Why does the concept of race still exist in 2012?

[Grizzly Willy]

Because... there are different races. The human race is very diverse. Not everyone is the same.

Only socially, and that's not race, that's just culture.

Race is, and always has been, a social construct. You cannot argue that race exists in any legitimate form outside of the imaginations of those who cling onto it. Saying that people of a certain skin color have certain predispositions is simply not true. Any biases a person has are a product of their environment and only their environment, not their genes.

The fuck you can, science isn't the end all be all of how we should live our lives. Culture and race go hand in hand, you can't just poof away race and claiming you can is ignorant of how other races live their lives in our society and in the rest of the world.

Can we poof away the Earth being flat? Or being the center of the universe?

[Xarkan]

Do you have any scientific proof at all to back up your bold claim?

My claim is not bold at all, it is even non political. Race as a concept existed, the same traits that made people part of a race or not part of a race still exist, the races still exist. You are trying to redefine the word as it applies to our species, i find that approach political and i deny it. It will not work as you seem to think it would regardless, it just changes labels..

It is all a magicians trick here and it has the same substance.. Genes were not the defining trait for races in the human species, we had a definition, it still stands.

The problem is maybe that you think the existence of races should be somehow important? Would racism have been ok if there had been bigger genetic differences?

Also of course people of north Germanic descent share genes.. but people in Scandinavia are not a 'race' in themselves (though i sometimes feel like people around here think us a race and all others inferior) The difference between a German and an Englishman (and there seems to be a few) are cultural not racial.

---------- Post added 2012-07-21 at 07:31 AM ----------

Can we poof away the Earth being flat? Or being the center of the universe?

The point is you have not proven away anything at all, you have proven that the theory that it was insignificant is true but not that the concept does not exist. You can prove the world is not flat because the definition 'flat' does not apply to the object 'earth' and you can prove that the definition 'center' when applied to object 'universe' does not match the position of object 'earth' [you here being a general you not a specific.. as in someone somewhere can do it not a request that you specifically should do so]

[Deleted]

My claim is not bold at all, it is even non political. Race as a concept existed, the same traits that made people part of a race or not part of a race still exist, the races still exist.

Ok then. Please tell me what your definition of "race" is. Because as far as I know, scientifically it does not exist.

Enlighten me.

(though i sometimes feel like people around here think us a race and all others inferior)

No they don't.

The difference between a German and an Englishman (and there seems to be a few) are cultural not racial.

There are as many differences between an Englishman and a German as there are between a German and a Nigerian. If we look at both Demes and Clines from the perspective of Biological Anthropology, then we can come to this conclusion.

To be honest your posts sadden me. To think that such ignorance still exists today and people still attempt to deny science in order to further racial prejudice is disheartening. Your posts make me feel sorry for you.

[Grizzly Willy]

I stated that race exists as a cultural construct. It has no basis in fact when stated as being anything but a construct, just as much as the notion that the Earth is flat has no basis in fact, and the Human Genome Project supports this. Race only exists in the form of cultural biases, and that's it. A person of African descent born and raised in Japan is not going to have the biases associated with the culture she descended from, but from the culture she is being raised in.

I apologize if there's any difficulty understanding my point, it's rather late here and I'm a bit tired.

[Shammywan]

The differences between people are extremely minuscule

This made me laugh so much that I stopped reading.

Also: adopted people perform significantly different in life depending on the country they are from.

[Xarkan]

To be honest your posts sadden me. To think that such ignorance still exists today and people still attempt to deny science in order to further racial prejudice is disheartening. Your posts make me feel sorry for you.

LOL

Your claim is the one based on prejudice not mine :P I feel sorry for you that you cannot see what you are doing..

You are assuming my argument relates to thinking people 'lesser' 'more' or whatever, it does not.. it relates more to the fact that you removing the word race from the equation changes nothing at all (at least not for the better) all you can achieve is to obscure the obvious stupidity of their racism because you no longer have the facts to point out where they go wrong because you used the facts to remove the concept (even though you cannot) so you cannot show that the differences they claim on their concept does not mean what they think it means..

You can only help racists keep their bigotry alive and well

Edit: ffs this is the point: The human genome project shows so very well that the differences are miniscule at best, it is the single best argument against racism and you are ruining it by using it the way you do

[Deleted]

I disagree. Races as a whole are not equal, it's a scientific fact, all have strong and weak sides, different temperaments etc.

Individuals are. A single person of any race can be a genius or a total idiot, it's just less likely with some races and more with others.

[Deleted]

LOL

Your claim is the one based on prejudice not mine :P I feel sorry for you that you cannot see what you are doing..

You are assuming my argument relates to thinking people 'lesser' 'more' or whatever, it does not.. it relates more to the fact that you removing the word race from the equation changes nothing at all (at least not for the better) all you can achieve is to obscure the obvious stupidity of their racism because you no longer have the facts to point out where they go wrong because you used the facts to remove the concept (even though you cannot) so you cannot show that the differences they claim on their concept does not mean what they think it means..

You can only help racists keep their bigotry alive and well

I'm still waiting for you to tell us your definition of "race".

Races as a whole are not equal, it's a scientific fact.

Citation needed.

[Grizzly Willy]

This made me laugh so much that I stopped reading.

Humans genes are largely the same across the board.

[jinreeko]

dunno what it's like in other countries but racism is a part of american culture and to expect it ever to just dissipate is insane. It will always exist at some point, the different treatment of races

[Deleted]

Humans genes are largely the same across the board.

So true Grokan. Only 0.1% of the human genome can be different between two people. Of that 0.1%, 85% is the same in nearly all humans. Of the remaining 15% of the initial 0.1%, the differences in alleles are spread WIDELY over the human population, and not in correlation with "race" at all.

Humans are very much the same and the few differences do not depend on race.

[Shammywan]

Humans genes are largely the same across the board.

I know, thanks, about 98,5% of our genes are the same as monkeys too

[Grizzly Willy]

dunno what it's like in other countries but racism is a part of american culture and to expect it ever to just dissipate is insane. It will always exist at some point, the different treatment of races

And at this point I'll just throw up my hands and ask "why bother?"

[Xarkan]

I disagree. Races as a whole are not equal, it's a scientific fact, all have strong and weak sides, different temperaments etc.

See that is where you are wrong, this is what the genome project can tell us, this is where scientific fact applies. You are wrong, genes are not sufficiently different for your claim

Get it SuperMechatronGamer?

[Ghul]

its not gonna change as long as people keep talking about it... even this thread here is a way to remind people about the topic and make them not forget about it.

people are individuals, you can keep talking about "everyone is the same" as long as you want, it's never gonna become reality.

[Grizzly Willy]

See that is where you are wrong, this is what the genome project can tell us, this is where scientific fact applies. You are wrong, genes are not sufficiently different for your claim

Get it SuperMechatronGamer?

Alright, now I can go to bed. I was having trouble understanding your point before.

[Ghul]

See that is where you are wrong, this is what the genome project can tell us, this is where scientific fact applies. You are wrong, genes are not sufficiently different for your claim

Get it SuperMechatronGamer?

they you might want to show us an asian who acts completely like a black person to the core... im waiting for you at the next millenium i guess.

[Raintola]

Because people are dumb and still attach a meaning to the color of one's skin that's more than, well, skin deep. Same reason why people still get offended by racial slurs.

[Grizzly Willy]

they you might want to show us an asian who acts completely like a black person to the core... im waiting for you at the next millenium i guess.

It'll happen when families live in a vacuum, devoid of societal influence.

[Deleted]

See that is where you are wrong, this is what the genome project can tell us, this is where scientific fact applies. You are wrong, genes are not sufficiently different for your claim

Humans have some differences but these differences do not depend on race at all. Two people may be different due to independent assortment, chiasma, or a variety of other reasons. These differences do not trend across the socially constructed "races".

Get it SuperMechatronGamer?

I have no idea why you included my name in this quote, it has nothing to do with my posts.

I'm still waiting for you to state your definition of the word "race".