LEC #5: Understanding the roles of biological genetics and the culture in the constitution of the concept of race Flashcards
what are the problems associated w/ the classification among human based on genetics?
- there is more genetic differences within groups than between groups
- race is changeable
what is to note about mixing Gene Pool?
- international migration causes the numbers of genetic pools and the lines b/w them increasingly blurred
- so the idea of race as a biological fact, does not exist among humans
What is the main process of modern evolutionary theory?
-Mutation, natural selection, gene flow and genetic drift
how is the concept of race not fixed?
- human biological variation
- variation in human blood types (just because you are of one race doesn’t mean a different race won’t have the same blood type as you)
- PolyMorphic variation in skin colour (meaning with in a race there could be many different skin tones and blood types)
- PolyTypic variation in skin colour (ex: africans tend to have darker skin than swedish people)
why is it not possible to use the biological theory of race to explain human variation?
Because…
- variation is continuous when it comes to race and skin colour
- it ignores social structure/environmental factors
what are the rejections for the biological theory of race?
- all humans today belong to a single species (homo sapiens) and share a common descent
- while genetics shape human differences, things like body shape comes form nutrition and other aspects in the environment
- skin colour is not an essential or unchanging physical trait because it can change over time depending on your geographical placement in the world
- both lighter skinned and people of colour can have privileged and under-privileged positions in society
what is the biological view of race?
our biological factors connect with our internal factors which are a result from our dna
what is systemic racism?
the complex array of antilock practices, the unjustly gained political- economic power of white, the continuing economic and other resource inequalities along racial lines and the white racist ideologies and attitudes created to maintain and rationalize white privilege and power