Pros And Cons Of Human Biological Race

What is race? Some people attach "race" to a biological meaning, yet others use "race" as a socially constructed concept. “Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them” (. So, it is clear that even though race does not have a biological meaning, it does have a social meaning - usually detrimental to our social harmony. Race is neither an essence nor an illusion, but

The idea of race in society is truly that; an idea. However, one of the first things one notices about another human is their perceived race. Often, incorrect assumptions are made about a person, based on his race. In addition, many believe race can be determined by biological factors. However, there is no biological basis to race. Without a doubt, genes play a role in our skin, hair, and eye color; however, there are not certain genes present in an entire race and not another. Race is not clear cut; if one were to travel from either pole to the equator, a specific location could not be identified to separate any two races.

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.”

Scientists and other intellectuals recognize the modern concept of "race" as an artificial category that developed over the past five centuries due to encounters with non-European, even though scientists attempted to organize humans into categories according to their race, they have been demonstrated to be unscientific in this century.

Web. 5 Dec. 2014. < http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f00/web2/ramon2.html>. "The Biological Reality of Race."

From a biological perspective, race is a social construct that has little bias in genetics. In the PBS documentary, episode 1: Race: The Power of Illusion, Microbiologist Pilar

Humans as social beings, interact and constructed abstract significance. Even though, there is not gene or cluster of genes common to all Caucasians, Asians, Blacks, or Australoids racial classification for individuals remain presented around the world.

During the Age of Discovery Europeans travelled to foreign lands and encountered different people who presented evident phenotypic variations. Authors like Malik (1996) suggest that racial prejudice and superstition were common and found in most ethnically homogenous, socially conservative communities of the time. During this period equality, reason and humanity were unknown ideas and people who spoke different languages, worshiped different God’s or had different skin complexion were treated with distrusts and irrationality, created by the fear of the unknown (Brown, 2010). In their travels Europeans quite frequently depicted the non-white people they encountered on other continents like in Africa as savages, apes and monsters (Brown, 2010). Philosophers like Bodin (1530-1596) conducted geographic classifications of the known populations of humans based on the colour of their skin, his basic classification used descriptive terms such as “duskish colour, farish & white” to categorise the appearance of different peoples (Barnes, 2007. Pg 42). In an attempt to determine the meaning and value of life, Brown (2010) suggests that upon its founding human sciences have pursued the fundamental meaning of human diversity and therefore modern sciences and the history or race have interlaced histories. This paper aims to explore the genealogy of race through the monogenist, polygenist and Darwinian paradigms by exploring the development and implementation of racial mechanisms that were

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 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

According to Dyer (1974), the term "race" describes populations, and not individuals, and it implies that a population, or group of populations, is sufficiently different from all others in the species to be separately recognized².

When describing Race they state that its roots are not within the biological realm. That Race is a social construct and cannot be defined genetically.

First we need to establish exactly '' race '' What is significant in terms of science. Remember, at first this term is only the concept of the category of biological classification. And this is just the method to classify the sub-human species into smaller units based on biological characteristics have been determined. The definition of anthropology on '' race '' that we will use is: A race is a population from birth have all these genetic factors synthesis and expression of characteristics body

The idea of race has been disproved due to lack of genetic variation within humans. There are not genetically distinguishable differences between humans, contradicting the idea there are subspecies as suggested by Carl Linnaeus’ theory of racial taxonomy (later taken up by Blumenbach in 1779 and expanded upon to categorise five races instead of four). Subspecies within the human race would require much greater genetic variation between ‘races’, whereas it has been determined that there is more genetic variation within a group of people than between groups of people. This can be attributed to the amount of time homo sapiens have

The concept of race and the meanings associated with the term have continuously changed and evolved throughout history. Many negative connotations have been associated with the word race and these are evident as one reflects on the historical origins of the term. Commonly the term race is closely connected to the notion of ‘racism.’ Racism is a specific form of prejudice which focuses on physical variations between people. It describes the ideological belief that a person, or groups of people can be classified into ‘races’ which can be ranked in terms of superiority and inferiority (Spoonley, 1988:4). Giddens defines racism as “the attribution of characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics” (1997:584). This supports the idea that racism is a manner of prejudice or animosity against people who have different physical characteristics. It is in virtue of circumstances such as these that Anthropologists find it necessary to make a distinction between the concepts of race and ethnicity.