Lecture Notes: The Myth of Biological Race

Introduction

• Acknowledgment of individual differences among human beings.
• Visual differences: skin color, body shape, hair form, eye shape.
• Classification of people into races for several hundred years.

Concept of Race

• Race seen as deep, essential divisions among people.
• Perceived as biological, genetic, and unchanging categories.
• External differences (like skin color) linked to internal traits (athletic ability, intelligence).
  • Belief that race is biologically real.

Genetic Evidence Against Race

• Current genetic research does not support the existence of distinct genetic markers for races.
• No identifiable genetic markers that define one race versus another.
• Genetic analysis reveals variation is more complex than race categories suggest.

DNA Workshop Overview

• Students participate in a workshop led by Scott Bronson and others.
• Activities include:
  • Comparing skin colors (not termed as human colors).
  • Typing blood and swabbing cells for DNA extraction.
  • Looking at genetic similarities and differences.
• Mitochondrial DNA mentioned as a focus of study.

Initial Assumptions of Students

• Students begin with preconceived notions of similarity and difference based on race.
• Examples of statements from students:
  • Beliefs about similarities based on gender and skin color.
  • Expectations of differences among those who look different.

Paradigm Shift

• Understanding that race is a social construct rather than a biological fact requires a significant change in perspective.
• Analogy used: realizing the world is not flat but curved, representing the complexity of race.
• The idea of race ascribed to biology rather than being rooted in it.

Conclusion

• Race should be viewed through a lens that acknowledges its social and cultural constructs rather than biological determinism.