There are times when I can go through life barely trying to look at things for more than they appear on the outside. But recently I’ve been questioning a lot about how society operates and why we do the things we do and see the things we see. The piece, Racial Formation in the United States did an extremely good job in making the reader think critically about the role and importance of race in our society. Race as stated in Merriam-Webster, is described as being a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits, but in reality is used as so much more than a guideline of common physical traits. So much of our day to day lives have the concept of race woven into them. But why?

In an anthropology class I took last semester, we learned that race doesn’t actually exists, it is a social construct that society has created. According to anthropologists, biologically there is no such thing as race. But if this true then why is it given so much importance, not only informally, but as a part of the formal system as well. We are classified by race: there are scholarships specifically targeted towards different races, tests require you to check off a race, and colleges that want you to specify which racial group you belong to for “diversity” purposes. Everyone wonders why race is such a big deal and why it shapes so much of our culture. People are always looking for ways to diminish its importance. But the reason that is festers is because of the importance that we give it. In the piece the author gives the example of a woman who was the product of a white planter and black slave and wanted to change her racial classification. Instead of being identified as “black”, she wanted to be labeled “white”. But her request was denied because of the strict guidelines that were put in place as an identification of race. Why does the law tell you what you are? In this case even defying biology, in the loose construct that it can be held here. And since the whole entire idea of race can biologically be torn a part than why can’t people be a race according to what the feel or identify with?  Why do people who don’t even know you have the power to make that decision for you? And beyond that, maybe there shouldn’t even be a reason for someone to rally the courts to change her documented race, maybe it shouldn’t be documented in the first place.

Recognizing race is what gives it its power. Besides the physical attributes (even this isn’t accurate because no one trait belongs to a specific group of people) that can be hard to ignore, verbalizing the fact is what can cause destruction in society. An example of this is given in the documentary, The House I Live In, which chronicles the War on Drugs and its effects in society. In the movie it is shown that African Americans make up a large portion of inmates charged for drug use. And goes on to explain that law officials seek out African Americans, believing that they will be able to convict them on drug charges. This leads many African Americans to find themselves in a never ending cycle which stops them from ever moving forward. This behavior is perpetuated by race which leads to racism. A professor I had once told the class that she believes that race is the child of racism, not its mother and I find that be absolutely true.