Got Such Big Crania Summary

The PBS series “Race: The Power of an Illusion” effectively works to expose race as a social construct and deconstructs the false notions that race is a biological marker. The series first discusses that all human beings originated from Africa but dispersed about 70,000 years ago to various places in the world. As a result of this migration, people were spread to different locations throughout the world with different environmental conditions that affected their physical traits. It was many years after the migration in which people began to display these new physical traits such as slanted eyes, fair skin, and differing hair textures. While the series notes the physical changes that occurred during the migration it also emphasizes that race while it may seem apparent in skin color and other physical features has no real biological basis.

It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is a fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists.”(4)

We are still consumed with the notion that there is some possible generalization that can used to determine who belongs and who doesn’t, to a certain category of ethnicity. Throughout the process of natural selection, uninhibited love and the freedom of choice, we humans continue to cloud the reality for the concept of race. This social construction of race no longer holds as a scientific factor. Physical features such as skin color and eyes and hair have been proven scientifically to be components of the location of environment. These traits were

In the nineteenth century biologist attempted to create a science of racial differences that would support the view of racialism. “These traits and tendencies characteristic of a race constitute, on the racialist view, a sort of racial essence; and it is part of the content of racialism that the essential heritable characteristics of what the nineteenth century called the “Races of Man” account for more than the visible morphological characteristics—skin color, hair type, facial features—on the basis of which we make our informal classification (Appiah 394). As of today, most scientists working in these fields continue to reject racialism. The claims of racialism are not supported by science. Plausibly, Appiah states that racialism doesn’t necessarily have to be an ethical issue. An individual may possibly acknowledge racialism but still believe that constructive moral characteristics are equally disseminated across the different races. But, what is logically possible and what usually occurs are two different things. “I believe—and I have argued elsewhere—that racialism is false; but by itself it seems to be a cognitive rather than a moral problem” (Appiah 394).

During the late twenty-first century the academic focus recognised as the ‘critical philosophy of race’ was developed with the purpose of analysing the metaphysics of race. Scholars began to conceptualise ‘race’ with frameworks other than biological determinism due to scientific findings that proposed that race, as conceptualised as a biological fact, does not exist. To ground the social reality of race, theories of social constructionism attempt to explain the social practice of interpreting difference along a constructed hierarchy. The accounts primarily of Haslanger, but also of Zack, Tattersall, and Glasglow form a complex overview of the constructionist theory of

It was very helpful that in the beginning of the article the author quoted another article by Claude McKay because it basically gives the reader a general idea of what the article’s main idea is and it also gives a comparison between whites and blacks. The author also uses a statistics chart showing the comparisons between dark-skinned slaves and light-skinned slaves’ height differential depending on the age. The chart shows us how alike in height the dark-skinned and light-skinned were at early ages and how their height changed over the years. Around the age of 16 is when the results showed that light-skinned slaves were at least an inch taller than the dark-skinned slaves. Although that

The skull proportion index conveys the proportional relationship between the face and the cranium. A larger index indicates a larger cranium in comparison to the face. The skull proportions of Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo erectus are relatively large, which are around 100. This suggests that Homos have large brain and cranium. Brain is associated with intelligence. Hence, homo can perform more complex activities, such as using sophisticated stone tools, cooking, and mashing food. Meanwhile, the skull proportions of Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus boisei are relative small. This suggests that Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus boisei have small brain and cranium. They can perform relatively simple activities, such as using basic stone tools, instead of sophisticated stone

An important dialogue has been created amongst historians. This dialogue is based on whether or not race is a biological factor or a social construct. Both ideas will be explored. Race plays a large role in our society. Certain races have stigmas associated with them that ultimately lead to discrimination.

Race has been a topic used as a means of division and categorization for years. Scientists and people in general have used race to separate racial groups and to determine which race is “superior” or “inferior”. However, as we progress in society, studying the differences between races serves to understand and help one another, rather than to degrade. Studying the different genetic makeups between races serves as a helpful tool to educate individuals on health risks they may be more susceptible to because of their racial background.

The study of race and ethnicity searches for equality throughout all racial and ethnic groups though we find that inequality is still a common issue. Racial and ethnic groups are expanding and outnumbering the dominant force, however, minority groups still have no rule against the dominant force. A minority is a subordinate group whose members have remarkably less control or power over the dominant force.(pg.4) Groups are ranked by pinpointing unique features of an individual in order to define them within a specific bracket. For example, a minority or subordinate group has five characteristics: unequal treatment, distinguishing physical or cultural traits, involuntary membership, awareness of subordination, and in-group marriage.(Wagley

The racial categories, while seemingly culturally meaningful, are biologically arbitrary. Racial statutes cannot be mapped accurately in the human genome, or as a set of traits. Traits generally ascribed to a certain “race” rarely only occur within that “race.” Natural selection and evolution are mechanisms that distribute variation in ways that are not concordant with racial categorization. In order to understand the variation within the human race, one must understand how advantageous traits are passed on through generations, and that these traits are advantageous for a specific environmental situation. Some examples of these variations are dark skin, sickle cell disease, and nasal morphology.

"AAA Statement on "Race"" AAA Statement on "Race" American Anthropological Association, 17 May 1998. Web. 23 July 2015.

Caleb L. Fry and Lauren T. Rios Department of Anthropology Lake Tahoe Community College One College Drive South Lake Tahoe, California 96150 USA Faculty Advisor: Daryl G. Frazetti Abstract

Introduction Many studies show that larger brain size predicts greater intelligence. The studies show that on average men have approximately 4IQ points higher than women due to larger head circumference (HC). The greater IQ is generally formed after the age of 16 since women’s brains stop forming at this age but men’s continue to develop and grow. The longer growth period leads to more head circumference and brain mass which has been found be significantly correlated with higher intelligence. Even in the elderly, head circumference has been found to be positively and significantly correlated with intelligence (Schofield, Logroscino, Andrews, Albert, & Stern, 1997; Tisserand, Bosma, Van Boxtel, & Jolles, 2001). The larger HC is also believed to house more neurons which help in the speed of the information processing due to more synaptic connections (Pakkenberg & Gundersen, 1997). In general, general intelligence (G) is the best predictor of intelligence. In a Wall Street Journal article in 1994, 52 leading psychologists defined intelligence as “a very general mental capacity which, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience” (Gottfredson, 1997, p. 13); others have defined intelligence as the “sum total of all cognitive abilities” (Stankov & Roberts, 1997, p. 76). In all cases, males have tested higher on g than females leading researchers to believe

Franz Boas’ had a great influence on the theories of Scientific Racialism. Around 1912, Franz Boas’ started to raise questions regarding the accepted views on race as well as racism, due to his research studies (Riosalado, 2016). Proof of commonly-accepted racial beliefs were demanded by Boas’ and his students, which caused scientists in other fields to begin to question commonly-accepted views, over the next twenty years (Riosalado, 2016). Boas’ was specifically challenging the idea that mentality and temperament is determined by race (Scupin, 2012, p. 18). He submitted evidence that verified changes of head shape in Italian and Jewish children of immigrants which subsided the suggestion that race determined mental ability and the decision