Reference no: EM132617773

Discussion: Your initial discussion thread is due and you have to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses.

The Social Construction of Racial and Ethnic Groups

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapters 1 and 2 from your textbook and review the following resources:

• The Story of Race: A History

• RACE - The Power of an Illusion

• To Bring a Divided Country Together, Start With a Little Spit

• Race ≠ DNA: If Race is a Social Construct, What's Up With DNA Ancestry Testing?

This discussion will help you think about race and ethnicity as socially constructed concepts. Rather than being rooted in any major biological differences, race and ethnicity are systems of thought and human behavior constructed within specific social contexts. Therefore, race and ethnicity are not directly based on nature or biology but instead result from social ideas and practices. In other words, racial and ethnic categories exist because people believe they are real and important. Furthermore, certain groups have historically decided who belongs to a given racial group, as well as the characteristics and values attributed to these groups.

Today as home DNA tests are illuminating people's genetic diversity, long-held ideas about racial and ethnic groups are being challenged. In your initial post, please address the following:

• Watch the video The Story of Race: A History or review the web page RACE - The Power of an Illusion. Explain the difference between race and ethnicity. What do sociologists mean when they say that race and ethnicity are socially constructed?

• During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, how was race socially constructed? How did colonizers benefit from how they constructed race?

• According to the article Race ≠ DNA: If Race is a Social Construct, What's Up With DNA Ancestry Testing? what makes race a socially defined identity rather than a biologically defined one? Does race matter if it is not a biological concept? Provide an example to support your answer of why race does or does not matter if it is not a biological concept.

• Home genetic (DNA) testing has become a multibillion-dollar industry and millions of people globally have taken these home tests to uncover their genetic stories. According to the resources you reviewed, how do DNA test results shape people's perceptions of race and ethnicity? Why are some people resistant to their test results?

• According to the article To Bring a Divided Country Together, Start With a Little Spit how might taking a home DNA test help bridge the deep racial and ethnic divisions in our society? Explain why you agree or disagree with this.

Your initial post should be at least 650 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material and/or other scholarly resources and properly cite any references. Be sure to review the list of recommended resources for additional assistance.

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates' posts. In your responses, be sure to note any interesting aspects of their response, such as the social rather than biological conceptualization of race and/or the role of DNA in shaping people's perceptions of race and ethnicity. Your responses should be at least 200 words in length.