Race: The Significance In Terms Of Science

Race is not an element of human biology (like breathing oxygen or reproducing sexually); nor is it even an idea (like the speed of light or the value of π) that can be plausibly imagined to live an external life of its own. Race is not an idea but an ideology. It came into existence at a discernable historical moment for rationality understandable historical reasons and is subject to change for similar reasons (101).

Sociologist define race as a “socially defined category based on real or percived biological differnces between groups of people”. In the 19th century biologist came up with the three different categories that groups the three human races: Mongoloid, Causasoid and Negroid. They belived that different races where charaterized by biological makeup. But modern sciences have proved that theory to be wrong because there is no such thing as a “pure” race. We are 99.9% genetically idenitcal. Race is just a concept humans made up, it isn’t actually real.

The principles of genetics and evolution show that race, biologically does not exist. The differences that appear in humans does not come from an allele that marks for a specific race. Usually most of the variations we see in humans comes from mutations that occur. The change in DNA is a major factor of variation in humans, it is something random which means certain attributes aren’t associated with a specific race. Another important thing to note is that all humans share the basic structure of DNA. This reinforces the idea that race is a social construct, not a reality of nature. Another main source of variation comes from gene flow (the movement of alleles to and from a certain location). Populations have always been moving from one place to another, and through this a trait can become more unique or more common. So there is less to do about

This article written by Mark Nathan Cohen, who is an anthropology professor in the State University of New York; talks about how race does not define human diversity. In the article, he also mentions that in school students learn the definition of race based on “biological variation” and not based on their culture. The professor Cohen says that studies on human family tree that were based on their genetic analysis of traits do not show any relation of who those traits belong to. He gives an example by stating that even skin color is not a god indicator of who it relates to because the “traits occur independently in several different branches of the human family.”

Scholars say that the term race should not be used because it does not have any basis in scientific fact and really has no use today. According to the AAA’s statement on race, there is 94% variance in genes of individuals within one “racial” group. Race has its basis in colonization, when trying to conjure reasons why some groups of people, i.e. Native Americans and Africans, had lower places in society than the white people. That’s why the groups of “races” are so broad and meaningless today. The concept of race is just used to spread prejudice and give so called “scientific reasons” to discriminate against another group. The term

As a black girl, I have thought about race a lot. I have personally seen how race has affected my education, opportunities, dealings with police, employment, and everyday interactions with people. Of course, I know that race does not exist as a scientific category. The theory of race is not a biological reality, and has been proven as illegitimate.There is after all only one race - the human race. We all have the same basic characteristics and genetically are all homo sapien sapiens. Our physical differences can be explained by means of Charles Darwin’s concept of human variation. Thus, our various physical characteristics such as skin colour and hair texture are a result of our ancestors geographical origins. In contrast to its biological

Race-thinking: what is it? Isn’t the world past the issue of race? Do races even exist and if so, what does it mean to have a racial identity? Is colorblindness possible and how important is it? These are the questions Paul Taylor addresses in the book “Race: A Philosophical Introduction”. Paul Taylor is a self-proclaimed “radical constructionist” who will maintain that race is very real in our world and in the United States (p. 80). Taylor takes care to ensure he addresses the real needs concerning racial dynamics in the U.S., referencing historical events, prevailing policy affairs, and even pop culture to explain that everyone capable of forming opinions ought to have some sort of grasp of the concept of race thinking. As Taylor will analyze, race and race-thinking “has shaped and continues to shape private interactions as well as the largest political choices” (p. 8). In other words, race-thinking encompasses everything we do and every interaction we have. In this paper I will attempt to interpret and expound Taylor’s views and definitions of race, concepts associated with race, and input my own perspectives along the way.

Race is not all biologically real. According to Fuentes, race cannot be categorized as black, Asian or white because there are morphological and physiological variations (Fuentes 2012:74). Humans are all one race, whether they are different in skin color, body shape and size. Many religious beliefs support the idea of everyone being equal, regardless of the previous differentiations mention above, but science has devoted to the study of where humanity has originated and has expanded the idea of the word 'race'. Scientifically, humanity rose from the first ancient apes that best fit the characterizations of today's humans. Whether this is true or not, it is indeed very convincing that perhaps our first ancestors could have spread to different

I am very impressed by the concept of you and Justin's visual timeline. During undergrad, I was Communications major who used creative visuals for everything so it’s always nice to see what others come up with. In addition, the two events I enjoyed from your timeline were the Model Cities Legislation and the Race Riots, which were opposite chosen events amongst Team Four. I recall from episode three of the documentary Race: The Power of Illusion, the narrator mentioned that prior to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 “urban renewal was supposed to make cities more livable, [yet, conversely] 90% of all housing destroyed by urban renewal was not replaced. Two thirds of those displaced were Black or Latino” (California Newsreel, 2014). One can only

Race biology, or the scientific study of races based on the belief that physical appearance determines moral, psychological and physiological traits, is a discipline that has shaped History. It was important in the creation of the Nazi Ideology in Germany, and thus lead to the Jewish Holocaust, which is known to be one of the bloodiest in History. It is therefore interesting to investigate the influence of race biology on other countries, and their treatment of minorities. Due to my Swedish background, I have decided to study it’s impact on the treatment of Sami in Sweden, an issue which is still very much in actuality today, as the Sami Parliament’s 2015 report to the UN states that the Sami are still victim of “systematic discrimination and categorization” .

The Race Quagmire says race should only be brought up in science. It is a term to facilitate talking about genetic differences among groups. I was never taught to like a specific gender but what I was taught was that I should not like people not my color. I will admit when I see a black person I will tend to hold back from talking to them because that is what I was taught all throughout my childhood. I tend to hold back but that is all I do. I do not judge them and I hope they are doing well in life just like any other person.

The English term ‘race’ is believed to originate from the Spanish word raza, which means ‘breed’ or ‘stock’ (Race). People use race to define other groups, this separation of groups is based largely on physical features. Features like skin color and hair don’t affect the fundamental biology of human variation (Hotz). Race is truly only skin deep, there are no true biological separations between two ‘racial’ groups. Scientifically speaking, there is more variation between single local groups than there is between two large, global groups; the human variation is constantly altering (Lewontin). The majority of today’s anthropologists agree that race is a form of social categorization, not the separation of groups based on biological

The question of whether human biological race exists has been a long debated, controversial topic within the field of anthropology. There have been a number of obstacles that have prevented proper research into this particular topic. For example, because of the potential social ramifications that seem to accompany study into human biological variation, there has been hesitancy among researchers in publishing material that could be interpreted as validation of racist ideologies. Besides social considerations, another significant factor that has inhibited thorough research into the topic is biotechnology, which has only recently become readily available and cost efficient. Lastly, the mere definition of “race” itself has caused difficulties in

There are a lot of factors that go into what constitutes as racial identity, all of which I believe plays some part in a race’s classification. In the biological sense, there is definitely some varying factors that set some races apart from other, whether it’s how their hair reacts defiantly to some kinds of treatment or environments, or even slight differences in skeletal structure. However, the amount of differences concerning the biological aspect of race, I think, is highly over played. Aspects such as intelligence or even naturel ability, while being connected to genetics, does not show significant amounts of differences between races apart from what different societies value more. Speaking of societies, this is where I believe the greatest

Physical anthropologists, human biologists and geneticists share the same idea that generally all mankind living today belong to the species, Homo sapiens. According to anthropologists, nature selects the biological and cultural patterns of a population and enables it to become accustomed in a particular environment and permit the process of survival and reproduction of that group of population. Genetic modifications and environmental influences led to individual variability within a population (polymorphic) or distinction between human groups (polytypic) which we refer to as races¹. Blumenfeld quoted two authors for the definition of race. Shipman et al. (1985) defined race as a morphologically identifiable subset of a species.