genetic variability of humans across and within different races.  For instance microbiologist Pilar Ossorio comments that people within the same racial group tend to have the same amount of genetic variation or more compared to those in different groups.  In the experiment involving the high school students, each student collects their own DNA and compares the results with each other and people across the world through a database.  They are surprised to discover that their classmates that they thought were in the same racial groups as themselves actually had more genetic differences.  At the same time they discovered that they had less genetic differences with people in different racial groups than themselves.  Although this experiment proved racial groups are not as biologically stratified as once thought, one commenter in the film pointed out that despite this evidence we still live in a “racialized society”.  

In the past and still to this day people have used race to justify inequality.  As pointed out in the film, Race theorists have used Eugenics to attribute specific traits to certain races.  For instance in the 1936 Olympics an African American man, Jesse Owens, received awards for his accomplishments in track and field.  According to the film many people attributed his athletic success to his race even though doctors proved that he wasn’t different from anyone else who competed.  This shows how, even when people of color are successful, it is reflected negatively through racist stereotypes and attitudes that are supported through false science.

After viewing this film it has not changed the way I view my own racial identity.  Growing up race was never a huge part of my identity.  I was raised in a mostly white neighborhood by parents who identify themselves as white.  Despite this I have never been able to identify myself as white.  The main reason for this is that I was adopted as a baby from Colombia, and although my adoptive mom is also Colombian she identifies as white due to her Italian ancestry.  Furthermore, even though we are both Colombian my mom and I look nothing alike.  Because of the added complexity of being adopted and having parents that both identify as white I never formed a strong racial identity.  Today if someone asked me what I considered my race was I would probably say Hispanic even though that is not traditionally considered a race.

One thing that I have realized from watching this film is that it would be difficult to trace what my true ancestry is, knowing that genetic diversity within racial groups can be the same or more compared to other racial groups.  Although I may never know what my race or ethnicity is from my birth family I see now that for people who do know their race or ethnicity it can still be very complicated.  That being said it would be nice to know my background just so I could form a more solid opinion of my origins and how that reflects being raised in America versus being raised in Colombia.  In the film one of the commenters said that there is no universal way to classify race.  Given my background I would like to learn about how the rest of the world perceives race and ethnicity.   

The idea of race still persists even though scientists are unable to find a genetic basis for social ideas of racial differences. One reason might be because people still believe that there is a genetic basis for race. It seems that not many people are aware of the fact that there is no large genetic differences between racial groups.  When I first saw this film about two years ago I remember talking to my parents about what I had learned and they couldn't fully believe what I was saying most likely because they had been brought up thinking that there was a biological distinction of racial groups.  That being said another reason that the idea of race still exists is that it has been ingrained into society.  However, even if people knew that there was no genetic differences I am unsure whether people would get rid the idea of race.  As we have been discussing most people see their own race as an important identifying factor in their lives.  It would not be easy to say that race is not important because we live in a “racialized society”.  Finally, the idea of race might be difficult to breakdown because of how long race has existed and how overtime people have used racism to justify inequality.  It is hard to overcome years of exclusionary laws and practices in just a few years.  Many people question affirmative action policies because some people may consider them unfair, but without them minorities would not be able to beat generations of inequality.  It is clear that while scientific explanation for distinguishing racial groups has been proven false the social construct of race is still powerful enough for racist ideas and practices to be part of our society.