- Published: September 15, 2022
- Updated: September 15, 2022
- University / College: University of Texas Dallas
- Language: English
- Downloads: 50
Many people hold the notion that race is a way of creating divisions among people. This form of racial construction is based on the assumption that there are differences between different groups of human beings identifiable by their physical features. But to some degree, this does not encompass a biological or genetic; race is limited to some constructed ideologies that are bases for political, cultural and economic concepts. It can never be a biological or genetic concept because there are no concrete facts that back the biological theory. Going by previous research and theories, all human beings subscribe to a common ancestry, and this only means that they are the same regardless of the visible differences. On the other hand, differences in skin color and the texture of hair and color of eyes is not enough reason to argue that race is a biological phenomenon.
It is imperative to look at the standard racial categories that human beings have constructed in order to understand how the racial differences are construed. Race is more of a social thing than it is natural or a construct of nature. Research has proven the fact that there are similarities in the DNA structure of different people belonging to different racial groups. It, therefore, means that there is no difference seen in the genetic composition that determines the essential components of human life. Differences observed in the physical attributes observable by what we perceive are not reason enough to declare any biological differences in humans. Further, it is shambolic to put a definition of any group of persons on their physical features rather than what constructs their natural selves. Going by tangible evidence seen in the biological composition of persons belonging to different races, they have far too many similarities in their genetic component than the differences seen through their physical appearances.
Going by the example of the “ Negrito” and the pygmy race existing in some parts of the world, anthropologists have identified a unique group of them found in Africa, Asia, and even Australia. The race has been said not to be a biological reality that reflects an artificial construction that is based on superficial similarities that are not biologically proven. The sad reality about the whole race issue is that a group of people is put together and identified with some attributes that are not biological in nature. It is all about what people think defines the group of individuals, without thinking about their genetic components. In order to establish the notion of race, such physical features as the ones defining the pygmies were not biological in any way but rather, they were based on geographical entities.
It is imperative to take note of the fact that there is only one race to which human beings subscribe, and that is Homo sapiens. All human beings claim one ancestry. Even when one considered religions and evolution stories, there is one set of persons from where humans come from in religious circles, just like there is one origin according to the evolution theory. If that fact is to be upheld, then there is no way humans are different from each other, save for the fact that there are physical features that are used to lump people together. And to prove a point is the fact that these stories of man’s ancestry have never changed, at least there is no proven story that shows them otherwise. On the other hand, the racial categories set by humans are static and keep changing depending on what humans discover every now and again.
Of all the physical features that are used in identifying racial boundaries, none of them has proven that there are discrete boundaries that exist between human beings of difference racial affiliations. When looking at the skin color as an example of what creates the difference between the different racial groups; the skin pigmentation is more of a geographic thing than it is biological. The continents have helped construct racial differences and even when people move across continents, their skin color often remains. Even when there are intermarriages between people of different races, there is 100% compatibility save for the differences seen at the physical level. It could have been a lot different when the differences could have occurred at the genetic level. There are people of mixed races in the world but there is nothing different about them from the rest of the population.
It should be noted that there are no proven biological elements that are unique to any racial group. Whether looking at Latino, African, Asian or white, there is no proven scientific evidence that identifies unique qualities in the biological makeup of any racial group. But it does not mean that human beings do not vary biologically, they do, but the differences are not racially distributed. The qualities that humans would wish to look at when defining race are more of what the society has construed whether political, social or economic. It is not surprising to brand a certain race to have features or attributes that are identifiable to only them. But again it should be remembered that society is the one that sets the rules and boundaries that determine the lenses that people want to use when looking at others. These lenses can never be biological in nature. No one can point a natural reason that explains why most celebrated long distance Olympic champions are black, neither can they explain the reason the CEOs of leading companies are whites. It all boils down to what is at their disposal and the opportunities that they have in life. And, that boils down to societal constructions. There is nothing biological behind such reasoning.
It is undeniable that human beings are variable. But then, one cannot argue that the differences exhibited by humans are partitioned by nature. Rather, they are partitioned by human beings themselves. It is impossible to find out the reason an African American can donate blood and other limbs to a Hispanic white American. The thing is if at all the differences were to be biological, and then there is no way that humans from different racial groups could donate organs with others. It is imperative to take note of the fact that differences may exist at the physical value, but not on the biological level. And if regions are to play a role, then Asians may not survive in North America or Africa. Whether believable or not, it is for a fact that the notion of race does not apply in any way, to the biological level when it comes to human beings. They are the same excepting of their physical attributes that distinguish them from each other.