Brandon Hoyne

29 April 2015
Anthro: Final Essay
Professor Potter
Humans and Race
What is race? Miriam-Webster Dictionary Describes race as "An actually or potentially
interbreeding group within a species" This definition simply says that a specific species that
breeds and reproduces characteristics that are the same to that species. Many people will view
the definition of race as a way for humans to classify people who are different than them for their
benefit. There is some merit to this definition as we look the history of mankind due to all the
indiscretions mankind has had with the differences between them. But what will the future hold
for the definition of race as a more accepting world attempts to include everyone and to bury
biases and prejudices against people who have different color skin, different heritage and
different upbringing? In the past man was not of accepting of each other. This was primarily the
reason for institutions such as slavery and genocide was the fact that people were just different
looking than they were. Even science was swayed by the agendas of the influential to say that
people of different ethnicity were far more inferior than their society thus justifying their cruel
forms of slavery in whatever form. This negative connotation of race has always been present
and unfortunately will most likely always will be present in mankind. But was race created to be
just a form of classification for one "race" to ascend to power over all the other "races?" Or is it
something that was created simply to categorize man and then was manipulated into a power
struggle?
First the good news. Race in a completely unbiased study of science has great value in
understanding our roots as a humans. For example, if scientists can determine a race of a fossil
skeleton they then can use that as proof as to where that human originated from is the fossil is

old enough. Race is also a classification system that is used by census bureau's to evaluate the
populations of countries and determine who is a majority or minority based on the results. So the
classification of race has it value when used correctly and not for a gain of power. Unfortunately
race is, for the majority, used for just that gain of power.
The problem with race classification is that mankind now is extremely diverse and cannot
be classified by a few simple definitions of race because the races are so diverse. Man has tried
to keep up with such diversity by creating a sub category called ethnicity. Some will argue that
the two are completely different. But are they? Ethnicity takes a race a defines where the
differences of that race are. And in those ethnicities are where the confrontations between what
seem like races lie, when in reality the ethnicities are confronted. For example the 1994 genocide
of Tutsi people by Hutu People in Rwanda. Technically the two types of people are of the same
race but are different ethnically. Thus resulting in the genocide of 800,000 people basically
because they have been different and always had hatred for each from century old conflicts.
(History.com) There are many similar instances throughout time when ethnic violence such as
this has been displayed. From Hitler to Pol Pot and Bosnian Serbs to Sadam Hussien all have
justified their acts of genocide under the pretenses that were, at root, minor differences in culture
and society but these men thought those differences were a threat their power and culture and
decided extermination was the best answer. All this death and mass murder stemming from a
lack of the understanding that we are all human beings. Literally the same species.
When races collide however, the conflicts are much more deep rooted perhaps even
biologically. Some biologist submit that all humans have the natural tendency to be attack things
that are different from us and be aggressive against such differences. This has value because
newborns are biased to their mothers and anyone different to their mother the child tends to be
more fussy. However, others say race is taught and subjigated on the premise that children are
only taught that different looking people are to be wary of. The classic example is the American

Divide of Race. America is to the melting pot of all races so inherently the supremacy of one
race had to prevail, but if everyone is different then why are whites such a dominant race through
the American History? The question rhetorically is answered by the simple conclusion that
humans have the natural instincts to be in power of others and race is just another tool that is
used to assert that need of power.

Reference Page

Miriam-Webster. "Race." Miriam-Webster.com. Web. 29 Apr. 2015

The Rwandan Genocide." History.com. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.history.com/topics/rwandan-genocide>.
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