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Race and racism

Introduction

Race is a marker of difference among humans based on physical features such as skin color or hair color/texture. Historically, race was treated as a biological or “scientific” method of human classification, in which racial “groups” were defined by the presence or absence of particular inheritable traits. These theories were developed during the colonial era and were used by those in power to rationalize the exploitation or extermination of particular “racial” groups. The scientific basis for race has since been refuted, as multiple studies have shown that there is greater genetic diversity within racially defined groups than exists among those groups.

Simply put, there is no biological basis for race. Yet, despite its failings as a scientific concept, race today exists as an extremely important socially constructed conceptualization of differences among humans. That race is such an important concept is the result of racism. Racism is the ideology of difference, which takes as its foundation the idea that particular (usually negative) attributes regarding behavior, intelligence, or culture are inherent within particular racial groups. This ideology is then used to justify arguments for the superiority of one racial group relative to another, which leads to the production of inequality between racial groups.

Discussion and analysis

Greek essentialism

The notion that different races not only look different, but also behave differently as a result of their physical differences, can be traced back in western thought at least as far as the writings of the ancient Greeks, particularly to the humeral model of existence proposed by Hippocrates, in his discourse on airs, waters, and places.

In Hippocrates's humoral model, all living things are imbued with an essence that determines their physical characteristics and nature. The essence of an organism not only determines its physical traits, but also, in the case of animals, determines temperament (aggression, passivity, etc.), intelligence, and behavior. The essences are the product of the exact combination of qualities, elements, humors, and associated temperaments. All living things have the four humors of yellow bile, blood, black bile, and phlegm; it is the exact ratio of these humors in an organism that ultimately determines its physical traits and temperament. Once the first member of a particular group arises, a template is created from which all descendants are derived. For example, a dog is a dog because it contains dog essence. The first dog arose in a particular part of the world and the qualities and elements of this dog resulted in a preponderance of one of the four humors with its corresponding temperament. Once the first dog came into being, all subsequent dogs inherited the same essence, thus determining their dog features and behaviors. These essences are immutable; thus all dogs will remain basically the same indefinitely in physical composition and temperament. All living things were also listed along a scale, the “great chain of being,” which ranked organisms from the most godlike (humans) to the least godlike (insects, etc.).

The humoral model was also used to explain humans. Unlike dogs, however, the Greeks saw ...