Racial and Ethnic Matter - Assignment Example

We are More Alike than Different Having lived in a largely homogenous society like Japan, I would say that my previous views on race were full of misconceptions and unfounded assumptions. In a way, while growing up, I was made to believe that the Japanese society’s progress is mainly attributed to our so-called “mono racial” society. For instance, the low crime rate in the country was said to be inherent in our race, often believed as a product of a collectivist culture. Oftentimes, Japanese people refer to foreigners as Gaijin (which literally means outside person), who are most often blamed for committing crimes in our society.

Living in a country that has been isolated from foreigners for hundreds of years, it is fair to say that racism in Japan, though not openly discussed, is existent. Sadly, some of those who have been discriminated are not only non-Japanese but they also include those who are not 100% Japanese. I would say that we previously have held this idea of a pure Japanese race that is superior and unique among other racial groups around the world. However, as Japan becomes global nowadays, more people have become accustomed to seeing foreigners and are thus welcome to the “differences” of people from other countries.

Having said this, I believe that the website about race and human variation has been helpful for me to be more open about the perceived differences among people. The most important thing is that the website has corrected some of the misconceptions that I have held towards people who have different looks and skin color than mine. This is because before I even began navigating the entire website, I have first taken time in answering the human variation quiz on the site. Interestingly for me, I found out that I have held two incorrect notions about race: 1.) skin color provides information to one’s cultural heritage; 2.) sickle cell disease causes dark skin color.

As I have eventually learned, I was surprised to learn that skin color is mainly caused by the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and that a person’s health is linked to his/her genetic make-up and environmental factors. When it comes to the issue on skin color, foreigners have labeled most Japanese as “yellow skinned” although I would say that this is inaccurate since we mostly have pale skin. From what I have learned in the website, this can be attributed to our adaptation of the weaker sunlight that the people receive in the country.

Also, it is important to note that there are dark-skinned Japanese in the country and most of them live in Okinawa. I could now say that their skin color can be attributed to the warm weather in southern Japan. When it comes to the issue on health, Japanese people are noticeably conscious on the overall well-being of a person, especially on the diet. Most people in Japan held unto the idea that the secret to Japanese people’s strength and longevity is found on the Japanese’s staple diet of fish, vegetable, and rice.

However, from what I have read on the website, environmental factors such as stress are also a major contributor to sickness. For instance, African-Americans may likely suffer from hypertension because they endure racial discrimination and low economic status. With this, it can be said that the health of a person, although affected by genetic factors, is also dependent on one’s nutrition, access to healthcare, and societal experiences. That is why the health of a racial group cannot be solely linked to race but to environmental factors and genetic make-up as well.

Having said these, I am convinced that there is no such thing as race and that the term is simply a product of social construct. It means that it is simply the society that labels and classifies groups of people according to physical features and differences. What most of us do not know is that the differences we see on every individual are only attributed to years of evolution and adaptation to one’s geography. These different facade that we see on other people is simply a product of years of human development and it has nothing to do with the inner qualities of people.

In fact, our similarities have been scientifically proven (through the human genome project) that our ancestors have all branched out from Africa. Scientific evidence is also telling us that all of us are more similar than alike. I genuinely feel that human beings are connected in many ways. The website simply cemented my belief that all of us are more alike than different. As the people become increasingly global, I am more confident that our understanding of the race will eventually become obsolete.

I am glad that this awareness is happening not only in the multi-cultural society like United States, but also in my so-called “mono-racial” country as well.