In order for one to bring about the discussion of race in any aspect, one must know the formal definition of race. For as long as the world has existed with people as its' inhabitants, the definition of race has evolved up until now, and will probably continue to. The definition of race has never been altered full-fledged, because it has always possessed certain characteristics. One characteristic of the definition of race that has always existed is the physical nature or features of the human being. Well before humans could identify with the word 'race' itself, they were always able to identify one's physical features. Thus, one's physical features were used to identify a person with a certain group.
             The word race has a collective meaning, in the sense that it does in fact identify you with a certain group, or set of ancestors. For example, if you were the last survivor of your race, living among other races on this earth, the other races would have been able to identify you with your racial group since, at one point or another, lived in the past. If the case were opposite, you might as well be considered extraterrestrial or a person who has a race derived from outside our universe. The point may seem very extreme, but it touches up on how every human being is derived from a certain so-called race or a mixture of races.
             The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines race as: a family, tribe, people, or nation of the same stock. The second definition of race in the same dictionary is: a group of individuals within a biological species able to breed together. This definition enhances the idea of race having a collective meaning, because we can then consider human beings collectively.
             Today's society has adopted the first definition of race, where we are linked to a people of the same stock. The question lies: Could race have always been defined this way? The second definition, a group of i...