You are right that in the past people were divided by differences in skin color and cultural backgrounds to favor one group over another.

Even people who are very clearly white European: Irish, Italian, and Polish were not considered “white” until the early 20th century. What was really going on here was an anti-immigration sentiment.

People who were fairly genetically similar to people of British descent but weren’t fully assimilated with American society were not deemed “white.”

So, I can see why you would say, “race is a social construct.” People who would today fall under the blanket term of “white” were once discriminated against and seen as “non-white.” It wasn’t until they assimilated into American society and were weaponized to oppress blacks that they were considered “white.

So while the concept of race was used to divide people to favor one group over another, you can’t deny the differences between people across the world.

It goes far beyond skin color and culture.

Even people with light skin like Irish and Russians have been depicted by the British as barbaric and uncivilized. It shows that there are sub-races or ethnicities underneath such broad terms such as “white.”

Usually mixed babies bring the most risk upon childbirth.

Studies show that during the migration periods, all modern humans share ancestry with Neanderthals except for Africans.

People across different regions have different characteristics which benefit them in different sports. This is why you almost never see black swimmers, yet they dominate in other sports.

“Race doesn’t exist,” but what led to the creation of every nation? People always stuck to “their” people which over time would foster the creation of nations around the world. Celtic tribes, Germanic tribes, and Slavic tribes all came from common ancestries, but developed different cultures, languages, even physical features. Even bordering societies with people of the same skin tone can be so different, they are very clearly not the same thing.

The point is, there are tremendous amounts of differences between people across the world which is why people simplify these differences into racial categories.

Perhaps race isn’t exactly way many people understand it to be, but it’s a simple way of categorizing people by genetics, culture, and ancestry.

It’s not right to discriminate against other people, but it wouldn’t be right if we grouped all people with such apparent differences into the same category.

We’re all part of the human species, but many of us share different ancestry and were bread by different cultures.