Do You Think Race is a Social Construct?

what a load of horseshit

 

I think I agree with you on both.

 

The original thread post :

It asks, "Do you think". There was no obligation on my part to do research. I was giving my opinion. People who have real lives come to discussion forums to give their point of view, learn from others, have a little fun, then go back to the real world.

You presented articles based on research that demonstrated a point that appears to be valid. Why insult the post of someone who seriously and sincerely posted their point of view based on what they believed. If a post that you think is wrong causes that much pain and anger for you, you have a problem. Most people would have just said that they disagreed, or just ignored the post.

 

not an insult, a statement of fact.
regardless if it is "your viewpoint" or not, we dealing with a topic that doesn't have as much "wiggle room" as you may think or wish.
your post causes me no pain or discomfort other than feeling saddened and remorseful about what apparently passes for an education these days.


if you haven't noticed, I'm not "most people".:afro:

 

There is only one human race

 

well....fuck it.

if there IS some genetic basis to race...that makes more sense anyways. i DID go to a liberal arts college...

i just read the ancestor's tale by richard dawkins and he says there is no genetic basis for race in that book. and i know i learned it in collge, but it was in a social science type class...not genetics.

 

yeah, sure in the common vernacular, but scientifically we are the same species which is comprised of different races.
it really isn't that difficult to comprehend.

 

the division lines are a "social construct" though.



what is the race of the guy 2nd from the left?

wouldn't a martian divide them 1:3?

 

They are all of the evil lizard race lol

 

Jokes aside. My point is, we all evolved from the same thing. If we ever run into a life-form from a different evolutionary path (especially if it caused threat) we would realize we are all on the same team.

 

~

 

Ha, I've noticed. As I was growing up, there was not nearly the amount of research regarding genetics as there has been the last couple of decades. People labeled races by physical appearance. There was no valid reason, at that time, to believe that the label went any farther than the depth of skin.

Many people, including me, view skin color as a physical trait no different than eye color, and therefore thought that different races could be subjectively determined or even dismissed (as I did).

I still would need to research further myself. Who's to say that more genetic differences couldn't be determined within each of the races, and more "races" could be invented...consructed.

 

I'm not saying that I don't agree that the research is valid or the conclusions drawn from it. However, who's to say where all of the lines are to be drawn if every individual in a particular race does not have the exact same genetic material. Yeah, I know that's nitpicking.

 

and here we have typified the fucking problem with discussing shit like this.

Why does there have to be a negative connotation to the idea of recognizing that there are different races in the human species???????????

You see funguy, even though you think and feel as if you are speaking from a high plateau of equality and non-racism, the ideas you put forth are predominately taking a negative connotation to the idea of racial differences, as do most others expressed in this thread.
It would seem as if some, for fear of sounding racist, with put forth asinine ideas that sound politically correct (like the moronic social science studies concerning the topic) rather than straight up honesty about racial differences.

It is that type of mentality that perpetuates racism, not the acknowledgement of the racial differences.

 

of course they are, just ALL quantification's, categorizations and evaluations made by us humans are.

The physiological/genetic differences can not be denied, but all other distinctions are the result of cultural/social constructs.

 

There is no negative connotation to admitting racial differences, and you are right that it is obvious we have evolved different traits in different parts of the world. But they are only physical traits that suit that environment, any other difference is only cultural. I guess my view is more philosophical. Promoting a one world community.

 

I think the dog analogy is a bad one. Different breeds of dogs have very particular characteristics that define it as that particular breed. Humans can't be classified in the same way, ie not all black people are the same.

Differences in what we perceive as racial characteristics are due to differences in clime as humans spread out from Africa and adapted to their new surroundings. I learned about this in detail in a very interesting evolutionary anthropology class but that's it in a nutshell.

I plan to read your links when I get a chance, this is a subject I find very interesting.

 

Peace,

And the races being different isn't a problem for me. The only problem I have is when people say their race is superior to the rest of the races.

Peace.
nunnies

 

Well the racial differences I'm talking about and in the linked articles are not just "skin deep" but real genetic differences, either in the genes themselves or in the way they are expressed.
skin color....who gives a fuck, that's simply an outward manifestation of a genetic difference.

"Differences in what we perceive as racial characteristics are due to differences in clime as humans spread out from Africa and adapted to their new surroundings. I learned about this in detail in a very interesting evolutionary anthropology class but that's it in a nutshell."

Uhmm, yeah, I thought I already mentioned the evolutionary differences due to various geographical locales and an evolutionary anthropology class would fall under the heading of "Social Sciences" not "hard" science, which category I already pointed out was incorrect and at odds with the genetic info available.So, I'll ask again, who should we go with, the social scientist who are more concerned with "political correctness" and related BS or the geneticists who are interested in the actual biology involved????

 

In the light of modern genetics, it should just be called 'genetic derivation'.

It's about time 'Race' was considered an outdated word.