The end of race

Journalist Steve Olson expresses his views of racial and cultural identity in The End of Race: Hawaii and the Mixing of Peoples. The belief of a complete end to race is absurd to many, but Olson states “ When we look at another person, we won’t think Asian, black, or white. We’ll just think: person. ” (Olson p. 261) Ultimately cultures will never die, we will always have an individual race with different backgrounds and heritages, but the global mindset of judging and categorizing people in groups based on their outward appearance will soon come to an end. Generally, when race is the topic, immediately what comes to mind is the skin tone of a particular person, or certain facial characteristics they might have. However, the Bible tells us that we are descendents from Adam and Eve; that On the top of everybody’s family trees these two stand. Scientists believe we all originated from Africa and philosopher Charles Darwin concluded, that we all evolved from primates into human form, yet race still persists in almost everyone’s eyes. The world has already developed a solid perspective long ago of external differences that distinguish race; the color of your skin, the texture and style of your hair, the type of clothing you wear, and even the way you speak. “ Many of the harshest conflicts in the world today are between people who are physically indistinguishable. If someone took a room full of Palestinians and Israelis from the Middle East…. gave them all identical outfits and haircut, and forbade them to speak or gesture, no one could distinguish the members of the other group. ” (Olson p. 252) Society has created a belief that you should dislike anyone that isn’t just as yourself, and this has gone worldwide creating turmoil, violence, and war amongst different neighboring countries! It’s amazing how ethnicities with minor differences have developed hate towards each other over time. However, the United States and some other countries are trying to stop such wars and hate crimes being committed between different groups. Slowly but surely people are starting to come to the realization, that despite any difference in backgrounds, race, or religion we are all equals. The perspective on race is changing rapidly right before our eyes. Intermarriages are becoming more popular and very common to see on an everyday basis, but no time soon will this eliminate race as a whole, “ Five hundred years from now, unless human societies undergo drastic changes, Asians, Africans, and Europeans will be physically distinguishable. ” (Olson p. 260) The people of this world will always look different from one another, nothing can change that, but the mixing of these people is doing something much more powerful. Socially, intermarriage has created an idea that you can designate your own race based on the individuals’ personality because with the different races merged together, who is to determine what race you really are. “Joshua Goldstein calculated that about 20 percent of Americans are already in extended families with someone from a different racial group. ” (Olson p. 252) Many people don’t realize that they are already mixed and have family members of different ethnic background. “The logical endpoint of this perspective is a world in which people are free to choose their ethnicity regardless of their ancestry. ” (Olson p. 261) People should have the right to pronounce themselves in any ethnicity that is most closely related to how they perceive themselves. The people of Hawaii are moving beyond concepts of race and the rest of the world is soon to follow. “ Many prospective students at the University of Hawaii simply mark “ mixed” in describing their ethnicity on application forms, even if both parents have the same ethnic background. ” (Olson p. 260) It makes it easier to identify with different groups. They don’t want to be categorized to one specific racial group. For Hawaiians the sky is the limit for potential partners and mates. “ For most young people in Hawaii the pool of marriageable partners encompasses the entire population. ” (Olson p. 260) More choices give more opportunities for eligible bachelors to eventually cross paths with a person of a different race. The common stereotype of marrying someone who has your same racial background ended long ago in Hawaii. In fact, Hawaiians have always been inclined to welcome and meet somebody new under all types of circumstances. “ Englishman James Cook sailed into view off the northeast coast of the Hawaiian island…. Polynesians had never seen a European sailing ship…. yet they responded…. they offered the sailors food, water, and, in the case of women, themselves. ” (Olson p. 250) They welcomed dirty European sailors, who gave them all types of diseases, but created a beautiful mixture of people. Now countries envy the racial harmony that exists in Hawaii and pursue that same peace. Considering all the different types of people in the world many countries are following this trend and find it interesting and unique to connect with someone from another part of the world. Traditionally, race has always been looked at as somebody’s ethnicity, but with the mixture of races and intermarriages going on, you can argue that the idea of race has already been replaced. Religion is the only thing that separates people. A person is not defined anymore by what they look like, but who they really are. “ Our preferences, character, and abilities are not determined by the biological history of our ancestors. They depend on our individual attributes, experiences, and choices. ” (Olson p. 261) Morals and values is what truly makes and groups you with others, this is all controlled by religions. For example, Christians identify themselves with other people who share the same belief as them, and call each other their spiritual brother or sister in Christ, no matter what shape, size, or color they come in. This is a very common thing to do amongst different religions. The religions don’t see black or white, but they view the heart of the believer. “ When a substantial number of individuals demonstrate, by their very existence, that choices are possible; that biology is not destiny…. Ethnicity seems far less stark and categorical. ” (Olson p. 260) If you walk into a large college classroom and ask everybody what religion they claim, you might note that people from all types of different heritages are members of the same religion. By sharing the same beliefs people have no choice but to coexist. Many argue that religion will start its separation of people, but this won’t last either because Intermarriages are connecting religions. Often, the husband and wife are of two different ethnicities with differences in their religions. Therefore, the child is usually split between the beliefs and makes them more acceptable to other religions. “ According to the 2000 census, one in twenty children under the age of eighteen in the United States is mixed, in that their parents fall into more than one racial category.“ (Olson p. 251-252) These statistics further explain why someone would refuse to claim one race, rather than grouping themselves with people who share other similar characteristics as them like personality or religion. Consequently, the world we live in changes every day, race to many has already disappeared through personalities, intermarriages, and religions. There are still a lot of differences that divide races today, but we are moving towards a new world that will not judge based on the color of your skin. No longer do people need to feel as though they belong to a group without any decision of their own. “ We are members of a single human family, the products of genetic necessity and chance, borne ceaselessly into an unknown future. ” (Olson p. 261) The children of the future are going to have an individual choice whether or not to be grouped with any other type of person. They will grow up in a world where getting a job has nothing to do with what ethnic background you come from. A world where the most common boxed checked for forms and applications are “ mixed”. There will no longer be many full Natives of a race residing in a particular country any place in the world. “ Some people who call themselves Native Hawaiians probably have little DNA from Polynesian ancestors. ” (Olson p. 257) Nobody can truly date back to the beginning of time and prove that they are one-hundred percent of any race, and yet so many try to claim they are. Soon the world we recognize itself as one big “ Melting Pot” and realize that the only traits that separate us are our personalities and religions. Works cited Olson, Steve. “ The End of Race: Hawaii and the mixing of Peoples”. 2002.