LEC #5: Understanding the roles of biological genetics and the culture in the constitution of the concept of race

Question 1

what are the problems associated w/ the classification among human based on genetics?

Answer 1

• there is more genetic differences within groups than between groups
• race is changeable

Question 2

what is to note about mixing Gene Pool?

Answer 2

• international migration causes the numbers of genetic pools and the lines b/w them increasingly blurred
• so the idea of race as a biological fact, does not exist among humans

Question 3

What is the main process of modern evolutionary theory?

Answer 3

-Mutation, natural selection, gene flow and genetic drift

Question 4

how is the concept of race not fixed?

Answer 4

• human biological variation
• variation in human blood types (just because you are of one race doesn’t mean a different race won’t have the same blood type as you)
• PolyMorphic variation in skin colour (meaning with in a race there could be many different skin tones and blood types)
• PolyTypic variation in skin colour (ex: africans tend to have darker skin than swedish people)

Question 5

why is it not possible to use the biological theory of race to explain human variation?

Answer 5

Because…

• variation is continuous when it comes to race and skin colour
• it ignores social structure/environmental factors

Question 6

what are the rejections for the biological theory of race?

Answer 6

• all humans today belong to a single species (homo sapiens) and share a common descent
• while genetics shape human differences, things like body shape comes form nutrition and other aspects in the environment
• skin colour is not an essential or unchanging physical trait because it can change over time depending on your geographical placement in the world
• both lighter skinned and people of colour can have privileged and under-privileged positions in society

Question 7

what is the biological view of race?

Answer 7

our biological factors connect with our internal factors which are a result from our dna

Question 8

what is systemic racism?

Answer 8

the complex array of antilock practices, the unjustly gained political- economic power of white, the continuing economic and other resource inequalities along racial lines and the white racist ideologies and attitudes created to maintain and rationalize white privilege and power