Race, of course, is based on physical traits. But the groupings and boundaries are culturally determined and very arbitrary. Minor nose and cheek shape differ

Race, of course, is based on physical traits. But the groupings and boundaries are culturally determined and very arbitrary. Minor nose and cheek shape differences are obvious to the Hutu and Tutsi (enough they massacred each on the premise they are different racial groups) but to the average American they're both just black. Similarly, a century ago, it was entirely obvious to the British and the Italians that they were different races of people, although closely related. Today that idea is completely alien in America, where they're both white. Perhaps the best example is the American views on what defines blackness. Because I grew up in a community where mixed race white/black was seen as a distinct race from white or black, I have a very hard time interpreting race the way Americans do sometimes -- Barrack Obama and Kamala Harris's mixed parentage is obvious to me, which makes them obviously not black to me (think like in the same way Obama is obviously not white) and I have a hard time wrapping my head around Americans seeing them as such, but apparently they do, since even a small amount of physical traits that suggest recent African descent categorizes you as black there.