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TEACHING PEACE THROUGH DEBUNKING RACE
Author(s) -
Will Donald S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0130.1993.tb00173.x
Subject(s) - race (biology) , racism , ethnic group , construct (python library) , political science , gender studies , curriculum , conflict resolution , sociology , criminology , law , computer science , programming language
Deepening economic disparities and renewed ethnic strife in the United States have rekindled the national obsession with race. Despite evidence to the contrary, the popular misconception of race as a biological category persists. While race may be most accurately understood as a social construct, racism remains a pervasive and insidious force in our society. Its role in fueling social conflict from Crown Heights to South Central Los Angeles demands that scholars concerned with peace and conflict resolution address issues of race in their courses and in the general education curricula of their institutions. Ironically, some lessons may be gleaned from the case of South Africa where the African National Congress espouses a policy of nonracialism that seeks to address the terrible consequences of racism while rejecting the false categories of race promoted by the apartheid system.