The concept of race dates from about the mid-18th Century. It is less than 300 years old. Perhaps a nation that once freed itself from slavery will finally free itself from race, as well.
Conceptually, race may date from the mid-18th c, but to argue that people haven't always segregated themselves on the basis of origin, or color, or religion, or some other arbitrary parameter is just false. Were the Moors not a race to be expelled from Iberia? Or the Turks from the Balkans? Did the Spanish treat native Americans in such ways because they happened to not be born in Europe? Hardly. They saw them as a class of sub-humans not fit for mercy. These events happened well before race was supposed invented. I think what they mean is that race, as a concept, was academically formalized in the mid 18th c. There is plenty of evidence that Europeans claimed superiority over all peoples of the world for many centuries, culminating in the eugenics movement of the late 19th, early 20th centuries. I agree with the author that race, as it exists currently in the US, is very hard to define. Does that mean that it doesn't exist? I don't know. I do know that genetically, the differences between us are trivial. But culturally, they are not. If we examine the troubles in black America today, certainly we can lay the burden of history at the feet of whites. But going forward, we need a partnership. No amount of affirmative action, or Head Start, or welfare can stop parents from neglecting their children, or stop the kid down the street from luring yours into selling drugs. I don't have a good solution, but I can guarantee that pretending race doesn't exist will not make the ghettos of America any safer or more prosperous. The only thing that can improve them is better education and more access to high paying careers. But we cannot forget that "good education" starts prenatally. All we can do as a society is to try to create the conditions in which one has a fair chance; we can't force anybody to make good choices. Self respect is internal.
I think historians might disagree with you:[Europeans] saw [non-Europeans] as a class of sub-humans not fit for mercy. These events happened well before race was supposed invented. ... There is plenty of evidence that Europeans claimed superiority over all peoples of the world for many centuries, culminating in the eugenics movement of the late 19th, early 20th centuries.
Hide your wives and daughters, hide your groceries too, the great nations of europe are coming through! -Any time I can share this, I do.There is plenty of evidence that Europeans claimed superiority over all peoples of the world for many centuries, culminating in the eugenics movement of the late 19th, early 20th centuries.