1. Most definitions by the respondents relied on physical characteristics to define race. Some respondents also used geographical context, yet none of them described race in sociological or cultural terms. The general definition was that race is a group of people who share some genetically predetermined physical characteristics. Two respondent equated race with skin color.
One responded specified that people belonging to a certain race historically come from a certain region in the world, i.e. Europe, Asia, or Africa.2. All the respondents used physical characteristics like skin color, body shape, hair, and lineament.
3. Most of the respondents identified three races; one respondent identified six races, including mulatto, mestizo, and zambo.4. Most adult respondents used geographical characteristics to describe race. Three identified races were referred to as ‘African,’ ‘Caucasian’ and ‘Asian/Latino.’ However, children and one adult used skin color to differentiate between races using such characteristic as ‘Black,’ ‘White,’ and, surprisingly enough, ‘Asian.
’5. I strongly agree with the thesis that there are no races, there are only clines. Two major reasons for that are scientific and methodological. Researchers argue that a very small percent of genes is directly responsible for the phenotype. Therefore, race is a socially constructed category. People belonging to one race may differ as much among themselves as compared with representatives of other races.
Race is to a great extent a social construct. From the methodological point of view, the concept of race is no longer helpful in the world where more and more people increasingly fail to identify with one of the conventional ‘races.’
