On Race

[Sephirstein]

Somebody posted the following on a messagebord:

"Genetic theory and evolution say that because those in Africa are much less removed from the natural, environment and predators, they are less evolved, and they have larger wangs because they have to do it from behind. You see, most every animal in nature does it from behind because if a predator comes, both need to be able to run away, or be prepared to fight."

To which I responded with:

Do you know why we have different skin colours?

It's easy!

Black skin is more resistant to the sun, as such resistance best fits their environment (Remember that virtually all Black people lived in extremely hot places until a couple hundred years ago. Most actually still do.).

White skin camouflages better in colder climates and (I believe) is better resistant to cold. Thus, descendants of the first humans (who were Black) who migrated to Europe saw the pigment composition of their skin get gradually lighter over thousands of generations.

Other races exist for similar reasons, and minor variations in racial and culture characteristics define ethnic groups.

Naturally, there are other differences between races, but it is my opinion that intellectual capability is not among them.

Why do I believe this?

Every racial group has seen families band together to form tribes and tribes band together to form increasingly complex societies (villages, city-states, kingdoms, empires. etc...) that have all produced marvelous cultural, technological, and philosophical innovations that have nothing to do with their racial characteristics, aside from the imagery they used to represent their supreme being(s).

These complex societies, nonetheless, have only existed for a very small fraction of humanity's time here on Earth and have belonged to every single race. Thus, to assume that one race is intellectually superior to another is absurd, especially since it has been biologically proven that we are all Homo sapiens sapiens (Genus-Species-Subspecies) and, aside from infinitesimal deviations, have more or less the same characteristics.

But let's assume I am wrong and there are significant differences between different races.

Even if this absurdity were true, it would be racist and an insult to the very nature of our humanity to not allow each individual to develop to his or her full potential.

And this my friends, is true, and one of the most fundamental reasons for my liberalism.

[dwckabal]

1. I read somewhere

and I am still trying to find the source, that an Australian Aboriginal has in his DNA the code for almost 99% of the physical characteristic traits known in humans. So, if the last two people on earth were a male and female Aboriginal, somewhere down the line it's possible that you would have a blue-eyed blond baby.

I don't think the whole "Africans were black because of the sun" thing hold much water these days with anthropologists, though.

[patdem]

7. No Africans were not black because of the sun...whites evolved because

of the lack of sunshine...

In reality...if the last two people on earth were germanic with blonde hair and blue eyes...they could still have a black baby.

You have it backwards. IMHO

on edit: spelling fixtures

[Interrobang]

2. Just one thing, Sephirstein...

There's ONE race...the Human race. Everything else is just an artificial distinction.

If humans truly did come in different "races," we wouldn't be able to interbreed.

[glarius]

3. Racism is so OBVIOUSLY WRONG and ILLOGICAL!

I'm a mother of two...my children are now grown and one is married....When they were little, the United States was in the midst of racial upheaval....Always in my mind, as a mother was the thought that if I was a black woman, how I would suffer knowing that no matter how bright they might be (and incidentally they both are bright) my children would have obstacles in their paths to success, simply because of their skin colour.....This always was so OBVIOUSLY WRONG, UNFAIR and ABSURD!....It's also illogical....Just as illogical as making judgments based on the colour of ones eyes would be....It's just dumb!

[Don_G]

4. Race?

I consider a "Race" either a Quarter-Mile Drag or an Oval Track after growing out of the Boy Scouts' "Pinewood Derby."

Each person has the fundamental right to grow to their abilities and talents allow. I never considered anyone else "that" different...well maybe Dennis Rodman....

I guess that makes me liberal too.

[NightTrain]

5. I was raised under the specter of racism...

...and have been trying to exorcise those demons from my psyche for the better part of 20 years. Thankfully, I've made some progress, but along the way I learned that recovering from racism is a lifelong process that requires copnstant vigilance. So, I guess I'll just keep at it....

[damnraddem]

6. Race is not a biological grouping.

It is a social and cultural artifact, using identifiable characteristics that include skin color. It was developed to aid oppression -- create a caste of those who could be exploited by large landowners (or rather, large landgrabbers). Race is not an evolutionary category, although, as you note, there are evolutionary reasons for variations in skin color.