Category: Race: The Power of an Illusion, the Difference Between Us, Episodes 1&2

The first episode of Race – the Power of an Illusion approached the topic of race first how it originated in society, progressing to how it is understood today with the application of modern science. Originally race was the idea that external characteristics have a root in the internal characteristics of human beings. The mostContinue reading Episodes 1 & 2 →

This film was debunking the idea that race is something biological, and attempts to prove that external differences do not say something about a person’s biology. They talk about the way race is constructed in America, going back to the Eugenics movement and the history of racism in our country. It discusses the stereotypes andContinue reading Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episodes 1&2 →

The first two episodes of “Race: The Power of an Illusion” left me thinking about the concept of race in a way that I never thought about prior to this class. When race is discussed in a casual setting, it is often referred to in terms of how people assign meaning to the way youContinue reading Race: The Power of an Illusion Episode 1&2 →

“Race the Power of an Illusion” not only discusses the history of our societally constructed races, but how these categories can be detrimental to those who are minorities. Psychological research has found that humans tend to categorize things. Our brains love to organizing things into lists and categories, however, what are the effects of groupingContinue reading Race the Power of an Illusion →

As I reflect on the first two episodes, I can’t help but think about stories- how we construct them, how they shape our societies, and how we remember them.  I suppose at the heart of it, that’s what race is: a story, made up by those in a position of power. Because of that powerContinue reading Race Ep. 1 and 2- The Stories We Tell →

Race was used as a tool to identify people who were from so-called “inferior” cultural backgrounds. It was thought that race held a biologically basis, but now we know that this is far from the truth. There is no way to reliably measure race in scientific experiments. There is no way to isolate a geneContinue reading Race: The Power of Illusion, The Difference Between Us- Episodes 1&2 →

Race: The Power of an Illusion, went into a very detailed description of how race became a social descriptor and way to separate populations by appearance. I thought that this documentary was incredibly thought-provoking. This documentary started by explaining how there is no genetic marker or biological component to race. It also explained how racial groupsContinue reading Race: The Power of an Illusion, the Difference Between Us, Episodes 1&2 →

Embracing that race might not have any biological significance is baffling but the reasons become clear when looking at history and the evolution of racism. When we watched the film “Race: The Power of an Illusion” I was not too terribly shocked as I had heard the idea of race being a social construction inContinue reading Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episodes 1&2 →

The videos we watched gave an overview of how race might have been an American concept used to justify the ill treatment of an entire group of people without real, empirical scientific basis. Today, when the genes of those within different ‘races’ are compared, there seems to be no particular factor that stands out asContinue reading Race: The power of an illusion, Ep 1&2 →