About
“Race is a social construct.” The phrase is easy to say. But often we struggle to explain what it means.
To deepen our racial literacy, we dig into one of the socially constructed components of race: the meanings (e.g., stereotypes) associated with a given racial category. Racial meanings do more than ascribe traits (e.g., industrious, lazy, deserving, undeserving) to a particular group. Racial meanings also explain and legitimize a group’s relative social status. In so doing, race narrates our world—often without us even knowing it.
To deepen our racial literacy, we dig into one of the socially constructed components of race: the meanings (e.g., stereotypes) associated with a given racial category. Racial meanings do more than ascribe traits (e.g., industrious, lazy, deserving, undeserving) to a particular group. Racial meanings also explain and legitimize a group’s relative social status. In so doing, race narrates our world—often without us even knowing it.