The Concept of Race in Sociology

Response for Student 1 

You believe that race has changed from being a biological to a social tenet. Although many people have held the assertion that race has a genetic and biological connection, you continue to hold reservations to this. You also cite research revealing that early studies primarily showed diversity between people as opposed to populations. In providing an explanation, your conclusion states that race is a social issue and the diversity seen in people comes as a result of the phenotypic traits that differ from one person to the other. 

Response for Student 2 

Similarly, you have the opinion that race has no genetic connections as it was only socially constructed. Your argument addresses the difficulty in discussing the race issue because people only view the color of the skin as the indicator of the diversity. Furthermore, you provide an example of how black Americans face discrimination as a proof that the social construction of race in action. As a result, there is increasing evidence that race is slowly shifting from biological to a social factor. 

In further revealing how diversity evolves biologically, there is a new body of knowledge that shows that the genetic differences among humans have only been exaggerated. A whopping 87.6% of the diversity in human genetic is a function of the differences seen between individuals. Only 9% of the variation comes as a result of the continents (Yudell et al. 2016). 

Comparison of the Answers 

All of us agree that indeed race has evolved from a biological to a social issue. There is also a general consensus that genetics play an insignificant role in the diversity witnessed across the globe. Race should, therefore, be studied through sociological lenses rather than biologically. An excellent part about the assessment provided by the students is that they have relied on real-life issues to explain that race has become a social issue. I would also add that researchers and genetic scholars have proven that no single gene codes for a particular race. 

Reference 

Yudell, M., Roberts, D., DeSalle, R., & Tishkoff, S. (2016). Taking race out of human genetics.  Science ,  351 (6273), 564-565.