Does RACE exist?

[Alexander's Horse]

chegitz argues there's no such thing as race but then the U.S. has this thing called "race relations", lol.

[MrFun]

. . . . which are based on the social construction of race, AH.

[Ramo]

Race is certainly a social construct. If it had any basis whatsoever on things like biological diversity, there'd be no such thing as a "negroid" race, etc.

[Fake Boris]

Does 'race' exist'?

It's there. http://www.nascar.com/

[Az]

not the NASCAR jokes again.

[MrFun]

The NASCAR jokes have been overused before, and are still being overused -- let it go.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
It's a bit hard to ignore the evidence now that we have DNA and the human genome which fairly accurately categorise people by origin.

And yet it's the geneticists who say they can't define races genetically.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by MrFun
. . . . which are based on the social construction of race, AH.

Or destruction in the case of the L.A. riots etc.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by LulThyme

As rogan pointed out, this problem disappears if you look from a genetical point of you.
now the two races become for example, "black-gene" and "white-gene" race, with cutoff at say 4.
There is no more paradox from the mathematical point of view, and this is actually what they do in some fields( seldom for skin colour though).
the only problem with this is some "black gene" people are white and vice-versa, which is what you are saying in another way, so its not very workable for a day-to-day point of view, which is what the conclusion to this thread should be.

YES THERE ARE WAYS FOR SCIENTISTS TO DEFINE RACES, AND SOME DO USE THESE DEFINITIONS FOR VERY SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS, BUT IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT YOU WOULD THINK A RACE IS, AND YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TELL A PERSON'S RACE BY LOOKING AT IT.

Looking at it from the perspective of skin color genes only is EXACTLY THE SAME AS LOOKING AT SKIN COLOR ITSELF!

Except for the fact that you can generally tell skin color at a glance, whereas you have to test their DNA using your method

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


And yet it's the geneticists who say they can't define races genetically.

You can define it "genetically", it just becomes a definition based on skin color (see above post)

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse


Or destruction in the case of the L.A. riots etc.

I think you're missing the point -- all the issues, events, developments, and policies concerning race does not make race a reality. Race remains to be a social construction.

[Alexander's Horse]

Okay, so as not to offend your sensivity, I'm willing to pretend Rodney King wasn't black, the cops who beat him up weren't white, the jury that acquitted the cops wasn't mostly white, the rioters weren't mostly black and latino, the motorists attacked weren't mostly white and the shopkeepers shooting at the rioters weren't mostly Koreans i.e. Asians.

Feel better now?

[MrFun]

Duh -- I am not denying the difference in skin color. But at least I'm aware that race is a social construction that relies on skin color differentiation, along with other superficial, insignificant physical differences.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by MrFun
Duh -- I am not denying the difference in skin color. But at least I'm aware that race is a social construction that relies on skin color differentiation, along with other superficial, insignificant physical differences.

Oh don't patronise me - I've had more social constructs than you've had hot dinners.

[Caligastia]