Looking the Same Isn't Being the Same

          In the film "Race: The Power of Illusion, Episode 1," microbiologist Pilar Ossorio states “There’s as much or more diversity and genetic difference within any racial group as there is between people of different racial groups.” This idea is proven throughout the film with various examples. One example is in the beginning of the film where several students attend a DNA workshop to discover similarities and differences of their own genetics compared to other people. They did this by comparing their skin color, blood, and bits of DNA that was taken from their saliva. From the beginning the students believed they had the same DNA as people of their own race; African American, White, and Hispanic. But the results proved there were no characteristics of a single trait that separated a race from another and also they might look way different from a person physically but have the same DNA composition. This supported Pilar Ossorio’s statement because it proved that the genetic variations matched more with other races than their own.  

          In the film the narrator said “race is a concept that was invented to categorize the perceived biological, social, and cultural differences between human groups.” My racial identity is Hispanic and I was taught at a young age to embrace the culture, food, and customs. I am very proud to be a latina even if people have different stereotypes just by looking at my physical appearance. Even though we all have similar DNA, physically we look different which is how culture identifies race. Race is very important in society and it can determine how some people treat you. The way a person speaks, behaves, and looks is how society categorizes a “race”. For example if a person has an afro we assume that person is African American or if we see a “brown” person we automatically assume their Mexican. In my family all my sisters are light skin and I am the only dark one.  People would think I was adopted or not my parent’s child just because of my skin color. I speak 3 languages; French, English, and Spanish but just by my race people would find that weird. Even through all that prejudice and racism in the world I would not change being Hispanic and I am very proud to be one.

        After watching this film I feel more informed and educated on this topic of race. I still consider myself Hispanic and I am proud of where I’m from. Even though there’s not one specific DNA that identifies or characterizes a specific race some people are still going to judge others based on their physical characteristics because that’s what society has been doing for hundreds of years. The film’s main goal was to show that biology had nothing to do with race and we cannot judge someone on race because race doesn’t define a person or a group. In the film it said “race is not based on biology but race is rather an IDEA that we ascribed to biology.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/us/11dna.html?pagewanted=all

http://web.mit.edu/racescience/in_media/what_dna_says_about_human/