The Concept of Race

Race is a social construct invented by Europeans in the 16th century. The question of what race is extemely diverse to many people because people of all "races" have different ideas of what it is. Race to be is who do you phenotypically and culturally relate to the most. I identify as African-American even though I also have Cherokee and Caucasian blood due to my Grandmother and Great Grandfather. Why? Due to my brown/reddish skin, I, as a minority in America, will be identified by the majority in this country as black/African-American. I have no problem with this because my family raised me to be black and proud to be black. Culturallly I have a lot in common with African-Americans as I do with other "races" of people. My beliefs, slang, heroes, and history connect more with African-Americans than any other "races" even though I'm extremely diverse in music taste (I love hip-hop,I'm like a walking encyclopedia from 1991-current rap in all forms-gangsta,conscious, West Coast, Dirty South, NY street hop,,neo-soul, and R&B, but also am a huge alt rock fan esp. Radiohead, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGMT, Black Keys, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, etc), and ideologies differs from some African-Americans. The concept of race to me is mental. You're raised in a society, a world, that pushes race at you through media and politics so its ingrained to your head. By the time you see what race really is its too late, its already part of your conscious too.