A few nights ago in my Health Science class my professor was talking about how race has absolutely nothing to do with biological factors. A white person may have a closer genetic strain with an African-American than with another white person. The only thing that defines race is the culture and society we are brought up in. Black people are taught to think that they are of a lower class. They are stereotyped as so. White people are stereotyped as being privileged and wealthy. This often is not the case. There are many African-American people who are trying to better themselves by going to college. They no longer want to be a statistic. There are also many white people who are drug addicts and live on the street.
Race, by definition, is a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics. No where does this specify that color needs to come into play. Race, defined by color, is something society has created to help categorize people come census time.
An interesting question was brought up in this same class. There is a woman who was born to Indian parents, yet she was raised in Africa. She classifies herself as African-American. Another woman asked her "what box she checked" when filling out forms. The first woman wasn't quite sure how to answer that. She doesn't think of herself as Indian because she's not from India, she's from Africa. Thus proving the point that race is only a classification system.
I think too many people are scared to talk about racial issues. All this silence will not bring about a change. In the 1960's African Americans stood up and spoke out about issues they wanted changed.
Race is not silent! Stand up for what you believe in.
