Having served as a college and university instructor at several institutions, the author has taught numerous history courses that have dealt with race relations in the United States. A class that he currently teaches, titled "Race in America," focuses specifically upon this topic. It is designed for non-history majors who are in their early years of undergraduate study. One of the major goals of the class is to historicize the concept of "race" itself, explaining that it is a constructed category. While teaching this and other history classes, the author has found that providing three conceptual answers to the question of "Who has been responsible for race?" effectively triggers interpretive thinking among students who often otherwise lack interest in the subject. In this article, the author describes three theoretical models regarding the origins of race and discusses the benefits of addressing the issue of human responsibility for racial ideologies. (Contains 23 notes.)