Race Social Construct

Race is a social construct. Defined, manipulated, and created by those that surround us in everyday life. Beyond the influence from other people, our environment, our family, and our personal perceptions define how we interrupt and categorize others. Racial and ethnic identity has been important in my life in an educational sense. However, as a white female I cannot say that race has been a crucial or defining part of my life in the same way that it affects minorities every day. I am seen as the privileged and the dominant race. I am not someone who walks into a room and feels like they do not fit in because I am the only one of my race. I am not someone who has to work every day to redefine and fight through stereotypes to be accepted into …show more content…
My race and ethnic identity is not important because in a larger sense it does not define me. My race is seen as the normalized version of society, something that the majority shares. The relative unimportance of my race has made me acknowledge the importance that race plays in the lives of minorities. I am not burdened by my race and, as a result, I am sympathetic and understanding of those who are. I acknowledge the fact that my life chances are better because I am white. My race has only been a defining factor in my life because my race means that I will succeed. I am white and society has created a hierarchy where whites have the ability to progress quickly in a business setting and success is almost an assumption of my race. My family’s class location has played a more defining role in my life than my race identity. My nuclear family’s class location is upper class. My …show more content…
Both of my parents have received a professional degree. My father is a doctor and my mother received her MBA. My Father faced the barriers of serve competition when getting into medical school. He had to work harder than ever before in order to gain acceptance. My mother faced the barrier of children. She had to wait ten years to go back to school for her professional degree, because she needed my sister and I to be old enough to be left with a babysitter and to be without her. My parent’s education level has pushed me to reach my fullest potential. They have always valued education as the foundation for any kind of success. They also value education in the sense that it improves life, by learning and gaining an understanding of everything that is out there. They have always expected me to value education and to pursue a professional degree. As I progress in my levels of education, my exposure to racism has narrowed. There are fewer minorities in upper level of education and in particular there are fewer minorities at private educational institutions. My personal educational selection has had a greater impact on my understanding of racism. My decision to attend a private institution, knowing full well the minority statistics, narrowed my view and I was understanding of this when I was selecting colleges to attend. In that sense, I did not place a value in being

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