Race Is It a Valid Issue Essay - 3192 Words

Race: Is It a Valid Issue? Biological advancements such as Darwinism and Mendelian genetics had a profound impact on the study of race in the scientific community. These new concepts eventually led some scientists to question the validity of traditional notions about race. The resulting debates continue even today. The idea of race, especially in citizens of this country, evokes strong feelings because of the enormous social implications associated with racial identity. The social connotations of racial categories have had a profound influence on the way scientists understand human variation. Early ideas of race were colored by these connotations, and they still play a critical role in the way we understand race today. This paper will†¦show more content†¦Piye, for example, in his triumphal stele made no reference to color: he apparently did not regard himself as a champion of black peoples who had overturned their former white masters. Egyptians and Nubians had for centuries been accustomed to the gr adations in skin color among the inhabitants of the Nile Valley and hence saw nothing unusual in the differences (73-74). This absence of color-consciousness persisted in the Greco-Roman tradition, as well: nothing comparable to the virulent color prejudice of modern times existed in the ancient world. This is the view of most scholars who have examined the evidence and who have come to conclusions such as these: the ancients did not fall into the error of biological racism; black skin color was not a sign of inferiority; Greeks and Romans did not establish color as an obstacle to integration in society; and ancient society was one that for all its faults and failures never made color the basis for judging a man. (Snowden 63) Even in medieval times, there was no racial component to social structure. As Montagu states: A study of the cultures and literatures of mankind, both ancient and recent, shows us that the conception of natural or biological races of mankind differing from one another mentally as well as physically, is an idea which was not born until the latter part of the eighteenth centuryShow MoreRelatedSociological Perspectives On Race And Ethnicity1442 Words   |  6 PagesIssues of race and ethnicity can be seen through three noteworthy sociological viewpoints: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Every point of view offers its own particular key to comprehension, and nobody viewpoint is accepted completely adequate all alone; rather, every one gives a vital method for seeing part of the social procedure. Together they give capable knowledge and various methodologies for comprehension social marvels. 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