One other quick point — those who argue that “race isn’t genetic/race is a social construct” typically are not meaning that “race, as opposed to ethnicity, is not genetic.” Rather, they mean that there aren’t discernible genetic differences between human populations, regardless of whether you call such groups races or ethnicities. They often cite the discredited argument of Richard Lewontin to this effect.

UPDATE: Here are a sociology professor’s lecture notes to illustrate my point. Ancestral heritage is an “artificial” category, and both race and ethnicity are social constructs:

  • Race = a social construct that artificially divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance (particularly skin color), ancestral heritage, cultural affiliation, cultural history, ethnic classification , and the social, economic and political needs of a society at a given period of time.
  • Ethnicity = a social construct which divides people into smaller social groups based on a shared sense of group membership, values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history, and geography. (Ex. Haitian, chinese, puerto-rican, cherokee, french, etc.)