Help Bring Race: Are We So Different
to the Miami Science Museum
Join the individuals and organizations that are together working to bring this very special exhibition to Miami.
It's a simple truth. People are different. Throughout history, these differences have been a source of community strength and personal identity. They have also been the basis for discrimination and oppression.
The idea of "race" has been used historically to describe these differences and justify mistreatment of people and even genocide. Today, contemporary scientific understanding of human variation is beginning to challenge "racial" differences, and even question the very concept of race.
RACE: Are We So Different?, developed by the American Anthropological Association in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota, is the first national touring exhibition to tell the stories of race from the biological, cultural, and historical points of view. Combining these perspectives offers an unprecedented look at race and racism in the United States.
RACE: Are We So Different? was the winner of the Excellence in Exhibition Competition at the 2008 meeting of the American Association of Museums. Its praises have been sung wherever the exhibition and it’s programs have traveled. Our goal is to bring this very important exhibition to Miami.
Exhibit Overview
RACE: Are We So Different? helps visitors understand what race is and what it is not. It gives them the tools to recognize racial ideas and practices in contemporary American life. The exhibit explores three themes: the everyday experience of race, the contemporary science that is challenging common ideas about race, and the history of this idea in the United States.
Everyday Experience of Race
Race is embedded in virtually all aspects of American life. Explore social and personal experiences of race in familiar settings such as home and neighborhood, health and medicine, and education and schools. Discover that race and racism is not inside our heads, but in fact is built into our laws, traditions, and institutions.
The Science of Human Variation
Racial and ethnic categories, which have changed over time, are human-made. We now know that human beings are more alike genetically than any other living species. Scientifically, no one gene, or any set of genes, can support the idea of race. This section focuses on what current science knows about human variation and our species' history.
History of the Idea of Race
Race has not always existed. Sorting people by physical differences is a recent invention, only a few hundred years old. Discover how the development of the idea of race is closely linked to the early development of the United States.
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