Essay on Racial Identity and Socially Constructed Race

Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s arguments from â€Å"Racial Formations† are about how race is socially constructed and is shown in Caucasia by Danzy Senna. Michael Omi and Howard Winant believe that race is socially constructed in society; therefore, the meaning of race varies within different cultures and societies. According to Omi and Winant, influences such as, media, school, politics, history, family and economy create society’s structure of race. In Caucasia, media, family and school are forces that create race by stating how one should conform to social norms for different racial groups. In Caucasia, the theme of ‘racial etiquette’ plays a big role in the society that Birdie lives in and this proves Omi and Winant’s claim about how†¦show more content†¦Omi and Winant explains how humans make judgments because of how they think and sometimes they make judgments according to what they see on the outside and grouping accordingly rather than thinking about it first. An example from Caucasia that shows this is, â€Å"All right brotherman, who’s the little girl?... she’s my daughter. Is there a problem...The cops didn’t believe my father, not even when he showed them a photograph of me and my sister that he kept in his wallet† ( Senna 60) .This quote shows how Birdie and her father were approached by two police officers while having quality time in a park; these officers made assumptions based on Birdie’s skin tone without thinking that she may be mixed and it proves Omi and Winant’s point because the o fficers’ perception of races are based by the shaping of race in society. The theme of racial etiquette in Caucasia proves what Omi and Winant are trying to say because people judge without thinking of the possibilities that one may not be the race that is perceived from physical appearances. Omi and Winant stated that the media plays an important role in the construction of race because it portrays and stereotype different racial groups. 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