Race: The Power of Illusion

Before watching the film I did not think biology had anything to do with racism. I believe scientist tried to prove that race was biological in order to justify the actions against the non-white race. I had never really thought about where race had come from but was surprised, but not hard to believe, to hear in the film that race was created by humans to describe social and cultural differences.

Knowing that race is not biological will not eliminate racisms today. Those that are racist today, I believe, are just looking at the color of the skin. Racism is a learned behavior and those who are teaching racism to their children today are not teaching them there are biological differences. I have friends whose parents have instilled racism in them and not once did I hear them state anything about the biological differences. I believe it's the social and cultural differences that cause racism today.

I was aware of the racism and acts of racism in American history but in watching the film I was surprised how the white race was looked at as a pure race and was even protected by law in the 1920s to safeguard the pure white race. It is frightening how those thoughts are similar to Nazism where the Germans believed they were a pure race threatened by the Jews.

Even though we cannot deny that racism exists today, I am thankful that we have come this far and rights and freedom are not determined by race. Martin Luther King had said "Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty."

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