"Race" and the difficulties of language
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 27, 2026

Using the Race Model Inequality to Quantify Behavioral Multisensory Integration Effects
Published on: May 10, 2019
Debby A Phillips1, Denise J Drevdahl
1School of Nursing, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington 98122, USA. daphillip@seattleu.edu
Abstract:
"Race," a construct created by scientists, is deeply ingrained in everyday discourses. Using postmodern theories to help us think through the complexities of language in relation to race, we come to understand that truths about race are changing, contingent, and contested products of cultural construction. It is impossible to understand or represent race as an object of study such that it can be known, yet untouched, by language. Health effects are one important consequence of race, particularly related to quality, access, marginalization, and privilege. Analyzing the effects of race bring it visibly into being, and makes evident how language shapes our understandings of the world and its human inhabitants.
Related Concept Videos
Language and Cognition
Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Language
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Components of Language
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...

