4 ms·

Biological populations certainly do exist, it's just that they don't correlate well with prevailing concepts of "race". The average western African is more simi

by hx87 10y ago

Biological populations certainly do exist, it's just that they don't correlate well with prevailing concepts of "race". The average western African is more similar to the average European than to the average southern African.

erispoe 10y ago
Populations in Africa are also genetically more diverse than the rest of the world combined.
- lacampbell 10y ago
  But people are ignorant of Africa in general. When they talk about an African race they're ignoring Ethiopians or khoisans or pygmies - they mean Bantu people. I don't think there's more genetic diversity among Bantus than the rest of the world combined.
  - hx87 10y ago
    > But people are ignorant of Africa in general. Not population geneticists. Africa in those cases == sub-Saharan African people, not just Bantu.
cb18 10y ago
Biological populations certainly do exist, it's just that they don't correlate well with prevailing concepts of "race". The average western African is more similar to the average European than to the average southern African. Absolute, utter hogwash.
- hx87 10y ago
  Please elaborate or hold your peace.
lacampbell 10y ago
Source? By southern African do you mean Khoisan?
- hx87 10y ago
  Here's one paper. By southern African I do mean Khoisan as well as related peoples. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2953791/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2953791/
  - lacampbell 10y ago
    Would the layman consider Khoisan and Bantu people to be of the same race? I mean after learning about the existence and names of both of them. I am a layman who knows next to nothing about genetics, but a bit about Africa, and I would not consider the two peoples to be in the same race. They look completely different - which is what most laymen use to determine race, isn't it?
    - Impossible 10y ago
      I think a layman, at least in the US and countries that define race in similar ways as it is defined in America, would consider Khoisan and Bantu people the same race (black), even if they knew they were different groups. African Americans in the US often look different but are all considered "black".

by hx87 10y ago

erispoe 10y ago

Populations in Africa are also genetically more diverse than the rest of the world combined.

lacampbell 10y ago
But people are ignorant of Africa in general. When they talk about an African race they're ignoring Ethiopians or khoisans or pygmies - they mean Bantu people. I don't think there's more genetic diversity among Bantus than the rest of the world combined.
- hx87 10y ago
  > But people are ignorant of Africa in general. Not population geneticists. Africa in those cases == sub-Saharan African people, not just Bantu.

cb18 10y ago

hx87 10y ago
Please elaborate or hold your peace.

lacampbell 10y ago

Source? By southern African do you mean Khoisan?

hx87 10y ago
Here's one paper. By southern African I do mean Khoisan as well as related peoples. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2953791/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2953791/
- lacampbell 10y ago
  Would the layman consider Khoisan and Bantu people to be of the same race? I mean after learning about the existence and names of both of them. I am a layman who knows next to nothing about genetics, but a bit about Africa, and I would not consider the two peoples to be in the same race. They look completely different - which is what most laymen use to determine race, isn't it?
  - Impossible 10y ago
    I think a layman, at least in the US and countries that define race in similar ways as it is defined in America, would consider Khoisan and Bantu people the same race (black), even if they knew they were different groups. African Americans in the US often look different but are all considered "black".