RACE V: RACE IS FAKE: A reader writes (among other stuff, of which more later) that I should examine the notion, “What if [race] doesn’t exist? Cuz it doesn’t, ya know.”

Here’s what I sent him in reply:

Right–I agree with the basic point you’re making here…–and I hinted that I would get at the totally bizarre, shifting, and socially-constructed nature of race eventually. But for the moment I’m using the standard-issue categories because I’m talking about how people are perceived, and that perception does, of course, affect our lives and our relations w/one another. For an obvious example, there really is black American culture, even though there are also native-born dark-skinned Americans who actually come from West Indian backgrounds, or Ghanaian, or various mixes, etc. Right now I’m talking about the ways in which “race” does tell you something, and is a thing that can be discussed; later I’ll get to the places where race slips out from under you, since I think those are really interesting and increasingly important.

….Just thought it might be useful to clear that up, in case people think I think that “race” is more real than it is. After all, as my correspondent pointed out, different cultures divide up humanity into racial in-groups and out-groups quite differently (viz. this article I linked to earlier, about South American immigrants)–the difference between who’s considered “black” in the US, Britain, and Brazil is one of the more striking contemporary examples. And I do realize it’s a major weakness of my posts so far, that I keep talking in this standardized and unrealistic language of “black vs. white,” but I hope that when this series of posts is finished, the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts, and my more nuanced view will emerge. In the meanwhile, please pardon our dust, etc.