Talking About Race and Culture

On Thursday afternoon, I went to hear a guest lecturer at the Anthropology department's 60th anniversary symposium. The theme of this year's symposium was race and its implications in today's society. Yolanda Moses opened up the event with one of the two keynote addresses. She divided her talk into three main sections: the understanding of race from a biological perspective, the understanding of race from a social and cultural perspective, and the need for cooperation between these two views of the issue. She began by giving a brief history of the concept of race in human society, dating back to when it was first used as a focus of class comparisons within human populations. The concept of distinct scientific biological races was prevalent, greatly affecting the treatment of races deemed “less evolutionary advanced.” As research directed toward learning more about evolutionary forces and population genetics began to arise, this idea of scientific biological races was snuffed out. It was found that there was actually more variation within groups than between them. Although this information was amassed, racism still prevailed around the globe. The Eugenics movement as well as the Holocaust is a testament to the continued quest for racial purification. Professor Moses began speaking of race in a new light, from the view of a cultural anthropologist. She deemed racism a cultural issue thriving in our society, fed by economic changes breeding anger and fear. Race is a cultural issue (a social construct) rather than a physical classification. Although this is true, Professor Moses emphasized the importance of bringing biological and cultural constructs of race together again in order to combat racism in our society. Each of these two groups (the biological and cultural anthropologists) needs to hear the other’s perspective in order to form a unified anthropological approach to racial diversity. I found this talk extremely insightful and interesting. I’m glad she was given the opportunity to visit Indiana University to speak to us about such a contested issue.