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As a social construction, race is part of family genealogy and it creates intergenerational groups and identities for individuals. Racial differences matter in concrete areas of life, such as marriage rates, social class, employment, wealth, and health. Marriage rates vary by race and ethnicity: African Americans marry less than whites, due to external economic constraint; Mexican immigrant women marry younger but for economic rather than cultural reasons. Social class now includes cultural capital in tastes and consumption, which may make it difficult for minorities to fully thrive within white-dominated institutions. Race affects health in environmental ways based on nonhereditary factors. Race-targeted medicine therefore needs to be distinguished from race-based medicine.

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