SOC101Y1 Lecture Notes - Norwegian Americans, Adolf Hitler, Miami People
Document Summary
Biological and social meaning of race: the idea of biological race is based on the mistaken notion of a genetically isolated human group. Applying pure racial types to humans is problematic because of interbreeding; despite continuing prejudice about black-white marriages, a large number of whites have african american ancestry. Race is a socially constructed concept; the concept is significant only insofar as people define it as such: it is in the social setting that race is decisive. For example, adolph hitler expressed concern over the. Jewish race and translated this concern into nazi death camps. Some groups once defined as racial groups and as physically and mentally inferior are no longer defined that way. For example, irish and italian immigrants were once defined as inferior races by native born anglo-protestant americans. Other groups have come to be recognized as racial groups, such as the mestizos who have both.
