[Claire58]

Why or why not?

[Clough]

Hi, Claire58!

Why are you asking the question, please? It would be helpful to know about that.

Thanks!

[excon]

why or why not?

Hello Claire:

No, because race is a superficial trait. It would be like asking does blond hair shape a persons character.

Do YOU know what I say to be true, or do you think otherwise? If so, why?

excon

[zippit]

Hello Claire:

No, because race is a superficial trait. It would be like asking does blond hair shape a persons character.

Do YOU know what I say to be true, or do you think otherwise? If so, why?

excon

Try saying that and growing up in the projects.

Of course it has an effect .

[jmjoseph]

try saying that and growing up in the projects.

of course it has an effect .

"The projects" is not a race. It is a place.

Surroundings, and environment, shape character more than the color of your skin.

You can take an African American child from the projects, and take him to Switzerland for instance, and that child would be influenced by that particular culture due to the environment he was raised in.

The color of his skin would not "shape" him .

[excon]

try saying that and growing up in the projects.

of course it has an effect .

Hello z:

You presume that the predominance of black people in the projects is due to race, whereas I presume it's due to racist politics.

excon

[zippit]

And because of the "projects" you can take a upper income black child and he will still be shaped by his skin color in america anyway.
When he goes to buy a car,apply for a college,a job.
And those hardships have to effect a persons character,and actions
Unless JJ he grows up in a bubble and he still will be exposed to it at sometime.
You would have to say racism doesn't exist to think otherwise

[excon]

Hello again, z:

If you're saying that racism has an effect on its victims, and they REACT to it, I don't disagree at all...

RACISM effects ones character - not race.

excon

[zippit]

excon,
I said it,

Just not as good as you just did.

[dontknownuthin]

Of course race has an impact on character and actions as it impacts how we are treated and how we experience the world. It also relates closely to ethnicity and family history, which can have a huge role in determining our religious and cultural views. It is a fact in our nation that some races fare better than others economically and certainly some races are disproportionately represented in colleges, prisons and other institutions - for better or worse, it does play a significant role and is the reason we had affirmative action in this country.

But being impacted and influenced is not the same as being compelled. Free choice is available to all of us to choose what to embrace or deny in our lives, whether it relates to our culture, religion, race, family history or other demographics. It's just harder to choose something different than that with which we were raised.

[Know.It.All]

First of all, race shapes family life and parenting practices in families.

Second of all, race is an aspect of socialization which is the lifelong process through which individuals acquire a self-identity and enables society to reproduce itself by passing on its culture form one generation to the next. In fact below is a definition of Racial Socilaztion taken from Sociology in Our Times (textbook for colleges and universities).

Racial Socialization is the aspect of socialization that contains specific messages and practices concerning the nature of one's racial or ethnic status as it relates to our identity, interpersonal relationships, and location in the social hierarchy. It includes direct statements regarding race, modeling behaviour (wherein a child imitates the behaviour of a parent or other caregiver), and indirect activities such as exposure to an environment that conveys a specific message about a racial or ethnic group.

Hope this answers your question!