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The Race Myth Essay

634 Words3 Pages

The concept of race as biology is a unique topic, because while scientists have disproven the idea altogether, it is still believed to be truth for the majority of the population. Education is the only way to combat this idea, yet it is rarely mentioned in any classes predating college. Even then, the myth is often left to be debunked by humanities or social sciences, rather than in biological or genetics classes where it makes the most sense to be discussed. The ideal that race is a biological construct has played into racists ideals, and justification of segregation and discrimination, for centuries. If, as a society, we are to make progress on the lessening of the institution of racism, there needs to be a push towards understanding of the …show more content…

The text discusses the fact that there are more differences within a race of humans than there is between the various races, which is true. The data is slightly older, stating that between humans from different areas or supposed races have around a 4.62% variability of genes (Graves, 2004). The data today suggests that humans actually have considerably lower genetic variability, with unrelated humans being genetically different at an average rate of 0.09%, which may actually be an overestimate (Weinig, 2016). To put that in perspective, humans and some ape species are 1.3% different; some corn, within a single species, has a genetic variability of 1.42% (Weinig, 2016). So while I agree with the ideas and arguments presented in the article, there is less than one fourth the genetic variability that is stated in the article. Within the Homo sapiens species, it is also eye-opening to note that we have about half the genetic uniqueness of corn. Most of this is accounted for by the improvement of genome sequencing technology over the past decade. While there is no genetic basis to race, there certainly are biology benefits to having different skin color in different

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Race Is A Social Construct Summary

133 Words | 1 Pages

In the article, “What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’,” Ta-Nehisi Coates asserts that the idea of race is that “puts hundreds pf millions under domination” (Coates, p. 3). The definition of race is “the classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, ancestry, genetics or social relations, or the relations between them.” Liberals often say “truly stupid things like race has to biological element” (Coates, p. 6). William Z. Ripley wrote a story which desired to “delineate racial difference through head type” (Coates, p. 4). Coates states that “race does not need biology.

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Origins Of Race Dbq Essay

1456 Words | 6 Pages

Scientific reasons for race and how it doesn’t correlate to race is shown in Document 5 that different human species should be divided into four groups based on their alleged characteristics and mark themselves with certain things like paints or garments. The document is trying to explain race and categorization of races through the people’s supposed characteristics and only using four groups, proving the correlation between race and scientific reasoning doesn’t work. Also, in Document 10, it’s explained that the four race categories are all “degenerate” forms to “God’s original creation,” and were classified biologically into different groups who were non-Caucasian. This document also explains that race and scientific reasoning does not correlate because it talks about how other races are “downgraded” versions of white and just split them into groups just by looks using colors, creating these unrealistic races with colors, without taking into account any physical scientific reasoning, proving there’s no correlation between race and scientific reasoning, that it was just led on by social and economic reasons. Lastly, in Document 11’s section, it explains that race doesn’t explain human variation and that us humans have a

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Genetic Diversity: Film Study Questions

384 Words | 2 Pages

Geography is more of the cause of the differences than our genetics. Also people from the same ethnic group are usually just as different as people from another ethnic group. So all in all we are all the same in many ways. 7.

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Biological View Of Race: Negative Or Positive Today?

285 Words | 2 Pages

It could also be argued that some aspects of the biological view of race are, to some extent, positive today because, over the years, the way scientists saw race has been altered as a result of what the previous biologic view provoked (Darwinian evolution), which was hatred and discrimination towards those groups of individuals that were different to them. This meant that many experts in the field made statements regarding the wrongness within the Darwin evolution. One of these experts was R.L Hotz, who admitted that there was only a single type of race, which was the human race and that it couldn’t be opposed biologically (Hotz, 1997). This, in other words, means that the way race was seen and the way it is now seen by some biologists has

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Analysis Of Ta-Nehisi Coates Between The World And Me

494 Words | 2 Pages

The beginning of the book highlights the importance of race. Race was invented and assigned to individuals solely on their outward appearance. Most Americans unconsciously accept race as a product of Mother Nature. In reality, it has nothing to do with your genetics.

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Explain How Race Is Socially Constructed And Provide Two Examples In Your Analysis?

1396 Words | 6 Pages

Race is something that is used to organize groups of people to fit within descriptions, generally based on their physical characteristics or bloodline (Conley, 2017, p. 326). This organization can be used to justify personal or societal inequalities. “We all see the world through a racial lens that colors our world black, white, Asian, Mexican, minority, or “other”. How we are seen and how we see others affects various domains of our lives and the lives of others; from the types of jobs we have, the amount of money we make, the kind of friends we make, the places we live, the foods we eat, the schools we go to, etc…”(Lusca, 2008). Physical characteristics are something easily seen and generally used by most to separate people in to groups.

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Should Physician Pay Attention To Race Essay

681 Words | 3 Pages

Furthermore a study by the Genetic Society of America, weakens the myth that race is caused by genetic differences by stating that there is a “larger Genetic Differences Within Africans Than Between Africans and Eurasians” meaning “blacks” are more genetically similar to “whites”

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American Anthropological Association Statement On Race Summary

597 Words | 3 Pages

The American Anthropological Association concluded that “94% of genetic variation lies within race groups”. This says that while a certain group of people may share certain physical features, their genetic makeup can be extremely different. Another flaw in grouping people together based on physical features is that these features, skin color and hair texture for example, can be inherited individually of each other. In history, when different groups of people came together, they interbred. Because of this, It is nearly impossible to be exclusively one race and this creates another fallacy.

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Culture Not Race Explains Human Diversity Summary

677 Words | 3 Pages

Leba, Chris September 9, 2014 PSYC 2344 – Agan Human Diversity In “Culture, Not Race, Explains Human Diversity”, Mark Nathan Cohen states that in today’s society, many people use racial background as a way to separating individuals into different classifications. However, his belief is that racial classification actually “produces more exceptions than sound classification.” Human diversity is not based off of a few traits like skin color, nose shape, and various other physical traits but is actually conveyed through different cultural backgrounds.

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Examples Of Social Construction Of Race

920 Words | 4 Pages

So races doesn’t determine physical features just like all individuals don’t have the same gene frequency. “Genetic differences correlate to geography, not to notion to race”(pg.12). Biological race, which was widely popular, was important in the first court case that Lopez analysis, Hudgins v. Wright (pg.3). The Wright family was fighting for freedom on the grounds that they were from Indian decent, free maternal ancestor.

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Clinal Variation In Skin Deep

1043 Words | 5 Pages

Overall, the human variation of skin color in both discussions is based primarily on geography, climate, and natural selection, which embody the cline

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Biological Basis Of Race Essay

499 Words | 2 Pages

Among anthropologists it has become increasingly clear that the concept of race having a biological basis is fundamentally flawed. There a number of flaws with this concept of race. One issue is that features attributed to race, such as skin color, very across the globe in a clinal fashion rather than in uniform groups. Another issue is that there is more in-group variation within races than there is variation between races. Finally, human variation is non-concordant.

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Essay On Race And Racism

1489 Words | 6 Pages

The relationship between race and racism is due to the fact that there are racial categories created, in order for particular social groups to be on top of the hierarchy. For example, the white group, which is on top of this racial hierarchy, established the notion of race in order to benefit themselves, which has led to racism among other minority groups. The ideology of a group being superior than others leads to racism. Ultimately, race is the product of racism, and racism is not the product of race (25).

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Sociology Essay On Race And Ethnicity

957 Words | 4 Pages

Race, nationality and ethnicity Race and ethnicity are seen as form of an individual’s cultural identity. Researchers have linked the concept of “race” to the discourses of social Darwinism that in essence is a categorization of “types” of people, grouping them by biological and physical characteristics, most common one being skin pigmentation. Grouping people based on their physical traits has lead in time to the phenomenon of “racialization” (or race formation), as people began to see race as more of a social construct and not a result or a category of biology.

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Essay On Racism In Society

1198 Words | 5 Pages

Racism: a curse for the society INTRODUCTION:- "Racism is an ideology that gives expression to myths about other racial and ethnic groups that devalues and renders inferior those groups that reflects and is perpetuated by deeply rooted historical, social, cultural and power inequalities in society." Racism is one of the oldest truth around the world .Racism, is said to be as old as the human society. Racism is nothing but only the belief that all members of each race possess the characteristics, abilities, or qualities which are specific to that race, especially, so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. And this differentiation change the people’s mentality and bring death among themselves.

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