-Marc- > A new study of Brazilians confirms what biologists have always > known (but maybe not anthropologists?): namely, that there is > no genetic basis for determining race: > ><<http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?current_row=1&tf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.html&cf=tgam/search/tgam/SearchFullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&encoded_keywords=concept+of+race&option=&start_row=1&start_row_offset1=&num_rows=1&search_results_start=1&query=concept+of+race>> >
The study discussed in the article was performed on Brazilians, a highly racially-heterogenous group -- and on a very heterogenous subgroup of Brazilians, too. The study is ridiculous; it's like saying, "There is no such thing as dog breeds, because we went to the pound and found no strong correlation between the mongrels' supposed breed and their actual attributes". Totally bogus. I will bet that performing the same study between groups of Japanese, Norwegians, and Ethiopians would give the lie to the statement that "skin colour is a poor indication of ancestry." Besides, the concept of "race" consists of much more than skin color, despite the article's implication otherwise. Body build, height, facial features, hair color/texture/distribution, subcutaneous adipose preponderance -- all these are considered "racial features". While mentioned in the study, these are clearly relegated to the back seat, as evidenced by the article's opening line. There very clearly is a "biological basis" for the characteristics we classify as race. It's called genetics. The statement that there is "no biological basis for race" is absurd on its face, and those that hold to it are either deeply ignorant or else have an axe to grind. It's one thing to say that current racial classifications are imprecise, or getting blurred, or not useful for this or that purpose. All such proclamations may or may not be true. But to say that race doesn't exist is to be tautologically incorrect -- people whose ancestry originated in different parts of the world look more like others with similar ancestry than they do like those with ancestry from other parts of the world. And children look like their parents, so to say that there is no biological basis for race is to play the fool. Stephen ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
