In personal reflection of professor Projit Bihari Mukharji’s presentation, I am thinking a lot about the cultural significance of ethnicity and race. Previously in anthropology courses, I have been fascinated and absorbed by the construct of race. The quote, “race is imagined, but not imaginary”, has always influenced my beliefs towards how race is discussed in our modern world. It took many years for me to understand how race is not a scientific method of separating the human population into separate boxes. Projit Bihari Mukharji’s talk was especially powerful because it combined my two intellectual passions: the science of genetics and cultural anthropology.
A point that Projit made that particularly moved me was when he was explaining how people could be classified into different ethnicities depending on what form of science analysis is being used. Specifically, people can be put into difference “check boxes” whether it is the blood or the bones of the body that are analyzed. Markers of race and ethnicity that are most socially dominant would be skin color, hair color, eye shape, or nose shape. I have been questioning whether any form of racial classification will be socially valid in the next era considering our world is no longer separated by un-crossable oceans with the advancements of transportation. People have (within reason) the accessibility to live anywhere in world. If people are no longer segregated into the nations of their births, physical characteristics and languages that act as markers for racial differences with progressively become more ambiguous. The Unites States as a nation has represented an ethnic “melting pot” considering the act of immigration accounted for the majority of our historical population. Does the availability of trans-continental transportation means lead to a loss of all forms of racialization by geographic location? Will “race” ever become a term of the past?
Professor Projit Bihari Mukharji made the comment that what was historically deemed the “Aryan” race no longer exists in our modern moment. He said, “Aryan classification only exists in a remote past. No one is Aryan anymore”. I have started to imagine how our world might change if the generically-used classifications of people were no longer used in our world. If people no longer would describe people by racial category, would our world be a more accepting place. I have many experiences of people saying something similar to “You know that girl in our class, the Asian one… what’s her name again?” for example. Of course the terms that are often used are associated with the minority groups that act as more descriptive classifications. This example in an informal social setting of racialization is a perfect example of how race is relevant to the way we imagine others in our communities. Returning to our understanding of genetic markers of ethnicity, I am motivated to argue that if people were able to see others beyond their physical characteristics and were encouraged to refrain from using racial markers informally, could we still see other human beings as “others”?