Final answer:
The 'races' in the United States have historical roots in European colonialist politics and have been perpetuated through discrimination and legal systems, particularly during slavery and the Jim Crow era. The concept of race is a social construct that continues to impact society by reinforcing racial hierarchies, affecting various groups in addition to African Americans.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of race in the United States is deeply intertwined with its history of European colonialism and has been used as a tool for discrimination throughout the country's history. Originating during the era of the slave economy, racial categories were utilized by the legal system to easily identify who could be enslaved. Despite the abolition of slavery in the 1860s, the subsequent Jim Crow era continued to enforce and reconfigure American concepts of race, while the US Census Bureau played a role in reinforcing these categories. Such racial categorizations were, and continue to be, a form of social construction developed by society to create divisions among people.
Racism has affected not only African Americans but also other groups including Native Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, and Jewish Americans. Racism is embedded within America's institutions and has been sustained by historical policies, such as the United States Naturalization Law of March 26, 1790, which exclusively granted citizenship to 'free white persons of good character.' The legacy of such policies continues to influence the racial dynamics in the US, as the concept of whiteness has evolved over time to include various European ethnic groups, while people of color still face systemic forms of racism. The disconnection between the lived experiences of race and ethnicity and governmental classifications underscores a continual reshaping of racial understanding in America.