

What We Mean When We Say 'Race Is a Social Construct' - giorgiofontana
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/what-we-mean-when-we-say-race-is-a-social-construct/275872/

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JoeAltmaier
What a bunch of semantic sophistry. Argue that something isn't completely
well-define is not the same as refuting it.

I'm no racist, but I'm as sure race exists as I am the sun and the moon. In
America we play games with it and pretend its not really something. But just
live in a monoculture like, say, the rest of the planet and you'll come to
understand race intimately.

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JPKab
Genetically, a Somalian man, a German man and a Japanese woman have more in
common than two sub-Saharan Africans who live 100 miles apart. But in the
U.S., the Somalian is 'black.' This is what the article is pointing out.

When Americans use the term 'black' or 'white', they are using big bucket
terms to label cultural and ethnic groups that share physical similarities.
The problem is that using skin color as the basis for this is absurd, and
prevents us from solving the "Race problem." Why?

Because America doesn't have a "Race problem." America has a culture problem.
Some of the sub-cultures in America are doing terrible, but when we try to
solve the problem in a blanket way by helping a "race" we end up blaming the
wrong things and solving the wrong problems.

Nigerian-American immigrants do phenomenally well, and their second
generations rank at levels matching or exceeding Asian American immigrant
families. Culturally they are completely separate from descendants of slaves
stolen from Africa in the 17th century. But because they are lumped together
as "black", we try to solve the issue at that obtuse level.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
That! For years I've believed we conflate 'race' with culture.

