Given the racialized violence we have seen in our country, it is clear the civil rights
movement is NOT over and America is still plagued with racist ideology.
But what does science say about race?
What if science could help us erase racism once and for all?
Hey everyone!
I’m Natalia Reagan back at it again at DNews!
First of all, it’s time that we start teaching our kids as soon as they can talk (and adults
for that matter!) that there is no biological basis for racial classification!
In terms of biology, race doesn’t exist.
That’s not to say race isn’t real!
Though, it’s important to understand that it’s a cultural construct, that humans created
and has nothing to do with our biology!
There are no distinct genetics boundaries for the groups commonly called races.
Traditionally, scientists have used ‘race’ to refer to a subspecies, and what determines
a subspecies from species varies among taxa.
But in humans, there are no distinct genetics boundaries for the groups commonly called
races and we have only .1% variation within our species versus chimpanzees which have
.7% variation.
Now, there IS genetic variation within and between populations but it is quite small.
And the most amount of genetic variation found within our species isn’t between those of
European and African ancestry, it’s between various populations within Africa.
This is called the “founder effect” or a “reduced genetic diversity in a population
founded by a small number of individuals”.
Scientists refer to races as ‘populations’ or ‘ethnic groups’ And many of the physical
characteristics that are associated with race are due to adaptations to climate and environment.
This can include skin color, height, nose shape.
These slight morphological differences are called clines- they are genetic adaptations
to the environment over time and a geographic area.
As biological anthropologist Todd Disotell says, ‘it’s about clines not clades!’
Meaning that the variations between populations of our species are rather small versus being
another branch in the ol’ evolutionary family tree.
There is also the idea that certain races are more susceptible to certain illnesses,
such as heart disease and diabetes in African Americans.
However, extensive research has shown that these illnesses are highly correlated with
diet, stress, and socioeconomic standing- thus, it’s a lot more complex than just
saying certain ‘races’ are more likely to suffer from certain illnesses than others.
Ok, we’ve established that race as a scientific concept does not exist, so if race doesn’t
exist then WHY are people racist?
Are we born to be wary of ‘the other’ or is this learned behavior?
Biological anthropologist Robert Sussman’s tackles the history of racism and the concept
of race in his book “The Myth of Race”.
He stresses that racism is a learned behavior or ideology that can be avoided if parents
teach their children to be open and tolerant.
Sussman also discusses the history of racism stating that “concept of human races began
during the Spanish Inquisition (around 1480), when a purity of blood decree was established
and those converting to Christianity (or converses) needed to prove their Christian origins.”
Searching for ‘pure blood’ is a ridiculous idea considering there has never been a point
in time when any population could be considered 'pure'.
This ideology, rooted in a racist political and religious agenda, continued on and was
used by the Nazis to justify their goal to create an “Aryan Race” which led to the
murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others who were deemed inferior- including gypsys,
homosexual and transgender individuals.
But what if the Nazi agenda worked?
Sure we would probably all speak German, but we might also have a population of people
who are considered ‘purer’ in terms of lower genetic diversity.
But low genetic diversity is usually the result of long-term inbreeding.
So, we’d have a population of inbreds that would also inherit a slew of genetic ailments
associated with inbreeding.
Yeah.
How’s that for the not-so-fabulous result of genetic ‘purity’?
And guess what!?
Genetic diversity is actually good for us!
It leads to robust and healthy offspring, and who doesn’t want that?
Scientifically speaking, there’s only one race- the human race!
We’re all pretty much the same.
And if you want to know more about what science says about race, ethnicity, and evolution,
check out Trace's series on TestTube Plus.
(sound up)
It's a great discussion on his new show, so I really recommend you check it out.
It's the first link in the description if you're on mobile.
Got any burning questions you wanna ask us or other science topics you want us to cover?
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