Is Race Real?

Race is a very subtle shift of the human genome to best suit each various [historic/prehistoric] set of environmental conditions.

Each race has to be some kind of superior response to a given set of conditions.

We are of course all the same species.

It is the ignorance that we have any clue of what real meaning or lack thereof it has that is most problematic.

The idea that one or some races are inherently 'better' than others flies in the face of the fact that all current 'races' survived & most flourished to some degree.

An intelligent person would say that the more [genetic] cards one has to play the more likely one is to not be folded out of the game.

Now i will suggest something that will probably upset a great many people but,

i think we should try to preserve pockets of populations with distinctive characteristics, as well as have most the rest of us interbreed.
I think we should have eggs in as many baskets as possible, BEFORE some calamity strikes, in the hopes that at least one or a few various populations strains will survive.
Because calamity hits when you may least expect it. In many cases there won't be time to genetically re-engineer humanity to survive some [nearly] instantaneous disaster. ie. low/high oxygen; global drought/humidity; rampant diseases, viruses; starvation, etc. [caused by volcanoes, asteroids, comets, solar storms]

Genetic diversity is a [very minimal] insurance policy for us as a species.

Odds are we will still go extinct because of our own stupidly self-imposed & denied collective suicide, despite genetic diversity, but at least we should try to do that even if we don't have any resolute conviction in our intellects, such as they are.

[edit on 14-6-2010 by slank]

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


I agree that most of the minor traits should not be regarded to as race. But you cannot deny the fact that the variations are actually quite large (almost to a point where they require completely different dietary needs to be healthy).

I do agree however that the differences are not in large enough samples, they are more attributed to small groups, and there not be a distinction of 'race' per say. But there are large differences in skeletal structure, to dietary needs, to climate tolerance, to genetic disorders.

As one poster put it, the differences now are still rather small. But if we had stayed in our own particular 'groups' and all intermingling had stopped (nearly impossible as humans are ever migrating, but for conversational purposes), we would probably become vastly different.

Of course that would take a million years to notice even the beginnings of the differences, but you would see them. And possibly so different as to not be able to reproduce (think of the differences of modern paleolithic humans and Neanderthals).


reply to post by slank


Very well put. It exists, and is even necessary for our species survival. The only negativity that comes from it, are those that are created purely by fabrication. There is nothing wrong with admitting we have 'breeds' of humans. In fact, it makes us that much more dynamic as a species, and we should be proud of that.

[edit on 6/14/2010 by Arcane Demesne]

reply to post by Arcane Demesne


I agree, there are genetic variances and if we'd stayed isolated they would have become much greater. My point was that most of those are not part of what defines the social construct of race (typically superficial physical characteristics and sometimes even cultural differences) and therefore shouldn't be considered racial or part of race.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
reply to post by Arcane Demesne

 

I agree, there are genetic variances and if we'd stayed isolated they would have become much greater. My point was that most of those are not part of what defines the social construct of race (typically superficial physical characteristics and sometimes even cultural differences) and therefore shouldn't be considered racial or part of race.

Oh, yes. I quite agree. Though I will point out that, even though our genetic variations do not cause the differences in our social constructs, they are a part of them, and social constructs are built around society...and for thousands of years, those societies that have kept a rather small gene pool amongst themselves.

I'd go so far to say that genetic grouping is not the same as social construct, but both are a product of environment.

Race is both real, and significant, but primarily in the "social construct" sense. This being said, I still would not discount the presently politically incorrect research that has been done dealing with intelligence, as the most significant "racial" trait, as it relates to culture, development, and the future. This is often swept aside by those who want to talk about skin pigment, or some such other nonsense.

PEOPLE CONTROL...Regardless of how important race is to a person, it is seemingly important to our Masters as a control element. They have always found success in the military strategy of "divide and conquer", and so race plays in well with that strategy.

But back to the social construct. In this sense, the most important element becomes IDENTITY. Over and over, this issue is completely overlooked when discussing race. Of course, if you decided to discuss the "Jewish Race" (for example), you would soon figure our what identity is all about.

The question of if you are black or white (for example) isn't as important as "who" you identify with. For the person of mixed race, no sermon is required, but for the rest, the identity issue is quite "real" for the kid who has a white mother, and grows up in a black neighborhood. Which "race" will he identify with more? Sometimes even siblings, in the same family, one will "go black", and the other will choose to be "white". Note that their particular appearance may have less to do with their "choice", than their social context.

Still more interesting is that a person of mixed race can "switch" at some point. Perhaps the young man who played football in a predominantly black high school then goes to college. There, "being black" has reduced "value", and often things change. Ways of speaking, mannerisms, etc., the subculture is dropped for the predominant ("white") culture. More could be said about what "naturally" happens within the prison context too, but hopefully my point has been made.

So, going back to my point, IDENTITY is everything. This is most especially the case in particular groups who take this issue very seriously. Jews are the most obvious example of this. The average person may think of Jews as just white people, of a different faith. However, Jews themselves would not be so simplistic. The trait of being Jewish (which has nothing to do with religion actually) is so important, it is enough by itself to put aside big differences otherwise. It is a great example of how important identity is, completely aside from outward appearances.

Unfortunately, it is this reality within the racial spectrum, that of identity, that is used by our masters against anyone who still can identify with a racial group. It doesn't matter who you are, or what you believe, what matters is what our mutual enemy believes.

Some might agree with this, and then jump to the conclusion that perhaps race should just go away one day, perhaps interbreed to the point where it isn't an issue, etc. I think that would be a mistake. The various differences are probably more "good" than bad, even if an immoral elite chooses to use them against us all.

The key is to have an awareness of this fact, that we are being manipulated. Of course, if each of us simply maintained a personal code of mutual respect for others, we would be better equipped, and therefore less tempted to unprofitable divisiveness.

JR

reply to post by JR MacBeth


You keep saying someone will grow up black, or someone will grow up white, as if social constructs are inherent in skin pigmentation.

Skin pigmentation color has NOTHING to do where someone grows up or how they act/attribute to society.

All skin 'color' does is determine where that persons ancestors spent the majority of their past in a particular environment. Saying someone is acting black or acting white is not helping this conversation and definitely doesn't hold any water within the scientific community.

Now, if you were to say, one acts muslim (religion is a social construct), or one identifies himself with vikings (environmental factors causing a populace to form a particular social construct), then you'd have a point. But social constructs have nothing to do with 'growing white, or growing up black.'

Originally posted by post by JR MacBeth

...if each of us simply maintained a personal code of mutual respect for others, we would be better equipped, and therefore less tempted to unprofitable divisiveness.

That I agree with.


[edit on 6/15/2010 by Arcane Demesne]

yes its real
anyone who says otherwise hasnt lived amongst other races.
trust me, theres a big difference between white people and not white people.

Originally posted by Arcane Demesne
reply to post by JR MacBeth

 

You keep saying someone will grow up black, or someone will grow up white, as if social constructs are inherent in skin pigmentation.

Skin pigmentation color has NOTHING to do where someone grows up or how they act/attribute to society.

All skin 'color' does is determine where that persons ancestors spent the majority of their past in a particular environment.

[edit on 6/15/2010 by Arcane Demesne]

Appreciate the comment Arcane Demesne, but you missed the main point. It's OK, the issue of "identity" is way off the radar for most people. But I would submit that it is the best way to look at the "race" issue, apart from the biology.

Regarding skin color, we may agree more than you think, reread my post, the emphasis on such nonsense is hardly mine, although from my experience, people often prop it up as a sort of straw-man. Then, they don't have to talk about the real issues.

Look at it this way, even if all great scientists agreed that skin color is silly, it wouldn't matter if society in general disagrees, for whatever reason. Certainly, any "minority" who has ever been discriminated against, can attest that what the scientist thinks, isn't worth squat. It's the "boss" that matters, the guy who won't hire them, etc. And that guy can be utterly foolish, but it's his (silly) opinion that would matter in the end.

And that brings one to the issue of the "social construct". If I'm reading you right, the idea doesn't sit well with you. I'm here to tell you, it means a whole lot more than merely where your ancestors came from!

By the way, my "white / black" example (specifically of the mixed-race individual) isn't mere speculation. Our society literally imposes the burden of a "decision" that the mixed-race person must make, and that decision is about who to identify with.

I didn't go into a prison system example, but why not? If you were sent to prison, certainly if it was one in a multi-racial nation (like the USA), you would be forced into a dilema not unlike the multi-racial individual in my example. Why? Because in order to survive, you would have to basically join a gang, and in prison, the gangs are primarily racial.

SO, here we are in prison. Perhaps you are tempted to loudly voice your "skin color doesn't matter!" mantra. Good luck with that! You will get a rude awakening, to say the least. Yes, it apparently matters the MOST, in the prison context. Do you "look" a bit "Mexican", well then, good luck getting in with the Whites. Will the Mexicans take you, if you don't even know a few Spanish words? Well, then, hopefully you can convince them that you are Italian...

Speaking this way is likely very distasteful to the average person, no matter what their "race", but it is absolute reality, whether we like it or not. The prisons are hard-core reality checks for us all. No, I guess we're not quite as "evolved" as we would like to be when it gets right down to it.

IDENTITY is everything when it comes to the practical reality behind what we all call "race". Apart from that might be fantastic genetic and "scientific" considerations, but all these biological factors, which one day may prove "important", they don't seem to have much to do with the reality we are talking about, when someone asks about whether "race" is real.

Again, just to make sure my point wasn't missed. Get sentenced to prison, and no one will even ask the question. Race is real, and within the prison context, it's actually a life and death matter!

JR

reply to post by JR MacBeth


Ok, I see your point now. So the term race, BECAUSE of our social constructs, is more than just how one's appearance is different from another's, it is also how they act and what 'group' they identify themselves within, regardless of how absurd it seems to an outsider.

I see that in society all the time, unfortunately, so I can see where this is coming from. I guess I was mostly thinking about how the different cultures and genetic differences sprouted all over the earth, I didn't really bother with thinking of the impact and outcome of our feeble minds that have made this non-issue a way to divide ourselves.

I suppose it's as good as any, after all, we divide ourselves violently through political, philosophical, religious, and custom differences...why not appearance as well.

Such is the bane of the 'human race', I suppose.