The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of humanity around the ideal man. This idealism is born from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human being as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be observed from the Middle Ages to the present day. The social construction of racism and feelings of superiority compared to people of other ethnicities have been markedly present in European societies as well as America over the past few centuries. The beginnings of racial difference date back to the Age of Exploration, during which England was expanding its trade routes and was heavily involved in trade in Africa. English traders noticed distinctive differences between themselves and African peoples, both in terms of physical appearance and cultural primitiveness. It was not until the 18th century that the word race began to enter languages ​​and vocabulary, and this idea of ​​a difference between people was further explored through the work of Carolus Linnaeus. Linnaeus composed a list of subspecies of human beings based on racial differences. Several other scientists, such as Georges Cuvier and Charles Darwin, created human subspecies. Social Darwinism alluded to the concept that, eventually, a larger human subspecies would prevail and constitute the most elite of all humanity. These lists often ranked the order of species with the white European man at the top of the list and the darker-skinned African man at the bottom. An example of a categorization concept is the Great Chain of Being, through which all things, including man and subspecies of man, are given...... middle of paper ... ...foundation or where they are found In the world, it is ignorant to highlight these differences as a means of distinguishing one people from another, or to say that a race has greater hierarchical significance than a other. These constructs provide insight into how people have come to view each other and can also help see how avoiding racism in modern society might one day be possible. Works Cited Marks, Jonathan. “Great Chain of Being”. In Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, ed. John H. Moore, Detroit: Macmillan Reference and Thompson Gale, 2008. Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from Another Shore: A History of Asian Americans. Boston: Little, Brown & Company Ltd., 1989. Shaheen, Jack G. “Real Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People.” » Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Sciences, vol. 588, July 2003. “A wild heritage”, Racism: a history, 2007.