Re: What are race promoters promoting?
Susan S. Chin (susansf@netcom.com)
Sun, 24 Nov 1996 06:34:40 GMT
marho@iafrica.com wrote:
: >Finally, after all the toing and froing we have the answer. There is no such
: >thing as "race"; there are only "sub-species". Gosh, what a wonderful
: >difference that makes.
Phil Nicholls (pnich@digiworldinc.com) wrote:
: I see that you have a reading comprehension problem. What I actually
: said was that neither term provides a useful way understanding
: biological variation.
: The term "subspecies" was introduced by population biologists in the
: 1930's, well before the political right found it useful to invoke the
: term "politically correct" to excuse racism and sexism.
My understanding is that races are geographical variants of a species.
The morphological differences between populations become greater the
farther apart these populations are. The similarities between populations
are due to similiar adaptations to environmental demands. This racial
differentiation occurred once early hominids spread beyond Africa and the
Old World. Limited interbreeding between populations lead to these
phenotypic differences which we can easily recognize as a "racial type,"
physical anthropologists recognize 3 major groups. Subsequent migrations
have obviously blurred the lines of what criteria should be used or can
be used to differentiate the "races." But if looked at from the point of
view of geographic origins, most humans today can trace their heritage
back to one or more likely, several geographically distinct areas.
Recognizing that races exist as a phenotypic category, one that doesn't
always place individual humans neatly into clear categories either
phenotypically or genetically, doesn't negate the fact that the
differences we observe between people today are due to the geographic
origins of their ancestors. Differences aside, we are more alike than we
are different. We're all members of one race, that of the human variety.
Susan
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susansf@netcom.com
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