PBS lies in an attempt to prove that race does not exist

[Flubber]

This argument again . . .

I believe we should study the human genome to try to fully understand that DNA and be able to better treat a multitude or diseases.

It is obvious that discrete races do not exist. If they did, I would challenge someone to list them. Once that was done, we could all come up with thousands of people that would hardly fit any category due to intermingling of people with different origins.

All that said, it is also obvious that certain diseases and disorders, whether it be sickle cell , thalassemia or whatever, are more prevalent in populations of certain origins. Trying to divide the population into some sort of groupings to better understand these disorders strikes me as a worthwhile scientific/medical endeavour.

As for race mattering, it matters because we make it matter. The Canadian government has posted a job at the directors level in the Department of Fisheries for which "white people" need not apply, it is restricted to 'visible minorities". Whether you call it "race" or "ethnicity", it is obvious that somebody is grouping humans.

[Velociryx]

Well said, Flubber! And it *is* an arbitrary grouping. An illusion supported by people who "need" it, for whatever reason.

But yes, let's hear from those who believe in it.

Please list the "races of man" for us, and explain where the boundaries are. (ie - if I am 1/32 Native American, am I a different "Race"? What if I'm 3/32's? Where, precisely, is the line) If it exists, then it should be easy to quantify it thusly, so let's hear it!

-=Vel=-

[Solly]

That means you're 1/32 Native American, and 31/32 something else.

just like if someone was 1/2 black and 1/2, they'd be 1/2 black race, 1/2 white race; ie, mixed race/half-cast.

[Velociryx]

In that case, Bods, you have just proved the point for me. There are few, if any places left in the world where there has not been at least some mixing of ethnicities. At this point, I doubt that anybody (okay, maybe a few really remote tribes in the Amazon) could claim any sort of "racial purity" with a straight face. And if THAT does not exist, then the rest is rather pointless.

-=Vel=-

[GePap]

"black"? What type of black? Ethipopian, Dravidian? Pygmy?

Care to list the races for us Bodd's?

[GePap]

"black"? What type of black? Ethipopian, Dravidian? Pygmy?

Care to list the races for us Bodd's?

[Bereta_Eder]

there are no races.

people with different skin colour and/or facial body characteristics sure but races nope.

[Solly]

That means there is no racism then.

[Bereta_Eder]

only to those who belive there are no races though

[Velociryx]

Of course there is! "Race" exists in the minds of those who promote it, making them, by definition, "Racists." These are the people who are quick to point out things like skin pigmentation differences, cultural and ethnic differences, and magically blend these into an amalgamation that they call "Race." If the population with a significantly different skin pigmentation/cultural heritage/ethnic background is sufficiently different from his, then he might treat that person "differently" and we get discrimination.

Nonetheless, the discrimination is not based on any "real" notion of race, because there is none (or at least, no one has come forward with a difinitive list, which I would be very curious to see!)

And more questions for the "racists" out there:
Are the Native American Indians a separate "race"? If so, how far do their boundaries spread? (ie - are the natives of North America a different "sub-race" from those of South and Central America? And, the folks living in the Arctic circle....what are they? How 'bout the various tribes in Africa? All one big "race" or are there sub-divisions (remember that there are vast differences between some of the tribes).

Are the Scythians a "race" unto themselves?

The Celts?

Genuine curiosity....

-=Vel=-

[Solly]

There are whites, blacks, Asians, Latinos, and African-Americans.

[Q Classic]

one race, multiple ethnicities. that's what it boils down to.

and guess what? in pretty much all day-to-day matters, ethnicity doesn't --or rather, shouldn't-- matter at all.

[Whaleboy]

I think race is a matter of perception, for the person who it affects, and the person who judges. Personally, I dont think that race exists, but if a person believes he is from a different race, or one believes that another is a different race, then race is real for that person. In a different context, I can critique his reasoning behind that judgement, and conclude that race does not exist, but in this context, that is subjective.

[Solly]

So there are no races, but there is racism?

[GePap]

Originally posted by Boddington's
So there are no races, but there is racism?

Yes.

Any more questions Bodd's?