definition+of+race+changed+over+time

In Modern Day America race is a big issue. Over time there have been many changes in the perception of race, but the differences are not as large as you would think. Through out history a pattern seems to arise of race being a big factory in your social class. Usually there is a "dominant race" that everyone wants to be in. Today in Modern Day America we are trying to strive for racial equality which is a break in the pattern that seems to have stood up for so many year, but maybe we are not as different from our predecessors. //Today in America we strive for equality among races.//
 * Introduction**

Going back to some of the earliest records of people, evidence of a "dominant race" seems to appear. In order to determine race they looked at their genealogy and tried to trace themselves back to [|Adam's] (believed to be the first person) line. In Egypt there were thought to be four colors of skin, (four types of race) red, yellow, white, and black. Depending on who was in power a different color would be the top of the social class. Similarly, in ancient India the lighter your skin the higher your social class. In all of these ancient cultures, race is viewed to determine your social class.
 * Race in Social Classes**

//Over time many people have believed that race and social classes are tighty conjoined.//

An interesting study was conducted by a professor at UCal Irvine, [|Andrew Penner], about [|how race effects social class even today in Modern Day America]. His research shows that people think differently about what race they are depending on their social status. For example when someone goes to jail the race that they think of themselves as often changes. **FROM WHAT TO WHAT??** This connects Modern Day America to the ancient civilizations where social class and race are tightly conjoined. This study shows that maybe our civilization has not evolved as far from the previous ones as we hope that it has and that in both race and social classes effect one another.

Another thing that seems to appear a lot is instead of a "dominant race" or if there is a race that is looked down on. Five thousand years ago in India there is evidence of racial battles. The[|Rig-Veda] (a religious text) talks of the [|Aryans] coming in and wiping all dark skinned people. SOURCE? In 3rd Century B.C. China a band of mountain tribes were demonized by their race calling them monkey looking which they then implied meant they had to be barbaric. SOURCE? The Native American's religion said that God failed to make the perfect race twice resulting in blacks and whites. SOURCE?? Which brings up the appearance of race in religion. Over time there have been many wars caused for racial reasons. This is another pattern that has a risen over time. Over and over again people have seen race as a way to disrcrimante people from different groups and arguments over which group is better has caused many racial wars.
 * Racial Wars**

//In Modern Day South Africa racial wars have broken out//

Here in America one of the main reasons for the Civil War was race, and racial discrimination. Even in the modern day, racial wars and disrcrimination is evident. Today in South Africa racial wars are a big problem. There is a longstanding racial war going on between whites and blacks in South Africa. This is very similar to the racial wars that have gone on in earlier times, showing that there are still many people in this world who think of race as a way to discriminate people.

Today we have a number of things that we associate with race. We think of both physical and cultural differences which we use to categorize race. We use biological traits such as skin color, hair, and face shape, but we didn't always think like that. Back in the 17th Century, religion was a much bigger factor in categorizing people then those biological traits. When slavery came around things seemed to change towards more of a biological standpoint.
 * Race in America**

Throughout time race has always been a salient feature. When we look back at race in ancient times and compare it to race today we find that maybe things are not so, different. In fact over time there seem to be two common perceptions of race both of which are relatively similar. There is the race in social classes which seems to be very relevant in Modern Day America. Then there is another extreme of this when violence breaks about between two separate races. Both of these are existent through ancient times and modern day. When we look at it people seem to look at race in the relatively the same light throughout time.
 * Conclusion**

After my research here I want to look into more the definition of race. In my research I have done here I have learned about how people have thought about race. I have looked into what there thoughts on the matter are, but in the future I want to look at it in more of a biological standpoint. I am interested to see if there has been a big biological change in race or has it stayed almost the same, like the people's thoughts. I think that this will be very interesting and also help illuminate the research I have already done here.
 * Next**

AnnBibMartin