Breeds

This week I was asked a question I never really put much thought into, is race a socially constructed concept? At first my immediate answer was yes because I have been raised not to discriminate against others. So I thought this conditioning to think of everyone as equal was what caused be to think that we all weren't equal in the first place because why else would I have to be taught that. 

Although then I thought about it, even if society didn't teach me to try and look at everyone in the same way, it would be inevitable to oversee the physical differences we all have. The factors that determine these physical differences are not constructed by society, we do not pick the color of our skin, the color of our hair, the shape of our eyes, etc. This is all genetics. I therefore believe that race itself is not a socially constructed concept but rather the stereotypes that we give each race is what is being socially constructed. As presented in the picture above Art Spiegelman states "was he really a German! Who knows. It was German prisoners also...but for the Germans this guy was Jewish." In this case the way the German is portrayed changes from a mouse to a cat. The way animal looks says nothing about them, its solely the stereotypes that go with each that changes their true view.