Why He's Not Black, She's Not White and My Mom Isn't Brown
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Politics and Activism

Why He's Not Black, She's Not White and My Mom Isn't Brown

Why Race is A Social Construction

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Why He's Not Black, She's Not White and My Mom Isn't Brown
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"So, what are you? Where are you from? Where were you born? Where are your parents from?" All questions someone asks you upon meeting you, or all questions someone asks you after finally feeling comfortable enough with you.

What many people don't know or don't acknowledge when asking, "so what are you?" is that when someone responds by saying "I'm Hispanic" or "I'm white" those two terms considered a race, are actually social constructs. Race is a social construction. By that I mean that race is a category the government created to categorize people of different ethnicities. Instead some should ask, "what ethnicity are you?"

In the dictionary, the term 'race' is defined as follows: "a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc." The truth is, this is wrong. If you're Mexican, Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, etc. under the U.S. Census bureau you'll be considered Hispanic. If you're African, African-American, Belizean, etc. you'll be considered black. And if you're Italian, Irish, German, etc. you'll be considered white. Hispanic, Black and White are all categorizations under the social construction of race.

Hispanic is a race. The dictionary says people of the same race share the SAME culture, history and language. And this is where it's wrong. Mexicans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans may have some similarities but each group of people are not only of different ethnicity, but they all have their own distinct culture, history and dialect.

Let me break it down for you in my own words.

Nationality: the country you hold citizenship in and/or were born in.

Origin: where you and/or your family come from, your ethnic(s) background.

Ethnicity: you and your family's background; a group of people who share the same culture, origin, language and [usually] nationality.

Race: a social construct to categorize people by race rather than by their ethnicities, putting groups of people from different ethnicities and origins into the same group.

So, the way I see it, the definition used to describe the term 'race' should actually be used to define the word 'ethnicity.'

Anyway, since when did the words: black, white and brown become words to describe people? I thought black was the color of Mickey Mouse's head, white the color of whiteout and brown the color of coffee beans. I mean, have you ever met someone as black as Mickey's head or someone as white as whiteout? And someone as brown as coffee beans from Costa Rica? No, right?

That's exactly why he shouldn't be called "black," she shouldn't be referred to as "white," and my mom shouldn't be called "brown"--because it is impossible for any human being to actually represent these colors (unless they have spray painted themselves).

So then why are there black and white options when filling out which race you are? Those are just colors, not a race. We shouldn't even be asked what race we are because race is a social construct, not our origin or ethnicity. Besides, someone who could be categorized as black in the U.S., might be taken for as white in Brazil or colored in South Africa. It all gets really messy, doesn't it?

Instead of trying to categorize each other and our identities, let's accept that we are all different and share similarities. Let's acknowledge that even if we are all of different ethnicities, we are all of the same human race; the only race that isn't a social construct.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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