 |
| The map above shows the races of the world classified by color and location. |
White, black, red, yellow, brown. To me they are just colors, to others they mean much more. Mr. Bolos told us that they were the "color terminology to label a persons race." White defines Caucasian, black is African American, red is Native American, yellow is Asian, and brown is Indian or South American. To be honest, I had never heard of this color coding system before. When I thought deeper about it, it didn't seem right! There is too much variety in our world to have an individual fit under one of five categories. The Map pictured above was created in 1920. And Mr. Bolos said this color system is what he was taught in 1985. Maybe this isn't a modern day method then?
What is the "correct" way to address race? We held an in-class discussion last week about how we, as a class, define race. The list was: facial features, language, family origins, skin color, current culture, religion, "area they're from" and physical attributes. When I compare this to the 1985 five category color system, I think, how on earth could one color represent all of these classifications!? The truth is it can't. Then what can? Is there one word to define a whole race? I don't think so...
I agree that it is hard to give things general labels, but I feel like at some point you need to just be able to lump things together.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, the taxinomical hierarchy used to group organisms together. In this system there are 6 different kingdoms, one of which is Animalia. In this kingdom there is everything from a wombat to a flea. Both of these creatures are very different and no two wombats are alike but STILL we classify all of them as Kingdom Animalia.
I agree that we can not make assumptions about a person based on the broader heading we give them but at some point I think that you should be alowed to classify a certain group of people as having some trait, such as white-ish skin.
Sarah-
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, great post-- I like the use of your map.
I agree that it is would not be right to use on word to define a whole race. I, too, had never heard of the "color system" that Mr. Bolos mentioned before, and was shocked that race was classified this way. Not only was it saying that one race was all the same "color", but it also grouped multiple, unique races into the same "color group" (For example, as you mentioned above, the color "brown" was used to describe Indian and South American people). I believe that color cannot simply determine a race; not even one certain quality or trait can. Not solely where the person is from can determine race. Race is based off of a ton of different factors and is not simply a "black and white" issue.