Jacob Goffstein DB4

I think the “Race: The Power of an Illusion” makes some very good points.  Unlike what people in recent history have thought – that people of different races are fundamentally different, all humans are in fact fundamentally extremely similar. The biggest differences between races, such as skin color, are merely superficial and are not at all useful or important. The idea that race is a social construction is pointing this out – that meaningful distinctions between individuals are not associated with race. This is demonstrated by the DNA comparisons that were shown in the video, as people were not necessarily the closest genetically to the people that they look most similar too. This is also why I don’t think group identities are particularly useful. Similar to what is written in the article, the important characteristics of a person are very individual and are not at all associated with any race or group identity.

On the note of some of the experiences mentioned in ‘A Conversation with Asian Americans on Race’, It definitely makes me uncomfortable that people still face discrimination and receive unfair treatment based on the color of their skin. It is very unsettling and I wish we lived in a world where that doesn’t happen. The fact that in the Declaration of Independence it says “all men are created equal” yet African Americans were literally treated as subhumans, reminds me of the line from George Orwells ‘Animal Farm’, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”.  I think it takes more than just wishful thinking to create a society in which everyone is equal, and it is our responsibility to teach our children to treat everyone with respect and that nobody is inherently ‘better’ than anybody else.