Race: Creation or Formation?

Race is a poor proxy for human genetic differences and should no longer be used by researchers, says a paper in the journal Science. AP

Race is and always has been the roots of many atrocities and injustice. It has always been difficult on defining and even assigning. Everything that has occurred because of it keeps on forming. Race is viewed in different ways across disciplines Anthropology, Biology and Sociology but there is a thinking that “race as an essence, as something fixed, concrete, and objective. …imagine race as a mere illusion, a purely ideological construct which some ideal non-racist social order would eliminate.” (Omi & Winant, 1994) Omi and Winant proposed a definition for race: “race is a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi & Winant, 1994) Racial categorization just falls into being imprecise and arbitrary, this is because race is a mere socially constructed element. The theory of racial formation is defined “as the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed.” (Omi & Winant, 1994) From that perspective race is both socially structured and cultural representative and racial project are responsible for making that connection. “A racial project is simultaneously an interpretation, representation, or explanation of racial dynamics, and an effort to reorganize and redistribute resources along particular racial lines.” (Omi & Winant, 1994) We can consider racial projects in two ways: macro-level (state activities on policies) and micro-level (as in self actions). In the macro-level we find Political Spectrum here is the neoconservative, leading to a “color Blind” and racial politics and “hands off” policies, and a “liberal” project where race is affirmed, leading it to a “activist” state policy. At the micro-level there is the Everyday Experience “common sense” use, viewing race as an unconsciously examination of “noticing” race. The second thing that we “notice” about people is race and it’s because we want to know who is that person. “This fact is made painfully obvious when we encounter someone whom we cannot conveniently racially categorize…racially “mixed” … Such an encounter becomes a source of discomfort and momentarily a crisis of racial meaning.”(Omi & Winant, 1994) I can say that this is exactly what happens to Puerto Ricans, we are a mixture of three races: Indian (Taino), Spanish (European) and black (African). If we take for example the census form:

Census form, 2020.

Any Puerto Rican should choose at least two. But every time the census results arrive it says that most of the population is white when that is a fallacy. But why is that? It always come back to what society has turned race into and that is a political struggle. It is politically convenient for the U.S. that the Puerto Rican colony self-identifies itself as white, because it represents a country "without racism or inequalities" of other types. The thing is that in Puerto Rico there is racism among each other, so there are trying to create this mere illusion of the truth of race in Puerto Rico. Of course, this is a product of being a colony where they have sold our identity of Puerto Ricans and just living not even knowing who they truly are.

History wise race has played a variety of roles based on its time.

But the modern concept of race comes with the rise of Europe and always being religiously interpretated. Here we can start seeing the distinctions and categorizations of race. From the 18th century religiously viewed race turned into a science term as a scientific criterion to show natural basis, later on conceiving it as a biological concept as a matter of species just like we do with dogs for example: Rottweiler, Golden Retriever etc. Something that in today’s science doesn’t make any sense and it should have never been used as comparison for that term.

In Harry J. Elam Jr.’s work Reality He talks about “reality check” that can be “a moment that traumatically ruptures the balance between real and representational…Reality checks brusquely rub the real up against the representational in ways that disrupts the spectators and produce new meanings. Most significantly reality checks, in the unease that they cause audiences, can excite social action."(Elam) After successfully defining and picturing “reality check” he provides two catastrophes to frame it.

Mamie Till Mobley weeps at her son Emmett Till’s funeral on 6 September 1955, in Chicago. Photograph: AP

The first one being the case of 14-year-old African American Emmet Till where he was brutally murdered on August 28, 1955 just because he looked at a white woman. His mother did his funeral with the casket open even though his face was badly mutilated. This created a discomfort, and a restless dissatisfaction to the people who saw him and became a catalyst for the bourgeoning civil rights movement.

This photo of Rodney King was taken on March 6, 1991, three days after police officers beat him savagely. The photo is one of three introduced into evidence by the prosecution in the trial of four LAPD officers in a Simi Valley, Calif., courtroom in 1992. AP

The second case is Rodney King’s brutal beating by L.A. Police this caused riots to take place over six days following the verdict's announcement. 63 people were killed, with 2,383 more injured; it ended only after the intervention of the military to provide reinforcements and “re-establish control”. King advocated for a peaceful end to the conflict even though he was the clear victim.

Protesters hold up signs during a "Black Lives Matter" protest in front of Borough Hall on June 8, 2020, in New York City. Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images.

It is clear, that with these cases the theory of racial formation has mixed responses and uses. People label and categorize to mistreat others when that is completely wrong. They use race to judge and commit injustice for economic and political advantage. All of this brings us back to the role of power. By having a system of categorization such as race you generate a system of power. That unfortunately see some with more than others and how they abuse them. One reads these events, and one thinks 'things should have been better by now'. The biggest lie you can believe. This is still going on and the similarity of the events that transpired. One can even try to compare the story of Rodney King and George Floyd if George unfortunately did not have the joy of continuing his life, but both cases generated an awakening of people who were/are tired of marginalization and mistreatment simply because of the color of their skin. Dr. Cornels(2019) said: "The dynamic concept of race always already connected to empire". This has a short- and long-term consequences and it's what is making this world a more socially dead one.

Dr. Cornel West Image: Wikimedia.

Resources:

Racial Formation in the United States from 1960s to 1990s. A book by Michael Omi & Howard Winant. You need to read: Part II, Section 4, Page 53-to the end of page 62.

Reality by Harry J. Elam, Jr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUdPI21I7As : Dr. Cornel West: “Race Matters,” April 26, 2019, UO