The Constructivist Concept of Race

This chapter follows up on the issue of the American public's reception of constructivist ideas. Interviews were conducted with anthropologists, biologists, and undergraduate students, and a sample of high school textbooks was consulted due to their better representation of what is being taught to the general public than college-level textbooks. Most of the textbooks transmitted essentialist views of the definition of race. When undergraduate students were asked how they would define race, most equated race with culture or utilized biological descriptions. The professors with essentialist views believe the academics who see race constructively are not real or competent scientists, and vice versa. Because natural sciences hold a prestige advantage over social sciences, essentialism has the upper hand when it comes to perceptions of scientificity.