Page 153 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes Defining Race

Generally, it is believed that people can be separated biologically into different races. Some
anthropologists have categorized people into four or five major races. Such classifications are
mainly based on the colour of skin, shape of hair, physique, etc. The science of genetics has proved
that these are only conjectures and not valid characteristics. Population inbreeding and degree of
contact between people could create physical differences. The same segment of population may
have a variety of physical traits. Physical differences between human beings are partly inherited,
but generally such differences are appropriated for social discrimination and prejudice. Anthony
Giddens observes: “Racial differences, therefore, should be understood as physical variations singled
out by the members of a community or society as ethnically significant” More than “race”, “racism”
is practised through a false attribution of inherited characteristics of personality.
Physical anthropologists have dealt with the question of “race” in great detail based on physical
characteristics of different sections of population. Anthropologist A.L. Kroeber believes : “Race is
a valid biological concept. It is a group united by heredity : a breed or genetic strain or subspecies.”
Further, Kroeber says that it is not a valid socio-cultural concept, nor usable in socio-cultural
situations. All human beings are homo sapiens; how they have become different types is not known.
Classification of Races
Based on certain traits, such as stature or bodily height, cephalic index, or the ratio of the length
and breadth of the head, nasal index, relation of breath and length of nose, prognathism, or the
degree of the protrusion of the jaws, capacity of the skull, the texture of the hair, hairiness of the
body, hair colour and eye colour, steatopygia, or a heavy deposit of fat in the buttocks, etc.,
classifications of different races have been made out. There are three primary categories of races
: (1) Caucasian, Caucasoid, or Europoid; (2) Negroid; and (3) Mangoloid. These three are also
referred to as “White”, “Black” and “Yellow” races, respectively. The three main groups account
for more than nine-tenths of all the nations and tribes of the world. Each of the three great primary
stocks falls into several natural divisions. Primary stocks and races are as follows :
1. Caucasian or “White”
Nordic
Alpine
Mediterranean
Hindu
2. Mangoloid or “Yellow”
Mangolian
Malaysian
American Indian
3. Negroid or “Black”
Negro
Melanesian
Pigmy Black
Bushman
4. Doubtful Classification
Australoid
Veddoid (Indo-Austral)
Polynesian
Ainu

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