Race: The Power of Illusions

During this short episode the director tries to show that race is not biological and that it is only a myth. There is a belief that there are certain scientific reasons behind races. There have been numerous studies trying and multiple recordings trying to prove this. But all studies led to one output; there is absolutely no difference between an American and an African American. As a matter-of-fact there is more genetic difference amongst races than amongst different ones.

Most human beings believe that there is a genetic marker that defines race. People believe that certain humans are automatically born with different genes that separate them into different races. For example there is a myth that African Americans have an extra muscle in their leg. This is not true, but what is true is the fact that there is not one physical difference between people besides their skin color. From this movie you can find that people only have different skin color because of the amount of light needed to take in to produce vitamin d. People in Africa have darker skin to reflect the sun because they get too much of it. Americans have a paler skin tone because they need more sun.

People have been born and raised to quickly distinguish people into groups by their physical features. This is a quick and easy process and you don’t even have to know the persons name and you could place them into a distinguished race. That is why it is hard for many people to believe that there is no biological difference between races. There is no person that could say they haven’t looked at someone and said/thought are you Irish or aren’t you African American. Can this stereotype be changed in the future? I think that the population has been too used to grouping people by race in a biological sense. Even though, there is probably not a likely chance this vision will change the only thing we can do in this case is recognize that there is more that meets the eye.

I found some of this episode quite shocking. I have heard all the extra muscle rumors and thought they were true. I had no idea that there was more of a genetic difference between me and my roommate than say me and someone from an Asian society. It is natural for me to categorize people by different races and to place them in different social groups. It will always be that way, but now I have a better understanding of people in general and won’t jump to conclusions about their ethnicity right away.