5 ms·

'Biological reality': What genetics has taught us about race

18 points by 1659447091 2y ago

chneu 2y ago
[flagged]
- api 2y ago
  [flagged]
BrandoElFollito 2y ago
I learned that race on the US is declarative (I am French). Why not. Now, coupled with the fact that it may give you advantages, say at the university, what stops a guy like me (blond, fair haired) to claim that he is Asian, Black or whatever "race" is the most interesting in that case at that moment? Will someone tell me I am not Latino enough?
- api 2y ago
  So the other day I had a thought: why not just declare everyone white? The definition has expanded considerably already. Originally it was just WASPs of Northern European origin. It excluded many Southern Europeans, Slavs (hilarious that so many white nationalists love Russia now), Irish, and of course Jews. So let’s skip another century or two and just say everyone is white. Humans are much less genetically diverse than most other mammals anyway, so compared to canines or squirrels we absolutely are all the same race, and everyone is interbreeding and blending characteristics even more. An alien invasion of hominids with truly “Vanta black” skin would help but we can probably meme this into existence without it. Edit: I’ve got it. Someone make an AI browser plugin that randomizes ethnicity in all photos and videos.
  - BrandoElFollito 2y ago
    I think we already have this: the human race. I think that races are a way to describe people that unfortunately went south. You usually say the big, high, clever, ... black guy. The first three are neutral, the last one (possibly the most descriptive) is scary.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
bryanlarsen 2y ago
The way I like to phrase it is, "if race is genetic, then black isn't a race." As the article says, human genetic difference is very real, and is clustered. Can we not then call these clusters races? There is more genetic diversity within the Africa than in the rest of the world combined. If white and Asian are genetic races, then there are hundreds of different African races. If black is a genetic race then a better name for it is Homo Sapiens -- we're all black. If black is a race and Europeans aren't black, then race isn't genetic, it's cultural.
ZeroGravitas 2y ago
A third of Americans still dispute evolution so getting them up to date with genetics will be tough.
dissent 2y ago
The article reiterates the facts about the notions of race and essentialism. The context is that the far right are leaning on historically harmful, scientifically inaccurate, and honestly, kind of absurd ideas about "race". Having said that, is this not what the entire world has been doing recently? Does BLM not fall for exactly the same fallacy? Is "person of colour" not an egregiously bad phrase to define a person? As if we are white, unless somehow tainted? Is this not something that should concern us all whether it is done with good intentions or not?

18 points by 1659447091 2y ago

chneu 2y ago

[flagged]

api 2y ago
[flagged]

BrandoElFollito 2y ago

I learned that race on the US is declarative (I am French). Why not. Now, coupled with the fact that it may give you advantages, say at the university, what stops a guy like me (blond, fair haired) to claim that he is Asian, Black or whatever "race" is the most interesting in that case at that moment? Will someone tell me I am not Latino enough?

api 2y ago
So the other day I had a thought: why not just declare everyone white? The definition has expanded considerably already. Originally it was just WASPs of Northern European origin. It excluded many Southern Europeans, Slavs (hilarious that so many white nationalists love Russia now), Irish, and of course Jews. So let’s skip another century or two and just say everyone is white. Humans are much less genetically diverse than most other mammals anyway, so compared to canines or squirrels we absolutely are all the same race, and everyone is interbreeding and blending characteristics even more. An alien invasion of hominids with truly “Vanta black” skin would help but we can probably meme this into existence without it. Edit: I’ve got it. Someone make an AI browser plugin that randomizes ethnicity in all photos and videos.
- BrandoElFollito 2y ago
  I think we already have this: the human race. I think that races are a way to describe people that unfortunately went south. You usually say the big, high, clever, ... black guy. The first three are neutral, the last one (possibly the most descriptive) is scary.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

bryanlarsen 2y ago

The way I like to phrase it is, "if race is genetic, then black isn't a race." As the article says, human genetic difference is very real, and is clustered. Can we not then call these clusters races? There is more genetic diversity within the Africa than in the rest of the world combined. If white and Asian are genetic races, then there are hundreds of different African races. If black is a genetic race then a better name for it is Homo Sapiens -- we're all black. If black is a race and Europeans aren't black, then race isn't genetic, it's cultural.

ZeroGravitas 2y ago

A third of Americans still dispute evolution so getting them up to date with genetics will be tough.

dissent 2y ago

The article reiterates the facts about the notions of race and essentialism. The context is that the far right are leaning on historically harmful, scientifically inaccurate, and honestly, kind of absurd ideas about "race". Having said that, is this not what the entire world has been doing recently? Does BLM not fall for exactly the same fallacy? Is "person of colour" not an egregiously bad phrase to define a person? As if we are white, unless somehow tainted? Is this not something that should concern us all whether it is done with good intentions or not?