Race: A Social Construction of Reality

This week during class we discussed the topic of race.  We talked about how race doesn't actually exist.  We made it up in order to classify people so that we would feel comfortable knowing which category people are in.  When we first meet someone and they are a mixed race we often feel anxious because we don't know where to categorize them.  In the U.S we have the one drop rule.  If you even have a drop of black blood in your body you are automatically considered black.  It was interesting to learn that just by flying to Brazil you can change your race.  In Brazil, race is determined by your skin color and how you look.  Race was very interesting to talk about because before this lesson I had no idea that race was a social construction of reality.

~Liv