Assignment
A Class Divided

How is race both a reality and a belief?

Race is used to signify different types of human bodies based on similar skin color and physical appearance. While there is no biological basis for racial classification, sociologists recognize a long history of attempts to organize groups of people based on similar skin color and physical appearance. The absence of any biological foundation makes race often difficult to define and classify, and as such, sociologists view racial categories and the significance of race in society as unstable, ever shifting, and intimately connected to other social forces and structures.
The realities and beliefs that people have of race vary according to which type of dominant or subordinate group they fall into. Sociologists use these terms to identify powerful relationships that are based on perceived racial, ethnic, or other attributes and identities. To sociologist, a dominant group is a racial or ethnic group that has the greatest power and resources in a society. For them their reality and belief of race is that unless you have a specific eye, hair, or similar physical attribute, as in the video the kids were divided according to eye color, then those who don’t share that are cast aside and thought of as a lesser creature.
However, you could say that there is no "race gene." There are traits that define a race, but really, it's all very subjective, because what happens when two different races have a child? They blend. They become something new. Some traits are passed on, but suddenly this child does not fit into one "race."
Whereas a subordinate group is one whose members, because of physical or cultural characteristics, are disadvantaged and subjected to unequal treatment and discrimination by the dominant group. For example, historically, African Americans and other persons of color have been