What does race mean to you? Where do your ideas of race come from? What are the sources of your information?

Race: The Power of an Illusion: The Difference Between Us
Film Reflection Assignment

Answer before you watch the movie:
What does race mean to you? Where do your ideas of race come from? What are the sources of your information?

What is the difference between a biological and a social view of race?

Excluding your immediate family members, are you more likely to be genetically like someone who looks like you or someone who does not?

During the movie: Record the evidence that is provided for the idea that race is not a biological concept (but a cultural one)
Respond after you have watched the movie: Race the Power of an Illusion: The Difference Between Us

Why is it impossible to use biological characteristics to sort people into consistent races?

Who has benefited from the belief that we can sort people according to race and that there are natural or biologically based differences between racial groups?

Think about the girl in the film with sickle cell anemia. How is ancestry different from race?

At the beginning of the film, the students are asked to predict whom they will be most like when they compare their DNA samples. How did the results compare with your expectations? Did you share the students’ surprise? If so, why?

Anthropologist Alan Goodman says “to understand why the idea of race is a biological myth requires a major paradigm shift.” Do you agree? Did the film present anything that shifted your thinking in a major way? If so, what? Is it difficult to make this shift? Why?

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