: Scientists, at least biologists and most anthropologists no longer even use the term "race" at all. Humans are a very diverse
: species, but not significantly more so, from a genetic perspective, than any other complex mammal. We notice the differences
: more because we encounter humans more and pay more attention to them, that's all.In fact, sources I've seen state that humans, as a species, are far LESS diverse than many animals like chimpanzees fopr example. A West African and an Australian have much more genetic similarity then a Nigerian chimp anfd a Gabonese chimp, for example. this is apparently attributed to a large cataclysm at some point in teh unknown past which wiped out most of the human race, creating a bottleneck effect of wiping out most genetic variation. Richard Lewontin has said, "If all non-Africans were suddenly wiped out in a nuclear war, we would still retain 90% of our genetic variation; if all people except the Xhosa of South Africa were wiped out, we would still retain 85%."
: In fact, "color" is only one of a variety of
: traits that go into determining "race," and probably not the most important of those traits at that.
Dr. Cavalli-Sforza of Stanford did a relaly interesting study on that subject. apparently Africans and Australian aborigines, in spite of their similar dark skin color, are the two most genetically different of any group, while Africans and whites are the most similar. Shows how much skin color means. Really, if yu used lactose intolerance as your defining criterion, for "race", then suddenly you would only have two races of humans. The Swedes and the Fulani of west Africa would be in one, while Pygmies and Italians would be in the other. If you used blood protein as your crietrion, you'd have another set again...and so on.
:Culture and behavior have a
: much greater impact on our determinations of "race" than the size of the melanin crystals in the skin.
Interestingly, until recently in Brazil economic status helped define your race. If you were a wealthy black man you were reclassified as white, and vise versa. Similarly, in traditional Rwanda, a Hutu man who acquired many cattle and high status was reclassified as a Tutsi.
-NJ
