The Individual and Society: Understanding Race as a Social Construct

This report explores the extent to which race and racial identities are social constructed. Suitable theories are used to understand the modern concept of race and its extent as a social construct. The report also discusses the White racial identity model and its stages of development. Subject: Sociology, Course Code: SOC101, College/University: Not mentioned

The Individual and
Society
Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
Social construct theory ...............................................................................................................3
White racial identity model ........................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Social construct is defined as something which does not have objective existence in
reality but is shaped and sustained because of human interaction. Social construct come in
hesitance because of humans agree and accept social construct as part of daily lives. The present
report aims to understand the extent to which race and racial identities are social constructed.
Suitable theories are used in this report to understand the modern concept of race it's extent as a
social construct. In addition to this, theories of racial identity are also used to highlight the social
construct of race.
MAIN BODY
To what extent is race socially constructed?
Social construct theory
Social constructionism is a theory is sociology theory which states that characteristics
which are usually understood as immutable and biological such as gender, race, class, sexuality
and ability are created by human interaction and shaped by cultural and historical contexts. This
theory uncovers the ways in which categories of race and gender such as men, women, Black,
White are concepts which are developed, changed and reproduced with the help of historical
processes within institutions and culture (Adams, 2019). This theory does not ignore existence of
bodily variation but it states that society constructs categories on the basis of certain bodily
features and attaches meaning to these categories. This leads to division of human in such
categories on the basis of their features which perpetuates such classification and acceptance of
the socially constructed category. This theory states that identities are not solely based on strict
biological characteristics but are based on social perceptions which are assumed and not factual
(Ali, 2020).
Race as per this theory is social construct because the basis on which people are divided
into racial categories is based on social perception instead of genetic differences which are
present in individuals with different bodily features such as their skin colour. In case of Africa
and Europe there is not single genetic different between native Europeans and native Africans
which depicts the absence of any biological basis for racial identity (Bowleg and et. al., 2017). In
addition to this the role of racial assumptions shaping and informing racial identity between
different region is another factor which furthers the idea of social construction of race. An

individual might be considered to be part of the Black race in UK but by the racial perceptions in
Brazil the same individuals can be considered to be White in the region. There are various
elements which are used to determine race such as skin colour, eye shape, hair texture, ancestry,
identity performance and even name but none of these elements which shape racial identity are
rooted in genetic differences which leads to different behaviours health and social characteristics
of different races (Gherovici, 2017). It is evident that race is a social construct but the extent to
which race is social construct is depicted by the fact that white people who face discrimination
due to racial proxies due to names which are usually associated with other races. This depicts
that even name of individuals plays an important role in shaping the cultural experience of an
individual dictated by racial assumptions associated with the specific name. The is argued that
the biological basis for race is found by the medical links between certain diseases and race such
as cystic fibrosis. This disease is commonly found in people who have northern European
ancestry and is considered to be disease associated with white race as there are low cases of this
disease in other races (Kabra, Girotra and Vaughan Sarrazin, 2017). This is not solid argument
against the idea of social construction of race as the disease is not common in other than white
race instead of absence of the disease because of genetic difference or strictly biological
differences. It is important to understand that by linking medical outcome with race, it only
involves using race as proxy for other factors such as ancestry or what social inequalities people
who has been grouped similarly to the specific race classification tend to face. Northern
European ancestry is the reason behind medical linkage between race and occurrence of this
disease which is not an effective argument which can be used to disapprove the social
construction of race. Another justification foe the argument for social construction of race is that
race is that individual or groups are assigned race on the basis of arbitrary grounds. In the
beginning of past century individuals with Irish and Italian ancestry along with Eastern European
Jews who moved to America were considered an inferior race in comparison to the individual
grouped as white race living in United States which acted as justification of harsh treatment and
repression of these gropes (Leath and Chavous, 2017). The basis for current racial classification
is changes as Irish and Italian are also considered to be White along with many Americans. This
cistus that throughout history race has been used to justify oppression against certain groups and
the basis of classification changes on cultural context and is rooted in illogical arguments.

White racial identity model
This theoretical model was developed by psychologist Janet Helms and is targeted at
individuals who specifically identify as White. The theory outlines the process of racially
identity development and is developed to increase awareness about the role of White individuals
in developing and maintaining racist society (Lent and et. al., 2018). This model can also
highlight the extent to which race is a social construct as each stage provides information about
the changes in racial identity of individuals who identify as white because of their interaction
with racist elements. The description of White racist identity development model in order to
understand the social construction of race is provided below:
 Contact: In this stage individuals who identify as White are not aware of the racist
unconscious biases and prejudices that they may hold and do not accept privilege
associated with White identity or presence of system which favours White identity over
other races. Individuals in this stage refuse to recognize racial injustice as part of the
racist system and aim to remain colour-blind towards the privileges they hold because of
their racial identity (Moradi and Grzanka, 2017). In this stage the extent top which racial
identity is social construct is depicted as individuals accept ideas related to White race
which are beneficial to their self preservation and self interest instead of engaging in
critical discussion about privilege of White skin.
 Disintegration: This stage begins as White individuals are confronted with real world
experiences or knowledge that uncovers the privileges of white skin. The confrontation
faced by the individual in this stage is in opposition to their previously held notions and
conceptions which challenges their world view and introduces the feelings of shame in
the individuals towards their privilege and their previous participation in racist society
and systems. There are two ways in which the emotions of shame and guilt in the White
identifying individual develop and evolve. First is caused by positive acknowledgeable if
White privilege in which individual acceptors the presence of racist society and they aim
to work towards dismantling systems which perpetuate racism. The second way includes
domination of such feelings which leads to the reintegration stage. In this stage
confrontation with situations which increase awareness change perspectives on racial
identity as individuals either positively accept presence of White privilege or domination

of guilt leads to disintegration. This showcases that race is social construct as individuals
change their ideas about their racial characteristic and position in relation to other races.
 Reintegration; In this stage individuals develop perspective rooted around victim
blaming. White identifying individuals accept their privileges and presence of racist
society ans systems but refuse to acknowledge their role in sustaining such systems and
their responsibility of acting in against of this system (Shin and et. al., 2017). The
justification of this attitude is rooted in illogical arguments of White superiority which
develop perspective that the White race deserves such privileges. In addition to this
individuals still are unaware of their unconscious racist beliefs and accept racial
assumptions which demonstrate the superiority of the White race as a means to justify
their privileges. This helps the individual ignore the feelings of shame caused by
revelation racial injustice and White privilege in the disintegration stage. In this stage the
idea superiority of White race is developed which further states that the idea of inferior
and superior races is social construct.
 Pseudo Independence: Individuals look to people of colour who are the victims of racist
system to uncover racism which forms the beginning of formation of positive racial
identity. They do not feel that White race has inherent superiority and deserves privileges
which creates injustices for people from other racial backgrounds. In this stage White
individuals do not have knowledge about how to accept their identity as well as work
towards becoming non-racist. This is because they have recently confronted their racial
identify and position in an environment which unfairly benefits them and propagates
racial based crimes against individuals from other races (Toulis, 2020). They retrospect
about their position in the society and aim to uncover racism by seeking validation for
desire to be non-racist by interacting with people of colour in order to get rid of any
unconscious racist or anti-black biases they might have. The interaction with individual
with other races leads to confrontation of individuals with White privilege about racist
system which changes their ideas about racial identity which showcases that race is
social construct changes and influenced by interaction with others.
 Emersion/Immersion; In this stage individuals focus on making honest attempt towards
connecting with their White identity as well as being a non-racist. This stage involves
connecting with individuals from the White community who have recently or from long

time have been dealing with racism issues. These efforts are made in order to act against
racist structure so that any form of racist injustice is removed and their White racial
identity is oppositely connected (Washington and Hindley, 2017). White individuals in
this stage try to form a positive relations with their White identity by connecting with
other members of their community with similar views. In this stage individuals form
positive relation with their racial identity by accepting their role in injustice which shapes
the idea of race which informs that race is social construct instead of being factual truth.
 Autonomy: The last stage is reached when an individual forms positive connection with
their racial identity while also actively pursuing social justice and makes efforts to end
racism. The stage focuses on building positive relation with being white and becoming an
anti-racist (Windsong, 2018). The positive relation between individuals and their racial
identity informs the presence of change in perspectives towards other races as internal
and external actions are taken by White individuals in order to eliminate racial injustice
from personal as well as social space. This stage also involves connecting with other
races and people of colour which puts such individuals at the receiving end of racial
injustice not at the same level of propel of colour due to their privileges.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it is determined that social constructionism is a theory which
highlights the presence of human invested social constructs which are accepted as factual truths,
Gender and race are prime examples of social constructs which are created by human interaction
and shaped by Historical and cultural contexts. Racial identity is a social construct which is
depicted by the presence of illogical arguments which form the basis of racial division. Racial
categories are created on the basis of bodily features and not any genetic differences between
races. Social constructs such as race are changed throughout history depending on the cultural
context in order to oppress specific group. White identity development model provides various
stages of racial identity development and can be sued to depict the idea of race as a social
construct.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adams, M. V., 2019. The multicultural imagination:“Race,” color, and the unconscious.
Routledge.
Ali, S., 2020. Mixed-race, post-race: Gender, new ethnicities and cultural practices. Routledge.
Bowleg and et. al., 2017. Intersectional epistemologies of ignorance: How behavioral and social
science research shapes what we know, think we know, and don’t know about US Black
men’s sexualities. The Journal of Sex Research, 54(4-5). pp.577-603.
Gherovici, P., 2017. Transgender psychoanalysis: A Lacanian perspective on sexual difference.
Routledge.
Kabra, R., Girotra, S. and Vaughan Sarrazin, M., 2017. Reply: Race and Stroke Risk in Atrial
Fibrillation: The Limitations of a Social Construct. Journal of the American College of
Cardiology, 69(7). pp.907-908.
Leath, S. and Chavous, T., 2017. “We really protested”: The influence of sociopolitical beliefs,
political self-efficacy, and campus racial climate on civic engagement among Black
college students attending predominantly White institutions. The Journal of Negro
Education, 86(3). pp.220-237.
Lent and et. al., 2018. Predictors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics choice
options: A meta-analytic path analysis of the social–cognitive choice model by gender
and race/ethnicity. Journal of counseling psychology, 65(1). p.17.
Moradi, B. and Grzanka, P. R., 2017. Using intersectionality responsibly: Toward critical
epistemology, structural analysis, and social justice activism. Journal of counseling
psychology, 64(5). p.500.
Shin and et. al., 2017. The intersectionality framework and identity intersections in the Journal of
Counseling Psychology and The Counseling Psychologist: A content analysis. Journal
of Counseling Psychology, 64(5). p.458.
Toulis, N. R., 2020. Believing identity: Pentecostalism and the mediation of Jamaican ethnicity
and gender in England. Routledge.
Washington, E. J. and Hindley, A. F., 2017. Race isn’t just a “black thing”–The role that
museum professionals can play in inclusive planning and programming. Journal of
Museum Education, 42(1). pp.2-7.
Windsong, E. A., 2018. Incorporating intersectionality into research design: An example using
qualitative interviews. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 21(2).
pp.135-147.