Race

A race is a population of humans distinguished from other populations. The most widely used racial categories are based on visible traits (especially skin color and facial features). Conceptions of race, as well as specific racial groupings, vary by culture and time and are often controversial due to their impact on social identity hence identity politics.

Politics and ethics of race

Racial classifications were used during the Enlightenment to justify enslavement of those deemed to be of "inferior", non-White races, and thus supposedly best fitted for lives of toil under White supervision. These classifications made the distance between races seem nearly as broad as that between species, easing unsettling questions about the appropriateness of such treatment of humans. The practice was at the time generally accepted by both scientific and lay communities.

Related Topics:
The Enlightenment - Enslavement

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Blumenbach's time, followers of Johann Gottfried von Herder applied race to nationalist theory to develop militant ethnic nationalism. They posited the historical existence of national races such as German and French, branching from basal races supposed to have existed for millennia, such as the Aryan race, and believed political boundaries should mirror these supposed racial ones. Later, one of Hitler's favorite sayings was, "Politics is applied biology". Hitler's ideas of racial purity led to unprecedented atrocities in Europe. Since then, ethnic cleansing has occurred in Cambodia, the Balkans and East Africa. In one sense, ethnic cleansing is another name for the tribal warfare and mass murder that has afflicted human society for ages, but these crimes seem to gain intensity when believed to be scientifically sanctioned.

Related Topics:
Johann Gottfried von Herder - Nationalist - Ethnic nationalism - Aryan - Hitler - Ethnic cleansing - Cambodia - Balkans

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Racial inequality has been a concern of United States politicians and legislators since the country's founding. In the 19th century most White Americans (including abolitionists) explained racial inequality as an inevitable consequence of biological differences. Since the mid-20th century, political and civic leaders as well as scientists have debated to what extent racial inequality is cultural in origin. Some argue that current inequalities between Blacks and Whites are primarily cultural and historical, the result of past racism, slavery and segregation, and could be redressed through such programs as affirmative action and Head Start. Others work to reduce tax funding of remedial programs for minorities. They have based their advocacy on aptitude test data that, according to them, shows that racial ability differences are biological in origin and cannot be leveled even by intensive educational efforts. In electoral politics, many more ethnic minorities have won important offices in Western nations than in earlier times, although the highest offices tend to remain in the hands of Whites.

Related Topics:
Abolitionist - Slavery - Segregation - Affirmative action - Head Start - Remedial programs - Electoral politics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed:

Related Topics:
Letter from Birmingham Jail - Martin Luther King Jr.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dr. King's hope, expressed in his I Have a Dream speech, was that the civil rights struggle would one day produce a society where people were not "judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Related Topics:
I Have a Dream - Civil rights

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Because of the identification of the concept of race with political oppression, many natural and social scientists today are wary of using race to describe human variation. Some, however, argue that race is nevertheless of continuing utility and validity in scientific research. Science and politics frequently take opposite sides in debates that relate to human intelligence and biomedicine.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Race and intelligence

:Main article: Race and intelligence

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Researchers have reported significant differences in the average IQ test scores of various ethnic groups. The interpretation and causes of these differences are controversial. Some researchers, such as Arthur Jensen and Richard Herrnstein, have argued that such differences are at least partially genetic. Others, such as Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin, believe categories such as "race" and "intelligence" are cultural contructs that render this sort of research scientifically flawed.

Related Topics:
IQ - Arthur Jensen - Richard Herrnstein - Stephen Jay Gould - Richard Lewontin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Race in biomedicine

:Main article: Race in biomedicine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is an active debate among biomedical researchers about the meaning and importance of race in their research. The primary impetus for considering race in biomedical research is the possibility of improving the prevention and treatment of diseases by predicting hard-to-ascertain factors on the basis of more easily ascertained characteristics. The most well-known examples of genetically-determined disorders that vary in incidence between ethnic groups would be sickle cell disease and thalassaemia among black and Mediterranean populations and Tay-Sachs disease among people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Some fear that the use of racial labels in biomedical research runs the risk of unintentionally exacerbating health disparities, so they suggest alternatives to the use of racial taxonomies.

Related Topics:
Disease - Sickle cell disease - Thalassaemia - Mediterranean - Tay-Sachs disease - Ashkenazi Jewish

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Race in law enforcement

In an attempt to provide general descriptions that may facilitate the job of officers seeking to apprehend suspects, the United States FBI employs the term "race" to summarize the general appearance (skin color, hair texture, eye shape, and other such easily noticed characteristics) of individuals whom they are attempting to apprehend. From the perspective of law enforcement officers, it is generally more important to arrive at a description that will readily suggest the general appearance of an individual. Thus in addition to assigning a wanted individual to a racial category, such a description will include: height, weight, eye color, scars and other distinguishing characteristics, etc. Scotland Yard use a classification based in the ethnic background of British society: W1 (White-British), W2 (White-Irish), W9 (Any other white background); M1 (White and black Caribbean), M2 (White and black African), M3 (White and Asian), M9 (Any other mixed background); A1 (Asian-Indian), A2 (Asian-Pakistani), A3 (Asian-Bangladeshi), A9 (Any other Asian background); B1 (Black Caribbean), B2 (Black African), B3 (Any other black background); O1 (Chinese), O9 (Any other).

Related Topics:
Officer - FBI - Law enforcement - Scotland Yard - British society

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In many countries the state is legally banned from handling race data, which often makes the police issue wanted notices to press including labels like "dark skin complexion", etc. There is some controversy over the relationship between race and crime and whether it justifies racial profiling; however, in the United States, the practice has been ruled unconstitutional and violative of civil rights. There is active debate regarding the cause of a marked correlation between race and crime. Many consider racial profiling an example of institutional racism in law enforcement.

Related Topics:
Race and crime - Racial profiling - Institutional racism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

More recent work in racial taxonomy based on DNA cluster analysis (See Lewontin's Fallacy) has led law enforcement to pursue suspects based on their racial classification derived from their DNA evidence left at the crime scenehttp://transobj.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20050625/DNA25?section=Biotech. In an attempt to avoid legal issues, this classification is called "biogeographical ancestry" rather than "race"http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20040229231&OS=20040229231&RS=20040229231 but the terms for the BGA categories are the same and used the same way.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~