Socially Defined Race and the Fight for US Citizenship

Scientific advances have shown that race in humans is a social construct rather than based in biology. This means that racial categories are created by societies and can change depending on the time period or place. In this video, evolutionary biologist Dr. Joseph L. Graves Jr. explores race as a social construct through two historical examples of applications for US citizenship. These cases also show how social definitions of race can significantly influence the daily lives of people and communities.