Race is a social/political construct, and a rather recent invention at that.
With all of the posts about racism, something I myself have written about extensively, I see comments (e.g., 'no matter what race a person is') that suggest now is a good time to remind folks that race is a social/political construct. It has no biological basis. It wasn't until the late 1700s that a supposed classification of races was first constructed (by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach). Even Blumenbach, as his Wikipedia page points out, concluded that "individual Africans differ as much, or even more, from other Africans as from Europeans."
By no means am I suggesting racism (or how to address it) shouldn't be discussed. In fact, it's paramount. As I've written many times, the fostering and exploitation of racism is single-handedly keeping the Republican Party viable. A dismissal of "identity politics" -- while proclaiming the preeminence of "economic justice" -- is, for that reason, dangerous and misguided.
And, paradoxically, addressing racism requires raising awareness about the true nature of what is known as "race."
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