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TheConceptofRace
Modernhumansareallrelatedtothesamepolytypicspecies,Homosapiens.Apolytypic
speciesisdevisedoflocalpopulationsthatdifferinthedemonstrationofoneormoretraits.
Typicallyindiscussionsofhumanvariation,characteristicssuchasskincolor,faceshape,eye
colorandothercombinationsofthesamesort,havebeengeneralizedwithspecificgeographical
localities.Thisperspectiveisknownaswhatwecallrace.Itisoftenconfusedwithvarious
culturallydefinedgroups,suchastheMexicanraceortheEnglishrace,whentheyinfer
nationality.
Despitetheideathatraceiscoinedwithbiologicalconnotations,itdualswithenormous
socialstatus.Thereremainsadeeplyinheritedideathatcertainphysicaltraits(skincolormostly)
areassociatedwithintelligenceandavarietyofculturalqualities.Therefore,inmanycultural
contexts,onessocialidentityisheavilyinfluencedbythewaytheyexpresstheirphysicaltraits,
thusdefiningaracialstereotype.Sinceskincoloristhemostvisibletrait,itsoftenassumedto
superficiallyplacegroupsofpeopleintosociallydefinedcategories,despitetheintention.Atthe
simplestform,themostcommonbiologicalusageofthetermracereferstogeographically
patternedphenotypicvariationwithinaspecies.Weshallfurtherdefinethislater.Asofthe
seventeenthcentury,naturalistsassociatedracesinplantswithnonhumananimals.They
observedthatwhenpopulationsofaspeciesoccupieddifferentregions,theyoftenportrayed
differentexpressionsofoneormoretraits.Buteventoday,therehasnotbeenestablishedcriteria
forassessingracesofplantsandanimals,aswellashumans.Thus,biologistsavoiddefine
racesofotherspecies,butrefertopopulationsor,s ubspecies.Unfortunately,duetocultural
ideologies,therace/ethnicitystigmatismisverymuchadebatedconcept,andisincreasingly

becomingadevicetoseparatepeoplesbyclassificationbasedonskincolorsuchasblack,
Asian,andHispanic,deviatingtheconceptalltogether.1
Thereisageneralideatoclaimthatinasmuchasraceisabiologicalconcept,thereare
nohumanraces.2Thisconcept,althoughageneralmisconception,isterriblyerroneous.
Biologicalpreceptsmaintainthatcarefulattentiontotheusesofraceinnonhumanbiology
portraysthathumanracesstillexist.Certainlythereareaplethoraofidentifiableandbiologically
meaningfulhumanraces,thesewillnotaverttofolkracialcategories,norsupportracistviews.
Although,becauseofthefolkmisconceptionofhumanracesisdeeplyrooted,politicallyand
sociallydeveloped,thisdoesntcoincidewithbiologicalvalues,thereforesuggestthatavoidingthe
termracewithrespecttothehumanphenomenonwouldbehighlyrecommendedinorderto
preventfurtheroutcry.
KingandStansfieldsdictionaryofgenetics(KingandStansfield1990)defineraceas:A
phenotypicallyand/orgeographicallydistinctivesubspecificgroup,composedofindividuals
inhabitingadefinedgeographicaland/orecologicalregion,andpossessingcharacteristic
phenotypicandgenefrequenciesthatdistinguishitfromothersuchgroups.Thenumberofracial
groupsthatonewishestorecognizewithinaspeciesisusuallyarbitrarybutsuitableforthe
purposesunderinvestigation.FurtherdefinitionsbyDarwindeterminedthatspeciesasafairly
fluidentity,wheresubspeciesdefaultedtobemorelabileafortiori.KingandStansfieldalso
definedracetosubspeciesas:1.Ataxonomicallyrecognizedsubdivisionofaspecies.2.
Geographicallyand/orecologicallydefinedsubdivisionsofaspecieswithdistinctive
characteristics.Althoughthesamedefinitionabove,thereisntaclarificationaboutthe

LessonsLearned:TeachingtheRaceConceptintheCollegeClassroomCho,Helen
OnTheConceptofBiologicalRaceAndItsApplicabilityToHumansPigliucci,MassimoandJonathan
Kaplan.
2

relationshipbetweenracesandsubspecies.Thisleadstofurtherconfusionforpracticing
biologists,duetothetermraceandhowitrelatestosubspecies.
Although,avarietyofbiologicalanthropologistscontinuetoobservedifferencesinleading
traitssuchasskinoreyecolor,sincethesecharacteristics,andthegenesthatharborthem,
provideinformationaboutpopulationadaptation,geneticdrift,mutation,andgeneflow.Races,
thuscanbefurtherdefinedinseveralways.Whilechoosingraces,certainlytherewillbeoverlap
becauseofthenatureofbiologicalorganismsforexample,ifapopulationisecologicallydistinct,it
alsoislikelytobegeographicallyisolated,andtobeinamannergeneticallydifferentiated.Even
thoughgeneticandphenotypicdifferencesbetweenlocalpopulationswillbereferencedto
phylogeneticdistinctiveness,thesedifferencesdontnecessarilyimplyphylogeneticdistinctiveness,
thereforetheyimplyincipientspeciation.Asaresultofphylogeneticdistinctiveness,geneflowwith
othercloselyrelatedpopulationsmustterminate.But,ifgeneflowisimportant,thelineage
evolving,accordingtoareticulate,notcladisticbranchingpattern.Eventhoughitisstillpossible
foragrouptomaintainecologicaldistinctiveness,itshistoricalrootsareconstantlyscatteredby
migrationoccurrences.
Nowthatweveestablishedaconcretedefinitionofabiologicalrace,orpopulation,lets
discoverwhatethicalormoralconcernsthatraceorracialdiscussionsderive.Fromahistorical
perspective,therehasbeenmanycontributionstothemisconceptionofrace,andracial
segregation.Aslateasthetwentiethcentury,scientificprogresssteadilyerodedtheideaofrace
asabiologicalfact3...duringthe1940s,manydiscoveriesinpopulationgeneticsposedaserious
challengetothetypologicalunderstandingofracesasdiscrete,immutable,andhierarchically
orderedgroupsthathadgovernednineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturyracialscience.DNA
analysisledpopulationgeneticiststoderivethattherewasmuchgreatervariationwithintheracial

TheBiopoliticsofRaceinFutureland:Dubey,Madhu

groupsthanbetweenthemandtherefore,racecouldnotfunctionasatoolofscientific
classification.Asof1997,awellknowngeneticist,LuigiLucaCavalliSforza,whohelpeddevelop
theHumanGenomeProjectssequencingofhumangeneticcode,concludedthatoneimportant
conclusionofhumanpopulationgeneticsisthatracesdonotexist.4Evenformerpresidentofthe
UnitedStatesacknowledgedthatingenetictermsallhumanbeings,regardlessofrace,are
99.9%thesame.Also,theUSCensusBureaudeliveredapressreleaseresolvingthatitsracial
categoriesreflectasocialdefinitionofracethatdoesnotconformtoanybiological,
anthropological,orgeneticcriteria.5
Thedrearypoliticalimplicationsofconceptualbiologicalconceptsofrace,oftendepicted
throughtheprismofsciencefiction,turnedpopculture,isthebasisforethicalconcern.Theracial
sciencethathasdevelopedasofthetwentyfirstcenturycomesladenwithaclusterofprogressive
claims:thatgeneticmodelsofhumanvariationallowforanewunderstandingofracethatisagain
moreprecisethanthereductivetypologiesoftheoldracialscienceandthatmodernscientific
consensusrecognizesracialdifferenceintheinterestofpoliticalschemes,inthisideaexemplifying
anewparadigmthatstrategicallybreaksfromtheregimeofsciencefiction.Thuscompelling
popculturetoquestiontheirmoralcodederivedfromprogressivepoliticalpromisesthataremade
inthenameofscience.
Eventhoughclarifyingraceasabiologicalcategorygeneratesconfusioninregardstothe
generalmisconceptionofthesame,duetothecommonusageinallsocialspheresandtheuseof
biologicalcharacteristicstoclassifypeople,wemustcontest.Thatracesarenottaxonomicunits
ofhumans(Browns&Armelagos,2001Lewontin,1972)strictlycontradictstheAmerican
classificationsystem(althoughadmittedfault)thatisfoundedonperceivabletraits,namelyskin

RaceDifferences:GeneticEvidence.LuigiLucaCavalliSforza
QuestionsandAnswersforCensus2000DataonRace.USCensusBureauwww.
census.gov/census2000/raceqandas.html
5

color,nose,eye,andmouthshape,andhaircolorandtype.CertainlyifdescendantsofAfrican
ancestryappeartoobtainthemakeupofspecificcombinationsofphenotypes,orvisible
characteristics,i.e.darkskintone,curlyhair,andbroaderflatnoses,asanexample,then
classificationisoversimplified.Andassuch,agoodmajorityofpopulationsmeetracialcategories
thataretypicallyimplementedbyschools,clinics,governmentagencies,etc.Thisissuesis
exacerbatedbytheacademicclichethatraceisasocialconstructwheninrealityracial
classificationinheritsbiologicalfeatures,notculturalstigmatisms,thusthetwoaregenerally
combined.
Sohowarewetoclassify,especiallyconsideringtheinherentlymisconceivedtraditional
ideologyofracialconceptualclassification?Toooftentheinconsistentdefinitionofracialcategories
thatrepresenthumanitysuchas:white/EuropeanAmerican/Caucasian,black/AfricanAmerican,
Asian,NativeAmerican,andHispanic/Latinoarederived.Therefore,followingthesefallaciesthat
representbiologicalcategoriesofhumanswhiteandblackarebasedonskincolor,
nonethelessredandyellow,fromCarolusLinnaeusera(1758),areoffensivecolorstoday.
Hispanicimpliesalanguagegroup,butnotallLatinAmericansspeakSpanish,andSpainis
usuallyexcludedfromthiscategory.Asianreferstoagiantgeographicalregionwith
heterogeneousphenotypessimilartothoseofothercontinents.AgoodexampleisIndiato
illustratethatracialcategoriesarearbitrary:Indians,whorepresentonefifthoftheworld
population,havediverseskintonesincludingverydarkcomplexions,Europeanfacialfeatures,
andtheirgeographyidentifiesthemasAsians.(Cho,HelenonMarks,1994).6
Thustheconceptofracederivesmanydebates,biologically,ethicallyandsocially.
Certainlytheclassificationsystemtypicallyadoptedinwesterncultureinheritedtraditionalflaws,
anderrorsasideanattempttoclassifywoulddeemdaunting.Itsadebatethatmeandmywife

LessonsLearned:TeachingtheRaceConceptintheCollegeClassroomCho,Helen

oftenencounter,especiallywhenfilinggovernmentpaperwork.SheisfromnativeBrazil,whichin
ofitselfisagiantmixingbowlofgeneticraces,sotospeak.ThereisnoplacetomarkBrazilian,by
observationyoumayclassifyherasHispanicBlack,whichneitherofthetwoshemeets.So,
biologicallyspeaking,shedoesntmeetanyclassification,yetdetermined.So,howareweto
classify?Frommyinterpretationofthesereadings,Ihaveyettodecipherwhatisthereplacement.
Traditionalerrorinracialclassificationsdefinitelyneedanabruptchange.

WorksCited:

1. Cho,Helen."LessonsLearned:TeachingTheRaceConceptInTheCollegeClassroom."
MulticulturalPerspectives13.1(2011):3641.A
cademicSearchPremier.Web.16July
2016

2. Dubey,Madhu."TheBiopoliticsOfRaceInFutureland."S
ocialText33.2_123(2015):
2955.AcademicSearchPremier.Web.16July2016

3. Pigliucci,Massimo,andJonathanKaplan."OnTheConceptOfBiologicalRaceAndIts
ApplicabilityToHumans."P
hilosophyOfScience70.5(2003):11611172.A
cademic
SearchPremier.Web.16July2016.

4. LuigiLucaCavalliSforza,RaceDifferences:GeneticEvidence,inPlain
TalkabouttheHumanGenomeProject:ATuskegeeUniversityConferenceonItsPromise
andPerils...andMattersofRace,ed.EdwardSmithandWalterSapp(Tuskegee,AL:
TuskegeeUniversity,1997),53.

5.USCensusBureau,QuestionsandAnswersforCensus2000Dataon
Race,14March2001,www.census.gov/census2000/raceqandas.html.

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