The Fallacy of “Race”

• Is Barack Obama a “Black” man?

Mythology vs. BiologyDNA studies have taught us that our gene pools are more mixed than we ever imagined.

• Jessica Szohr, Gossip Girl(Hungarian, African-American, Caucasian)

• Adriana Lima, Victoria’s Secret Angel (African, West Indian, Japanese, and Portuguese)

• Mariah Carey(Father: African-American and Venezuelan )• Derek Jeter, Baseball Player

(Father: African-American)

• Gabrielle Reece, volleyball star (father: African-Trinidadian)

• Wentworth Miller, TV(father: African-American and EuropeanMiller is Identified as “an American actor”)

• Troian Bellisario, Pretty Little Liars(mother: African-Am TV producer)

• Daniel Sunjata, TV(half African-American)

• Meghan Mackle, Suits(mother: African-American)

• Jordan Sparks, singer/song-writer(half African-American; half Caucasian)

• Dwayne Johnson(African-American and Samoan)

• Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy(Grandfather: Jamaican, a U.S. Ambassador to Sierre Leone)

• Rashida Jones(Quincy Jones’ daughter)

• Nicole Richie(Father: Peter Michael EscovedoAdopted Father: Lionel Richie)

Moral of the Story

• What this tells us is that the notion of “race” is a myth. We “construct” race based on our ideologies, not based on biology.

• “Ethnicity” is a term that accounts for shared culture and seems to be more meaningful.