Race: A Socially Constructed Parasite
In our current status quo, it goes without a doubt that, built into our individuals, our social framework, and our institutional perspectives, there exists an eternal sense of hierarchy and superiority. Our capitalist worlds, triumphed with innovation, but equally with greed, selfishness and inequality, can only ever be imagined as a world corrupted by competition; a social-desirability framed by fame, by wealth, but most notably, by race.
For as long as we’ve known, there has existed a constant state of racial superiority agreed upon by society, particularly prevalent in the impact on African-Americans in North America. From the unethicality of abuse and segregation, arguably lengthened and worsened by biased narratives preventing black people from pursuing their potential, the results of these free-flowing stigmas prove their existence a parasite to society; something existing for way too long, yet never fully recognized.
However, an overview on society's discriminatory instincts doesn’t begin to underline the internalized stigmas weighing down people of color. With the artificial construct that is race, and its popularization as a fair metric of classification, one sees that, throughout centuries, society has acknowledged such terms of ‘Black and White’ as an objectively fair way to judge an individual, and predict their cultural and personal identities.
In this, one might also argue that race is a fair biological construct; from birth, one simply is made to adhere to physical attributes associated with a race, and in turn, the -possibly true- narratives that come with it. However, this is where one must acknowledge what the meaning of race is in our society; that it is not just a tool for simple dialogue, but a binding lock of an individual to what thoughts were previously built up to segregate them. One must see race as an excuse to call out “Genetic capabilities” to collect like-minded narratives, when the reality is, that race is nothing but an illusion.
Besides, who decides which narratives to impose, and which are correct? Why is one group able to control how others are portrayed through simply one's general physical appearance, and what then even is the relationship between such aspects. What to note here, is that Black people didn’t consider themselves Black, until they became Black. Until they were told, they were Black. These races were never considered in identity, skill, and intelligence, until constructed to be adhered to. And here goes the question, where did these narratives stem from? Since when did race become such a binding social construct, and how does this ultimately lead African-Americans and society to question their worth and identities? At the end of this article, one will not only understand more about the means, creation, and enforcement of race as a majority-entitled construct, but how the hierarchy associated with race can condemn Black individuals to social and self-suppression and double consciousness, ultimately infringing upon one's sense of self in search of an inequitable acceptance.
A Hidden History
Let’s start off with debunking the concept of “Race”; what this social construct entails and why it ultimately gained traction as a crucial, yet parasitic part of society. In this, one needs to understand how race was coined in history. Even though it is seen now as a “Human classification system socially constructed based on the phenotypic characteristics of man”, there are indeed old signs of race being used to characterize biological likeness.
For instance, during the 1500s, British colonialism and expansion engineered racialized thinking when individuals of the same physical appearance were grouped together. This can be traced later to North American history when European empires seeked to largely profit off of over-sea territories. In search of gold and other such materials, these British and Spanish colonies now needed to address the shortcoming of labor units. They needed to largely seek more labor forces, and this meant going overseas to Africa, and even to Europe in search of workers to help their empires profit and prosper.
What starts to differentiate, for one of the first times in history, is the treatment of Black workers compared to others. After slave laws were then passed and as time went on, indentured African slaves found themselves, not in a contract of short-term work and long-term benefits, but rather addressed as “Property”, and relinquished from their human rights.
The transition between indentured servitude to slavery during early American history can largely be credited as contributors to the discrimination and narrative today, as the human greed and further established hierarchical power incentivized wealthy Europeans to opt out of making deals with the most expensive “indentured slaves''. Their more favorable option grew to be what made land-owners more profitable; enslavement that largely targeted black individuals in America after having originally been promised a path to a “Free World”, came to offer no freedom at all. Being forced into lifetime and hereditary slavery, as inhumane tactics ultimately increased a “correct” narrative of white-supremacy, brings society to a point where the line seems to fade into the background, as new cultural norms spark among the privileged.
However, it would be largely unrealistic to say the initial treatment of Black individuals did not spark controversy; the escape of some enslaved, the protests for equality, and immediate responses even from Europeans came inevitably with the installation of new racial superiority and extreme maltreatment.
And as the privileged back then struggled to justify their unethical actions against Black workers, people started developing and perpetuating the narrative of a relationship between Black people, and their physical, social, and political rights.
This can be where the biological construction of race stems from, as owners went out of their way to seek out similarities between these individuals that could be used to mischaracterize them, even when those similarities come from their situation and not their physical ethnicity. Even from claims by president Jefferson justifying the lack of sleep and unhealthy living conditions for Black slaves as simply “Because they need less sleep than Europeans”, it is proven in history that race was once tied to these corrupt, biologically misinterpreted trends associated with black people. And why does this matter? Because, despite our somewhat uneducated yet determined societal efforts, the impact of racial narratives is still heavily seen and poisoning our society today.
Two Tracks, One Train, and It's Headed in the Wrong Direction
Even at the end of understanding how race is derived in history, this doesn’t take away from the fact that there is increasing resistance and resilience in our status quo. Our society, especially the emerging generations in North America are increasingly trying to undo the knot of hurtful racial narratives more than ever. The only problem: the knot is dead, and its rust has been leaking into society's notions for far too long.
What do the impacts of race look like in North America specifically? Well, let's start with the efforts after the construction of a “Biological reasoning of race”. Additionally, what occurred during colonialism and slavery, during the age of enlightenment that took 17th century America by storm, western philosophers set off in search of natural reasons to justify everything.
Combined with withstanding narratives, this search perpetuated the creation of “Scientific markers” recognized back then as race to justify already established social norms of enslavement and genocide, which helped those who led society prove that the inferiority of the black minority was not social construction, but natural order. This search and the inability to adhere to truth resulted as well, in the narrative that non-European groups did not have a history, overshadowed by a “More relatable side of the story”. All mentioned efforts to build such a powerful social construct there resulted in the eventual acceptance of racial stereotypes and unfair narratives. And these narratives could only leak into the minds of everyone: both the segregated and the perpetrators. With external, structural implications, and internal, personal difficulties, we will now discuss the parasitic role of race in the lives, of too many.
External implications
To firstly break down structural implications first, see that the metric for the success of segregation (how the dominant class gets away with their actions even today), is normalization. However, as more people began buying into the concept of race during the enlightenment, and as the gap between Black and white became more pronounced, we see a spark of Race Conflict theory, a Marxist theory concerning the struggles and conflicts within society arising due to the scarcity of power. Principally, it is the struggle to foster good relationships between the dominant and subordinate groups in society which makes our relationships difficult, as the thesis’ and antithesis’ proposed by both sides result in the undesirable need to configure and consolidate.
In other words, the conflicts of interest separating Black and white in North America, along with the power imbalance between them, resulting in the spread of institutional racism and policies regarding human rights. Take the Jim Crow laws, justifying the segregation of Black children in education simply due to the fact that they were Black, or the purposeful redlining of black communities to segregate them from receiving the standards of security, healthcare, and economic opportunity available elsewhere. The impacts in this are not only on the principle of justice; how these socially constructed justifications don’t even begin to fully contextualize and understand African-American identity and potential role in society. But as well, there are also the tangible economic costs that come with institutions and governments going out of their way to hold discriminatory values. One might easily refer to the relevance of these costs as “Stuck in the past”. However, to address all the opportunities and contributions that People Of Colour could have given to society had they not been so heavily stigmatized in the past is to acknowledge the actual loss of intelligence and innovation that punishes society and its citizens.
Internal suppression
The previous section of this article touched upon the loss of potential for innovation throughout a time of enlightenment and now expansion; let's now go further with the analysis and answer why that is the case.
The big idea as to why the dominant race could and are still willing to justify their actions and the impact on Black people, is that it seemed like the narratives were “truthful”. Because, even though Black people were confined to such an impossible position that any other person could not crawl out of, they are still constantly subject to ridicule and shame, because of their inability to meet dominant-class expectations. The inflexible standard to which society measures all races regardless of background and disability—that all minority groups can reach levels of white success by their own means, regardless of their disadvantage, and that it is the fault of an individual for their failure—is what contributes to this deadlock between narratives and having no choice but to fulfill them, or lose it all.
We can use the example of the University of Pennsylvania study performed by W. E. B. Du Bois in the late 19th century, where 9675 African-Americans in the seventh ward—a majority black community—of Philadelphia were interviewed. Note that in this sector resided many different classes of African-Americans, with varying degrees of education, and therefore contributed a decently various sample to represent Philadelphia's Black community.
The results collected in the 1890s found that not only was there a younger, female-prone population in the seventh ward but that even the more successful of the sample saw a greater mortality rate, with a lesser literacy rate. From the polarized, naked eye, these statistics might come as a coincidence, or as proof of a correct narrative held against Black people back then.
However, we tend to ignore the true reason for their struggles; outside influences. That the reality of poverty, crime, worsening infrastructure, and policies locking them out of economic opportunities is what brings the consequences, and not because they were Black. Think of a cycle of segregation: historical discrimination faced by African-Americans from socially-justified actions that disadvantage these African individuals to the daily workings and traits of society. They were not able to receive further education and opportunities because of these stigmas, which is why their current positions are on average lesser than their privileged counterparts. This hierarchy then perpetuates the “Natural narrative” that Black people are not in education due to “Laziness, genetics, or simply because of their race”; others in society see this perpetuation and blame the results on the victim when structural and social reactions are to blame.
This goes on to deal with our critically flawed concept and measurement of success. Why is it that society shames people of color in our hierarchical society, for not performing to our standards when they have double the distance to close? Even today, many acknowledge the inequality in our systems and the barriers to the entrance of many of our valuable opportunities. Yet, one tends to measure everyone within boundaries that already blocked out so many. It is how Black people are five times more likely to go to jail committing the same crime as others in our “All men are created equal” justice system. It's the expectation that both white and Black shall perform equally, even when the more privileged are constantly suppressing the minority’s ability to meet their potential. It is also the double standards associated with black existence: both systematic discrimination and colonialism that degrades Black individuals to passive objects in history, but equally an inner turmoil that is double consciousness. A twoness that prohibits and criticizes an African existence, while chastising their American identity. This kind of thinking, with all its background, in all its tremulous “glory”, is the basis of racism, of suppression, and it is this, that we must fight to change.
In the end, race is a parasite that unjustly subjects races to suppressive conditions, narratives, and history, yet judges them with the same standards of success as the rest. It places people of color in a position of disadvantage, then laughs at their actions and the lived impact of such a position. It is a parasite that ridicules Black communities for their African identity, then sucks away their ability to embrace a double-conscious being. What is race in, in historic and modern American society, but a tool for hierarchical power? These narratives need to change, and unless this new generation fights to untie the dead knot that are the handcuffs that is race, one can do nothing, but sit and wait for society to rot in its own narrated glory.
Sources:
https://pressbooks.nscc.ca/lumensociology2/chapter/theoretical-perspectives-of-race-and-ethnicity/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-consciousness/
https://1000wordphilosophy.com/2021/02/16/african-american-existentialism/
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=counseling-facpubs
