The racial definitional system in the United States ensures the separation of people. It is a caste-like system of nomenclature which was invented by Whites for their benefit. It is institutionalized and gets renewed through the socialization process. The system is only peripherally concerned with how Blacks define themselves. (VM)

Our culture draws lines between "races" in a variety of ways. Professional scholars and society in general each have their own set of aims and methods for dividing by race. The professional classifiers have been at times inconsistent and fallacious in their methods. The scientific classifiers (physical anthropologists, for example) assume an…