In the traditional biological and anthropological systems of classification, race is a grouping of individuals that share such visible physical traits as skin color, hair texture, eye shape and size and other characteristics. The term has also been applied to linguistic groups (the “Arab race” or the “Latin race”), religions (the “Jewish race” or the “Chinese race”) and to political, national, or ethnic groups with few or no distinguishing physical features (the “French race,” the “Spanish race,” the “Japanese race,” and the “Irish race”).
Although scientists now recognize that a genetic basis for human differences has never existed, societal views of race continue to affect a variety of important social issues including education, health care and criminal justice. These views are shaped by cultural norms, the history of racial categories and perceptions about how different populations interact with one another.
For example, studies have shown that racial identity influences both self-assessment of mental and physical health and the ways in which people evaluate others’ health. Studies have also indicated that a person’s racial identity can influence whether or not they experience discrimination.
These enduring impacts can be traced back to the formation of the concept of race, which began in the 17th century as a folk ideology about the differences between Europeans, Amerindians and Africans brought together in the new world and then solidified in the 19th century as a new mechanism for social division and stratification.
The NIH follows the Office of Management and Budget’s standard to capitalize all references to race, including White, as it conveys a sense of importance. However, we encourage you to use non-collective terms such as Black or Hispanic to refer to these groups.
In the past, governments often used racial categories to justify sex and economic segregation. For example, banks were reluctant to offer mortgages in predominantly black neighborhoods and single-family zoning laws thwarted efforts to desegregate housing. Today, despite the lack of a scientific basis for the category, many Americans still consider race to be a significant part of their identity and the way in which other people view them.
On census forms and other questionnaires, people are asked to identify their racial background. The Census Bureau uses the categories of White, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander and Some Other Race to collect racial data. However, it is important to remember that a person’s racial definition is a sociological construct and not something they are assigned by their biology. Moreover, some people choose to self-report more than one racial category because they are multiracial or have mixed ancestry. Nevertheless, these responses are still useful to the Census Bureau because they help them ensure that government policies serve all groups fairly and to monitor compliance with antidiscrimination laws. They also help in understanding how a person’s experiences vary by race and across the country.