Sociology 208: Minority Groups
Rhode Island College
Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur
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Why should we study race? Race does not "exist" in any physical or biological sense. The genes that dictate our skin color, our hair color, the shape of our eyes or our nose--these genes do not come in some neat little bundle that tells us who belongs to which group. Indeed, over history and still today there has not been a consensus on how to classify people into races or even how many races exist. However, race is extremely real in its effects on our lives as individuals and as members of society. By studying race, along with ethnicity (an idea which is often confused or conflated with race), we can unravel where race comes from, why it still matters, how it impacts us, and how it intersects with other sorts of inequality in society.