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Racial classification is an enduring, complex, and controversial phenomenon that affects every aspect of life in North America. Race, its meaning and use in society, is a topic that continues to receive considerable attention in academic, economic, social, psychological, health, and political arenas. The concept and application of race in daily life historically has been shaped and deeply influenced by the physical and social science disciplines. In view of the continued significance of race in American life, this chapter provides a discussion of race from a sociopsychological perspective, highlights the mechanisms through which the significance of race is maintained, and argues for the need to view race as a psychological construct in the social sciences. We begin by providing a brief historical review of the development of race as an idea and as used in social, economic, and political stratification systems that in essence …