What are the implications of classifying people according to "race"?

Classifying people according to race is inherently
problematic because race is a socially constructed idea.  There are as many genetic
differences within people of a given "race" as there are between the different "races." 
Therefore, race is not a good criterion by which to classify
people.

Classifying people by race can have a number of
important implications:

• It encourages us to
  identify ourselves based on physical characteristics rather than on cultural attitudes
  or other attributes.  I, for example, am half Asian and half "white."  I am culturally
  more "white" than Asian, but I tend to be identified as Asian because of my physical
  looks.


• It discourages people from classifying themselves
  according to other characteristics that (to some) are more important.  For example,
  people tend to focus on race instead of looking at things like socioeconomic status or
  "class."  Arguably, these latter two criteria are more important than one's looks, but
  we focus on the physical because we are so caught up in issues of
  race.


• Finally, it can set up false ideas about which
  peoples are similar.  For example, it can make us think that a Dominican is essentially
  like an African American because they are both "black."  The same is true of recent
  immigrants from Africa and African Americans whose ancestors have been here for 400
  years.

All of these are serious implications
of our tendency to see race as the most important criterion for classifying
people.