This is a very interesting book that depicts race during the Shakespearian time period.  First of all I think that it is indeed very interesting that the term “race” was not coined until the year 1508, which is just over 500 years ago.  In terms of where race placed you in society, I believe that one’s religion and bloodline were deemed more important.  If you followed a certain religion that others in the community would associate you with certain values and practices.  If you were born into a Lord family than you were privileged, if you were born into a peasant family than you were much less privileged.  As Loomba mentions in the book, “class was seen as an attribute rooted in blood” and I believe that one’s race at the time did not have an extreme effect on who they were.  It was as if in these feudal societies that race defined your class.  There is a term used in the book called “nobler race” simply meaning born into a noble society.  At this point in time during this society race did not at all reflect the color of someone like we interpret it today.  It is very evident that the word race had a completely different meaning during the Early Modern English time period.  However, I believe that this time period is when the term “race” began to evolve as the world was undergoing major change.  Truthfully I believe that during this time period racism itself was there but was not anything major like we would see later on in the world.  I find the “Racism without Race” particularly interesting as Loomba discusses racism through a cultural and biological perspective.  She states in her book that, “the rise of modern racism is often seen in terms of a shift from cultural (and more benign) to a more biological (and inflexible) view of racial difference.”  It is very interesting to think about the role of race 500 years ago and the role of race today.