The concept of race has been used to categorize humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups viewed as distinct within a given society. However, the Western concept of race must be understood as a classification system that emerged from, and in support of, European colonialism, oppression, and discrimination. Race does not provide an accurate representation of human biological variation. Humans are not divided biologically into distinct continental types or racial genetic clusters. Here are some key points from the search results:
- There is no biological basis for dividing humans into distinct races.
- The traits we use to guess someones "race" don't always work well, and there is no good way to group humans using appearance.
- The concept of race emerged from and supported European colonialism, oppression, and discrimination.
- The United States government recognizes distinctions between the concept of race and ethnicity and sorts individuals into categories such as White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, or "other".
- The number of races of humankind, the features to be used in the identification of races, or the meaning of race itself has never been agreed upon by scientists.
In summary, the concept of race is a social construct that has been used to categorize humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups viewed as distinct within a given society. However, there is no biological basis for dividing humans into distinct races, and the traits we use to guess someone's "race" don't always work well.
