Race can be explained as a historically formed group of people characterized by common hereditary physical peculiarities. All races originated in different geographical regions meaning that different skin colors, eye shapes, and other characteristics are merely a product of specific climates (Myers & Ha, 2019). Under the influence of various environmental conditions, humans had to adjust to either hot and humid or severe and freezing weather. For instance, African people have dark-colored skin due to the active sun, while those living in Russian Siberia tend to have thicker hair to protect them from cold winders. Hence, geography only defines the physical characteristics of one’s body.
Given that the difference between miscellaneous groups of individuals is less than a thousand percent, the concept of race loses its validity since it drastically categorizes people. In the meantime, the world aims to establish equality regardless of all distinctions. Race remains a concept in the social sense, not a scientific one (Myers & Ha, 2019). It means that society still differentiates people based on their skin color. Thus, the attempt to categorize humans based on this notion is no longer valid as it causes more inequity and contributes to rating the most and least dominant races.
As a result, the concept of race is not useful in terms of social life. However, it remains vital for anthropology, history, geology, and other similar disciplines which study how the environment has shaped the lifestyle, culture, and peculiarities of different nations. Race is a controversial issue that has sparked numerous conflicts leading to riots and wars for dominance. Hence, the phenomenon of being a human is far more relevant than sticking to classifying a person based on their physical traits.
Reference
Myers, S., & Ha, I. (2019). Race neutrality. Lexington Books.