Race is socially constructed rather than biologically real but has powerful social effects

Evidence

Weare critical of both positions: race as essence and race as illusion. Race is not something rooted in nature, something that reflects clear and discrete variations in human identity. But race is also not an illusion. While it may not be “real” in a biological sense, race is indeed real as a social category with definite social consequences. The family, as a social concept, provides an intriguing analogy to grasp the “reality” of race: We know that families take many forms … Some family categories correspond to biological categories; others do not. — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 113

Categorization

• DEFINE: Central definitional anchor: race as social category, real in its consequences though not biologically grounded.
• XREF: The core claim other vault race-theory notes likely point back to; compares with the family analogy’s constructivist account of categories. — connects to: Race is a social reduction to sheer force, not a natural trait — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 124; Races are produced by racism, not by biology — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 76; Bodily and cultural notions of race developed together from the start — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 125 (+6 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: This is the paradigm-shifting core of racial formation theory — the both-and stance against essence and illusion.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 113