Racial Superiority?

Is there such a thing as racial superiority when it comes to abilities or potential?

Lets face it, different races have genetic diversity and thus with certain genetic attributes specifically exclusive to a race would give an advantage over the other.

Some are cliche and some studies have shown some truth to this hypothesis.

A cliche example would be Asians being smarter or Africans to be fast runners.

Some cliche's even have some truth to them.

Other factual racial advantages include vulnerability/immunity to diseases.

Studies have shown African race to be more prone to sickle cell disease.

Other studies have also shown Asians to be more prone to diabetes.

So, my question is, what other studies or even opinions about different races and their advantages and disadvantages in a genetic sense? Physical? Intelligence? Immunities?

Hopefully everyone keeps their opinions scientifically motivated and not racially biased.

reply to post by AzoriaCorp

A cliche example would be Asians being smarter or Africans to be fast runners.

Asians being smarter is a cultural thing not genetics.

Africans don't run that fast, their starving, running uses too much energy....... unless there's a lion running after them, then in that case, they are super fast runners.

There is no such evidence.

The scientific premises for looking for statistical differences between groups designated as races (on somewhat arbitrary grounds) are questionable. The explanation of such differences in strictly biological-evolutionary terms is even more dubious. Studies of temperament, basic personality traits, disorders (such as antisocial personality), and specific genetic markers show that there is much more variation within groups designated as races than between such groups. Investigators and theoreticians interpreting such differences on the basis of limited sampling within the 3 broad racial groups should be careful to avoid selectivity and misrepresentation of data that serve racist ideology, and should be cautious about presenting their theories to the public through inappropriate media forums. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Source

But, if you believe in such "racial superiority" you are likely to perceive it, even when it doesn't exist.

An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the perceptual confirmation of racial stereotypes about Black and White athletes. In a 2 x 2 design, target race (Black vs. White) and target athleticism (perceived athletic vs. unathletic) were manipulated by providing participants with a photograph of a male basketball player. Participants then listened to a college basketball game and were asked to evaluate the target's athletic abilities, individual performance, and contribution to his team' s performance. Multivariate analyses showed only a main effect for target race on the measures of ability and team performance. Whereas the Black targets were rated as exhibiting significantly more athletic ability and having played a better game, White targets were rated as exhibiting significantly more basketball intelligence and hustle. The results suggest that participants relied on a stereotype of Black and White athletes to guide their evaluations of the target's abilities and performance.

Source

The genes that effect physical appearance aren't the genes that "determine" what you're good at.

In the OP you said that there are some cliche, false beliefs about race-based abilities and listed the stereotypes about smart Asians and fast Africans. Then you said that some of the race-based stereotypes are true, and listen sickle cell disease in Africans as an example. The fact that a certain population is more likely to have a genetic disease is not an "ability or potential." If you're talking aobut abilities or potentials, there is no evidence for race-based differences.

"Racial Superiority?" No.

Other interesting studies:

Two experiments used a priming paradigm to investigate the influence of racial cues on the perceptual identification of weapons. In Experiment 1, participants identified guns faster when primed with Black faces compared with White faces. In Experiment 2, participants were required to respond quickly, causing the racial bias to shift from reaction time to accuracy. Participants misidentified tools as guns more often when primed with a Black face than with a White face. L. L. Jacoby's (1991) process dissociation procedure was applied to demonstrate that racial primes influenced automatic (A) processing, but not controlled (C) processing. The response deadline reduced the C estimate but not the A estimate. The motivation to control prejudice moderated the relationship between explicit prejudice and automatic bias. Implications are discussed on applied and theoretical levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Source

This article examines the extent to which racial differences in socio-economic status (SES), social class and acute and chronic indicators of perceived discrimination, as well as general measures of stress can account for black-white differences in self-reported measures of physical and mental health. The observed racial differences in health were markedly reduced when adjusted for education and especially income. However, both perceived discrimination and more traditional measures of stress are related to health and play an incremental role in accounting for differences between the races in health status. These findings underscore the need for research efforts to identify the complex ways in which economic and non-economic forms of discrimination relate to each other and combine with socio-economic position and other risk factors and resources to affect health.

Source

Well I actually just heard a report on the BBC about blood types and subtypes. Apparently, certain bloodtypes are predominantly found in the black and asian community, and a specific subtype is nearly exclusive to blacks. I guess it has become an issue as of late because blacks and asians account for something like a third of transplant recipients but are only an eighth of donors.

However, I doubt this has anything to do with race per se, but more with the evolutionary isolation of certain groups and aversions to intermarriage on a cultural level.

But, if you believe in such "racial superiority" you are likely to perceive it, even when it doesn't exist.

I think you're skewing my OP as believing in racial superiority. I do apologize if that is the perception you took. However, I may have had a misleading title and vague description. I perhaps should have named the title "Genetic advantages in various races" Or something along those lines. I, in no way, condone racial bias or racism. I am just interested in the geneology of the different races of the human species, and how their origins affected their genetic development; and how that developement may or may not have an advantage in the world over their ethnic peers.

The genes that effect physical appearance aren't the genes that "determine" what you're good at.

Also not what I was trying to get at. Such genetic traits such as myostatin deficiency that are exclusive to a certain race may have a ethnic advantage over another race or ethnic group is more what I was after. Various ethnic groups that are exclusive to or genetically inclined to have a myostatin deficiency or inhibition would indeed promote massive gains in muscle mass, strength, and a quicker recovery in muscular hypertrophy during and after resistance training. Thus, giving an advantage over the genetically myostatin sufficient ethnic peer.

I do apologize for the confusion. I fear you may have taken this post abit personal or offensive. Thus your preachy articles on discrimination. However, that was not my intent. Hope that clears that up for you and others.

[edit on 28-4-2010 by AzoriaCorp]

Well, I had an awesome long post but for some reason my internet crapped out and i lost it all, so i will sum it up.

Sickle cell anemia is an evolutionary trait used to fight malaria

evolutionary traits happen in different regions based on different needs of humans in their interaction with the environment.

Genetic diversity of the human race is less than .1%

race is a social construction brought on by our need to classify humans and make general assumptions. We are mostly reliant on sight, hence skin color is the major factor.

Why arnt fat, thin, tall, short people lumped into races??? There is really no reason, other than we already use skin color.

there is no super race, just people with different adaptations to the environment.

Click here for more information.

Originally posted by Republican08
reply to post by AzoriaCorp

 

A cliche example would be Asians being smarter or Africans to be fast runners.

Asians being smarter is a cultural thing not genetics.

That's my impression also. In America, the smart kids are called "nerds" and not respected so any kid wanting to be "cool" tries to not be too smart. This is a cultural tragedy for American children.

I'm not sure how true this is but an Asian friend of mine told me they thought respect for intelligence in Asian cultures might have something to do with the influence of Confucious where intelligence is admired and respected rather than seen as a liability like in US schools.

I lived in a community of primarily Asian American families for years and can say that they continued with their Asian cultural values even while living in America, and typically pushed their kids to study and do homework harder than the parents of American kids. So yes, smart Asians probably result from cultural and not genetic influences.

There are a few genetic differences like the sickle cell anemia incidence rate, etc.

www.peoples-health.com...

Sickle cell anemia rates:
The rate for African Americans is one case per 400 people.
The rate for the global population is one case per 125,000 people.

My educated opinion is that populations differ in their abilities but environment plays a role as well (genotype is not the same thing as phenotype).

"Racial Differences" would probably be a better title than "Racial Superiority"....

Different races may be perceived as having better traits than others in a specific capacity, but then one has to ask:

1. Is the difference statistically significant?
2. So what, we can't be different?

The problem is when someone comes in implying a "difference" is an "inferiority". That's where racism stems from. So, just hoping we can all avoid falling into that quagmire...

Originally posted by Republican08

Africans don't run that fast, their starving, running uses too much energy....... unless there's a lion running after them, then in that case, they are super fast runners.

Ghost of Jimmy the Greek?

On topic:

Confusions About Human Races

First of all. There are no different races. We are all just one race.

Two gorillas of the same sub group are genetically more different then any two humans do.

The higher intelligence, speed and so on is probably linked to diet and the environment. Nothing more.

The little difference that do exist are blown up to be big is because of us. We just notice it draw a box to single it out and by then the focus on it is so wide spread the little mouse turned into an elephant.

There are also always exceptions that change the rules.

Originally posted by Sinter Klaas
First of all. There are no different races. We are all just one race.

Two gorillas of the same sub group are genetically more different then any two humans do.

The higher intelligence, speed and so on is probably linked to diet and the environment. Nothing more.

The little difference that do exist are blown up to be big is because of us. We just notice it draw a box to single it out and by then the focus on it is so wide spread the little mouse turned into an elephant.

There are also always exceptions that change the rules.

Human populations show more genetic variance between than within. This means that there are races. However most of human genetic diversity can be found from Sub-Saharan Africa. This makes sense in the light of out of Africa hypothesis. All in all humans are very uniform thou. A Escherichia coli population in one human gut is more diverse than the entire human population of the planet.

What goes for nature vs. nurture. In case of intelligence it's mostly about nature. This is a science fact. Here is one article on the subject.

Speed has lot to do with nurture. If you practice you become faster. Quite obvious. However even here genetics set the limits. Quoting wikipedia here: As of August 2009, 70 sprinters have broken the 10-second barrier with an official, legal time. No sprinter of predominantly European, Asian or East African descent has officially achieved this feat.

[edit on 29-4-2010 by rhinoceros]

reply to post by rhinoceros


Yes I know . Thanks for the link .

There are always differences... But it does not make one species with multiple races.

As a species we are one race and within there are sub groups. Which makes are species come with genetic variations. The idea of different races has only came to be as late as the colonial era.

African people are traced back to conclude they were genetically showing they are the most changed. Which is strange because they still live in Africa. Currently known as the place it all began. The reason why I'm so direct in saying there are no different races is because when people except such reasoning they are more likely to act different to another population group.

Then they are talking about Asia. Asia is a very big place with lots of more people. Interacting in a community makes people more intelligent, more using their brains to survive in thes habitat. The best fit to it have a higher chance to succesful raising their children. Their talent gets past on.

This study was it in India, Japan, China, Indonesia ?

[edit on 4/29/2010 by Sinter Klaas]

what a load of crap.
no one feels like speaking the truth anymore becasue of fear. fear of being labeled a bigot, a racist, or a worse. and the truth is that there are many differences that can be seen in subsets of groups of people based on where their ancestors are from. theres nothing wrong or strange aobut it. but not all people fit the sterotypes, but they are based on reality.
the only problem i see with differentiating people based on race if when you act differently specificly according to what you think aobut the seperate races.
are all blacks better athletes? no, but for the majority, yes.
are all asians smarter than you? no, but most are.
are all antive americans alcoholics? no but most are.
you get the point.

First of all. There are no different races. We are all just one race.

Im sorry, would "ethnic group" be a better label as to pander to your political correctness? We are all adults here. I think we can somewhat be politically incorrect without being labeled bigots or racist.

Absolutely there is racial superiority.

The human race is far superior to the ignorance of racism in all forms.

reply to post by AzoriaCorp

Im sorry, would "ethnic group" be a better label as to pander to your political correctness? We are all adults here. I think we can somewhat be politically incorrect without being labeled bigots or racist.

A little

I disagree with you here. My experience on ATS is that there are a lot guilty of childish behaviour.

My wishes would be granted if I can behave as I normally do around my friends and family. Fact is most of the people get mad or offended by what you said or worse, by what they think they heard you said.

So if we can keep civilised while we communicate like bigots, racists or anything else. I'd love to.

Besides that. My understanding gives a whole other meaning to ethnic group then it does to race.

Biblically we are all the same remembering the tower of babble. But we all have as in all of nature what is known as adaptive traits, these traits are defined by the surrounding environment in order to survive the climate in which one lives. You live in a cold area your traits would represent that of the Eskimos, live in a warm climate you would have the traits of African descendants and the different variations between all are do to this, as we mix these adaptive traits by having offspring combining two area traits a new trait reveals itself and becomes part of both. This adaptive trait is in every living thing if you can not adapt to the environment you live in, simply you would die off and this is exactly what has happen too many species that have become extinct. They simple could not adapt quick enough through there offspring to survive there environment. We as humans have the ability too survive in any climate due to proper clothing and if we live in an area long enough our body adapts to that environment, such as a person who is use to the cold may use less clothing to keep warm than a person from a warm climate moving into a cold, and vice a versa. This is our body natural getting use to its environment and adapting to its new surroundings. I hope that clears up some things for you. The same can be used for intelligence, again our surroundings is what makes us either smarter or not, example, a rich person goes to all the best schools and there for should have a higher IQ, not that a person who goes to a lesser school could also have this high IQ but more likely they would have to be self motivated to accomplish it. Like most of our founding fathers and inventors and even some presidents, look at Lincoln self taught lawyer or Thomas Edison no education per say self taught by spending two hours a day in a library. And so many others with no official schooling these are the lucky ones because they are not molded into someone else’s idea, this is why home school is the recommend form of schooling for those whom can not afford a fancy education. Most university student body are made up of home schooled children compared to public school, most public school grades can not pass the entrance exam for Ivory league schools. Look at Mozart, or Beethoven musical genius with little to no education self taught and developed there natural born gifts. We all have great potential at birth, but society molds us to be stupid or smart if we do not pick up our own self motivation to be all that we can be. We all have the potential at birth to be geniuses but without self motivation we adapt to our environment and except it as norm.

Originally posted by AzoriaCorp

But, if you believe in such "racial superiority" you are likely to perceive it, even when it doesn't exist.

I think you're skewing my OP as believing in racial superiority.

No. I had no idea what you believe. The topic of discussion is evidence for racial differences in "abilities and potential"(your words). If we're looking for such evidence, we ought to take note of this interesting experiment which shows that if we expect to find race-based differences in abilities and potential then we are more likely to perceive such differences. Isn't that sort of information important? It's relevant to critical analysis of any evidence purporting to show race-based differences in a abilities.

I do apologize for the confusion. I fear you may have taken this post abit personal or offensive. Thus your preachy articles on discrimination. However, that was not my intent. Hope that clears that up for you and others.

Not at all. I'm not a minority and I've never been discriminated against. I'm not offended by what you said and I don't take it personally. If you search this topic on google scholar you will find the articles that I posted. I don't have an agenda, it's just that when you try to find serious evidence of racial differences in abilities and potential, what you find instead is a large body of academic work refuting such ideas.

I provided academic papers which are a response to your question. You asked whether or not these differences existed. Is the question not really a question? Are you telling us that such differences exist? Will you only accept evidence that they do?

You asked for studies and opinions. The only studies I see on this thread are the ones that I posted. If you disagree, make your case.(And don't worry about offending me, it can't be done. I argue rigorously and that is often mistaken for other things. This conversation is not personal for me.)