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There are tests that track genetic markers that are associated with the Anglo-European interpretation of race. If such tests were available when the Irish were
by Torgo 13y ago
There are tests that track genetic markers that are associated with the Anglo-European interpretation of race. If such tests were available when the Irish were considered separate from whites, the test would be able to detect the distinctly irish "race."
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoDifferences in DNA mean differences in biology. Resistance to bugs. Ability to jump. 3D spatial reasoning. And on and on. If its useful to distinguish genes and cluster population by a characteristic, then a race 'exists'. Recently somebody posted here a detailed chart of North American dialect. It included tiny subdivisions like a corridor of midwestern-speak they use from Des Moines to Kansas City. Was that chart 'wrong' because you can't hear the difference?
- Torgo 13y agoThe marker is scientific and important, the arbitrary cluster is socially determined. If you've got the gene defect for tay-sachs are you jewish? or do jews usually have it? What if you're black but you have that gene because of one ancestor? Being a Jew doesn't make you magically susceptible to this genetic disorder and being recognizably black does not make you immune from the disorder if you have the gene.
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoI'm not disputing that people use lots of lazy rules to categorize race. But to deny it exists at all, as the OP tried to do, is just stupid. I believe that this American attempt to shuffle people's differences under the rug and claim everybody is the same, is insulting and offensive. Be proud to be of your origin! Celebrate the advantages! Complain about the disadvantages. Nobody deserves them, but there they are, quite real.