The Power of an Illusion
Race: The Power of an Illusion is a TV series that was produced in three episodes, by California Newsreel. The main objective of this series is investigating race in history, science and society. Race: The Power of an illusion is a captivating yet educational documentary whose original screening was on PBS and was chiefly funded by the Ford Foundation, CPD and PBS (Herbes-Sommers, 2003).
Categorization of people into distinct divisions such as yellow, white, red and black has so broadly become accepted and so entrenched within our psyches to that most individuals would think of raising concerns over its veracity. Consequently, this three hour documentary deals with the theory of race through undermining the idea of race as biology and tracing it back to its foundation in 19th century (Herbes-Sommers, 2003). Up till now, race still matters. Simply because it is not present in biology does not explain that is not very actual, aiding shape opportunities and chances.
In the first episode, “The Difference Between Us”, there is examination of the contemporary science, entailing genetics, which poses a challenge to assumptions of individuals’ common sense that people can grouped into three or four primarily distinct with respect to their physical characteristics.
The second episode, “The Story We Tell”, other revealing the origin of the race idea in North America, it also talks about the 19th century science which legalized it together with the way it grew to be held ferociously within the western imagination. This episode serves as a discovery tale of the role race played in rationalizing, even validating the social inequalities in America as “natural” (Herbes-Sommers, 2003).
Finally, the third episode, “The House We Live In” poses the question as to what the race is, if it not biology. It reveals how race dwells not in nature but in culture, economics and politics. It uncovers the manner in which our social institutions “build” race through disproportionately allocating wealth, power, resources and status to the whites.
Race: The Power of an Illusion is an exciting TV series that aids in setting the terms to guide any extra discussions of race. Through its educational background, the series does not only suits cultural studies but a range of other disciplines including American studies, anthropology, American history, sociology and human biology.
California Newsreel (Producer), & Herbes-Sommers, C. (Director). (2003). Race: The Power of an Illusion. PBS: United States.
