In this chapter students will learn:

• prejudice and discrimination exist based on perceptions of racial difference
• the human species does not have enough difference in our DNA to accurately divide people into distinct races
• discrimination based on perceived race and ethnicity has detrimental health effects
• how the idea of different races began in history
• how ethnicity is defined
• how having fair skin confers privilege in society
• that similar forms of falsely biological discrimination exist

Introduction: Is Race Real?

While not enough difference exists between members of the human species to divide us into different “races,” the social and cultural experience of race is real. This includes privilege, prejudice, and discrimination. All people are affected by systemic racism, even if one is not targeted by it.

Human race Is Not Biological

Although we often use skin color as a marker of race, the variation in skin color is an ancient response to environmental pressures. Three reasons biological race is an inaccurate marker of human difference are the following: humans around the world share 99.9 per cent of their DNA; human variation lies on a continuum and cannot be sorted into groups; and most human variation is individual variation. Neither physical talent nor occupation are linked biologically to ethnic groups, only to culture and society.

Biocultural Connections: Prejudice and Health

Prejudice and discrimination affects different ethnic groups in different ways, leading to social, economic, and health inequities.

History of the Race Concept

Early ideas about race came from tales of explorers and conquerors, with the result that apparent human “races” were based on anecdotal stereotypes. Later, bodily measurements were used to determine racial categories, with no scientific evidence to support this practice. Racialization of ethnic groups and DNA testing support the ongoing misuse of genetic information.

Defining Ethnicity

Ethnicity is a marker of common history, cultural patterns, social ties, and language use, but it is not genetic. It may be used to racialize and discriminate against groups of people, or it may be used as a unit of resistance and solidarity by the group itself. Cultural and Native appropriation occurs when members of a dominant group use designs, behaviors, or artifacts of a group that has been historically oppressed, especially when that use is out of context, stereotypical, and without permission or compensation.

The Privelege of Fair Skin

Society confers unearned privileges on members with fair skin, with advantages and opportunities that are not universally offered. A person who identifies with and supports an ethnic community is an ally.

Discrimination Based on Caste

In some societies, people are born into caste hierarchies. People born into low castes experience discrimination, even when differences aren’t marked by physical characteristics.

1. What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?

2. What is systemic racism and how does it affect all people in a society?

3. What does the degree of pigment in human skin tones have to do with our ancestral environments?

4. What are the three main reasons that biological race is an inaccurate term?

5. What are some biocultural examples that demonstrate how racism affects health?

6. How did the race concept begin?

7. How might we define ethnicity, and what are its functions?

8. How does White privilege pervade social life?

9. How does the hierarchical structure of a caste system create discrimination?

1. What is your ethnicity and in what ways do you identify with it?

2. Do you personally have trouble filling in census data or other forms in which “race” is requested?

3. What are some examples of cultural or Native appropriation of which you are aware?

4. What’s your response to the case of Rachel Dolezal, who was born to White parents but adopted a Black identity?

ally (page 68): a friend; someone who acts on your behalf

bicultural (page 68): able to easily operate within the beliefs and practices of two cultures

blood quantum (page 62): the fraction of “Indian Blood” a person has, measured by tribal documents demonstrating the membership of relatives

cairn (page 66): stack or pile of stones placed as a monument

caste (page 69): a hierarchical system based on birth; most commonly associated with Hindu India

caste system (page 69): a system of social stratification in India in which a person is born into a hereditary group traditionally linked to certain occupations

cultural appropriation (page 66): the practice when members of a powerful group use designs, artifacts, behaviors, or ideas taken directly from a group that has been historically oppressed

discrimination (page 50): actions taken as a result of prejudice; negative treatment of someone based on a social classification such as race or religion, not based on the individual

embodiment (page 68): the physical representation of an idea, principle, or process

epigenetics (page 57): the study of inherited changes in gene expression without changes to the DNA itself

ethnic cleansing (page 57): violent and aggressive intergroup conflicts in which one group attempts to commit genocide of the other

ethnicity (page 62): a term used to describe the heritage, geographic origin, language, and other features of a person

eugenics (page 61): a pseudo-science of “race improvement”

First Nations (page 56): the groups of Indigenous peoples who live south of the Arctic Circle in Canada

food sovereignty (page 58): the right of peoples to define and manage their own healthy and culturally relevant food systems

FST or fixation index (page 52): a measure of population difference in which 0 shows interbreeding and 1.0 shows none

genetic distance (page 52): a measure of the mutations between two populations; the less breeding among populations, the greater the genetic distance between them

genocide (page 57): the death of an entire ethnic group

hijab (page 66): a hair and neck covering that is worn by some Muslim women

identity politics (page 68): focusing on one’s identity and validating one’s sense of belonging to a particular group with a particular history

Inuit (page 56): Indigenous peoples of the Canadian Arctic, northern Alaska, and Greenland

melanocytes (page 51): human skin cells that produce pigment

Métis (page 56): in Canada, people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry

Native appropriation (page 66): the practice in which members of a powerful group use designs, artifacts, behaviors, or ideas taken directly from a self-identified Indigenous group that has been historically oppressed

nutrition transition (page 58): the shift in diet and energy expenditure that results from people managing their own agriculture to relying on processed convenience foods

passing (page 68): pretending to be a member of another ethnicity, “race,” or gender

phenotype (page 50): the outward expression of a person’s genes, often their physical features

prejudice (page 50): a preformed opinion not based on fact, an unfavorable bias toward something or someone

race (page 49): a term used to describe varieties or subspecies of a species; inaccurately used to refer to human differences in a biological sense

racialization (page 62): assigning racial identities based on biology to an ethnic or cultural group whose members do not do so

systemic racism (page 50): discrimination that exists throughout society and influences people’s decisions, expectations, opportunities, and limitations

White privelege (page 67): denotes the unearned power that society and its institutions bestow upon people with fair skin over those with darker skin (also referred to in the text as simply “ethnic privilege”)

Teaching Race series (Society for Cultural Anthropology)
www.culanth.org

“Teaching about Race in Introductory Anthropology Courses: An Ethnographic Study.” PhD diss. 2015 by Jennifer Gilroy Hunsecker
www.scholarcommons.usf.edu

Living Anthropologically (blog): Teaching Race by Jason Antrosio
www.livinganthropologically.com

Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA)
www.aba.americananthro.org

RACE: Are We So Different? (AAA project and resources)
www.americananthro.org

Linné On Line (Swedish website devoted to Linnaeus’ life and work)
www2.linnaeus.uu.se

Rethinking Pedagogy of Race in Anthropology, Part I by Takami Delisle (archived on the Savage Minds blog)
www.savageminds.org

Bonilla-Silva, E. (2014). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America (4th ed.). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.

Fuentes, A. (2012). Race, monogamy, and other lies they told you: Busting myths about human nature. Berkeley: UC Press.

Halley, J., Eshleman, A., & Vijaya, R.M. (2011). Seeing white: An introduction to white privilege and race. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

Jablonski, N. (2006). Skin: A natural history. Berkeley: UC Press.

Jablonski, N. (2014). Living color: The biological and social meaning of skin color. Berkeley: UC Press.

Mukhopadhyay, C., Henze, R., & Moses, Y. (2014). How real is race? A sourcebook on race, culture, and biology (2nd ed.). Lanham: AltaMira Press.

Tallbear, K. (2013). Native American DNA: Tribal belonging and the false promise of genetic science. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

1. Is race an accurate method for categorizing historical people? Why is this concept relevant today?

No, race has never been an accurate way to categorize humans, as it is not a biological truth. However, it has been a social construct used in many different contexts.

• This answer should explore a bit of the history described in the text (e.g., sixteenth-century exploration and colonization practices; the Linnaeus system). The aspect of contemporary relevance can vary depending on the answer; it should, however, likely include an understanding of how eugenics works (and why this depends on the concept of race) and other ways in which perceived racial differences affect people’s lives (a recent example could be the Ferguson uprising in the United States, or recognition of the effects of residential schools on the Indigenous people of Canada).

See pages 49-62 of your text.

2. Provide an explanation for why race is not a biological concept that applies to the human species.

Your answer should focus on the biological and genetic factors that invalidate the use of race to describe differences among people. It should include the following aspects:

• Race is often attributed to skin color and physical characteristics; however, these traits are simply ancient responses to the environments in which our ancestors evolved.
• Human skin color formed early in our species, when people lived for many generations in one region. Permanent skin pigment is a balance between getting enough vitamin D and protecting from folate loss, both related to the intensity of the sun’s radiation.
• There is not enough difference in the DNA of individuals or groups around the world to meet the criteria of “racial” classification.
• Human variation lies on a continuum and cannot be divided into groups.
• Most human variation is individual variation.

See pages 50-54 of your text.

3. What kinds of evidence exist that prejudice and discrimination result in poorer health for non-White people in the US and Canada? How does the concept of White privilege tie in to these outcomes?

Your answer should focus on how systemic or structural racism affects various ethnic groups in different ways. It should include the following aspects:

• How prejudice leads to discrimination.
• The evidence that demonstrates that non-White ethnic groups suffer poorer health outcomes than people of a White ethnicity (in the US, Black and Hispanic in particular; in Canada, First Nations and other Indigenous peoples).
• The fact that White privilege exists in all areas of society and that even if a person treats others equally, they are still bound by the limitations of structural racism.

See pages 56-57 and 67-68 of your text.

4. If race is not a biologically accurate way to describe differences among humans, how did it come to be so prevalent? What is the history of the race concept?

Your answer should emphasize the development of the idea that differences were inherent and that people could be classified into groups based on their physical characteristics.

• Differences among people were first described by explorers and missionaries, who did not understand the cultures or languages of the groups with whom they came into contact. Europeans exploited their land and resources, justifying their actions with the notion that non-White peoples were inherently inferior and primitive.
• Discuss the “scientific” classification schemes created by Linnaeus, Blumenbach, and Coon and how these classifications persisted into the twentieth century with the eugenics agenda.
• Today, racialization persists in ascribing characteristics to people based on ethnicity and in attributing membership in a group to DNA evidence.

See pages 56-62 of your text.

5. Discuss the differences between culture and ethnicity. Where do these concepts overlap and where are they different?

Your answer should focus on the definitions of culture and ethnicity and what they have in common. It should also identify those aspects of each that are unique.

• Culture and ethnicity both have many definitions; however they share the notion of shared patterns of belief and behavior. Neither is biological or genetic; the patterns that comprise culture and ethnicity are learned.
• The idea of culture emphasizes shared patterns of behavior and the understandings that guide that behavior. Cultural knowledge may be linked to occupation, interest, or socio-economic level, areas of culture that do not correlate with ethnic differences.
• Ethnicity focuses on a shared history, experience, language, and symbolic identity. Ethnicity can be imposed from outside the group for social or political reasons. People of many different ethnic groups may share culture (for example, people of many ethnicities live in the US, where they share broader cultural understandings).

See pages 62-66 of your text, as well as Chapter 2 on Culture.