The connotations associated with different races or ethnicities attract great interest from scholars who seek to understand how different groups identify themselves. Treitler (2013) sites that “race becomes a free-standing social structure that shapes human interaction” in the sense that it is manmade and creates limits based on certain traits that box particular groups in certain categories while considering others as outsiders. For instance, all persons with dark skin color are automatically identified as African American or Non-White while in reality some light skin people ethically identify as African Americans. These assumptions raise questions on the foundations or basis or racism since some of the traits are not exclusive to particular groups. Treitler (2013) notes that “if races cannot be exclusive, to hold onto the idea of race we must force differences to appear where they cannot logically be sustained.” Subsequently, the idea of race in itself cannot exist, however, racism which denotes the enabling systems of segregation and categorization exists and needs to be addressed.
Furthermore, the associations linked with the different racial groups indicate the presence of gatekeepers within ethnicities that act as models regarding the expectations set for each group. These gatekeepers determine what traits give one access and belonging to a particular group and which traits exclude the result to categories considered lower in status. Treitler (2013) notes that “you might think of your own chest of drawers as simply a way to hold your clothes, but there is a structure to it that makes sense to you “. This indicates that although the lines might appear blurred, the unique traits possessed by people in different categories aligns them in different drawers and creates an unsaid boundary. However, these boundaries when applied to the concepts of racism create wrong impressions of segregation while in reality they should highlight the uniqueness that defines it group or person.
References
Treitler, V. B. (2013). The ethnic project: Transforming racial fiction into ethnic factions. Stanford University Press.