Race: concepts, history, and social dimensions

¶ … Race Theory

The issues of race and its ramifications are some of the most pressing issues facing American society today, and will continue to challenge us in the decades to come. Of course, issues of race and socio-economic stratification have always been of vast importance, but in America the problems are magnified since the country and its people pride themselves on being a true melting pot, and the reality does not always match the ideals.

One way of examining race is the functionalist theory or perspective. The functionalist theory of social inequality contends that stratification exists because it is beneficial for society. Society must focus on and with human motivation because the duties associated with the various statuses are not all equally pleasant to the human species, important to social survival, and in need of the same abilities and talents.

In other words, society depends on certain types of people fulfilling certain roles, and the "ideal" of all races coexisting equally is not even a desirable outcome. An interesting parallel is the concept of perfect employment. Economic theory actually states that the perfect level of unemployment is not zero; the perfect level is some positive percentage of people without jobs, and if the unemployment rate were truly zero, we would have vast inefficiencies.

The idea that different people fulfill different roles, of course, is abhorrent in some ways, but the functionalist theory does not concern itself with the palatable; it is simply a very pragmatic statement on the fact that certain jobs and roles in life must be filled and are less desirable, so that is the reason for race stratification along with social stratification. It actually is efficient.

The conflict theory of social inequality holds that stratification exists because it benefits individuals and groups who have the power to dominate and exploit other groups. Marx, as we know, contended that the capitalist drive to realize surplus value is the foundation of modern class struggle.

This means that certain groups suppress other groups in order to maintain their ability to exploit them. In this manner, the powerful stay powerful and the weak stay weak.

The sociologist who supports the symbolic interaction theory would describe racial distinctions as being the result of social definition. He might point out, for instance, that some people defined as "white" are darker than some who are defined as "black." In that manner, every other characteristic that supposedly distinguishes blacks and whites has its exceptions, and thus the concept of "race" is more the result of social definition than it is biology.