What is Race?

Marcos

Is race really a valid concept or is it more of an arbitrary distinction based more on skin tone and/or culture?

Marcos (open to learning)

Golden Girl

I have always wondered if humans keep mixing the races in marriage..if someday we will all be the same ? One breed ..one race...one color? Like a mixture of them all.

Would that be boring?

Snoozy...Who likes the variety!

Are we going to get technical on the word "Race"?..

Crazy151drinker

A form of contest where competitors try to get to a location before the other. Also used in terms of sexuality in the form of RACEY.

wednesday

according to the bible account, we all come from one human pair. And later, from one human family, Noahs.

I do note that , as a matter of heath, i have read that there are differences in races as to suseptibility to diseases.

Marcos

Hi Golden Girl,

Variety is great! And I don't think that we will ever all be the same.

Yeah, I would like some clarification on the word race. Is it real or is it just an arbitrary concept?

Thanks,

Marcos

Thanks Wednesday,

I agree with your points. In reference to the susceptibility to certain diseases of certain "races" (perhaps you are referring to diseases such as sickle cell anemia?), I agree. However, certain families within racial groups also show certain susceptibilities do diseases that do not show up in the general population of the same racial group.

Can it be said that these "exceptions" are simply the result of genetic diversity among humans in general?

Marcos

LyinEyes

I can tell you a bit about my family, on my dad's side, Native American Indian with a splash of French. From the last five generations on my dad's side, each and every one of the generations have high numbers of the family that had diabetes. It was so bad that many lost limbs, went blind, and died early , despite meds, because of it. Doing research on this , I found that there was a study done saying that Native American's all over the world, not just down south Louisiana, are prone to getting diabetes. It is so strong that my dad , the fifth generation, that I know of,,,,, has a full blown case of it despite proper eating, and medication. My great grandmother had no legs because back then they didnt get to the doctor fast enough to take care of themselves. My grandmother died of kidney failure due to diabetes, and out of 10 of her children,,,,,,,,, 7 have diabetes. Now it is showing up in all the cousins, who are aging.

My mother was almost all irish,,,,,,, they lived forever , strong and stubburn, rarely ever sick........ well that is if they wanted to live. If you want to call depression an illness,,,,,, that runs rampant on that side, and there have been several suicides on that side of the family.

Damn ,,,,,,,,, I wonder if I have a chance with this gene pool, I had no choice in jumping in........lol.

Oh and to add,,,,,,,, my mom's family was so white, literally,,,,,,,,, my evil grandmother , and her generation in that area of Louisiana ,,,, did see any color of skin that was a little dark,,,,, as not white. My dad being indian,,,,,,,, is very dark,,,,, black eyes, black hair, and very dark skin, being cotton pickers,,,,,,, they got even darker. They were treated as being from the wrong side of the tracks,,,,,,,, which was a literal meaning ,, the train tracks did divide the middle class from the poor . They had alot of the same prejudices agaisnt them as the black race, although I am sure not as bad, but they were right next to them, in the way people catogorized them. This was in the 50's and 60's ,,,,,,,,, things have changed alot since then, even down home, since that older generation has mostly died off.

Marcos

A very thoughtful post, LyinEyes.

Native American on both sides of my family too. Strange it didn't show up in me! Diabetes a family problem. Studies done with the Pima Tribe in Arizona (now called Ton O'odham, I think) indicated that when they went back to a traditional diet of foods found and raised in the desert (lower calories, etc.) they not only became less obese, they also stopped being plagued by the traditional "Indian" diseases like diabetes. I am simply relating my memory of what I read. Anyone feel free to correct me. My point is that many who were subjected to reservation-style treatment suffered from diseases that had been almost unknown to them before. The people were changed from a more limited and traditional diet to what the US government gave them (a lot of white flour and lard). Umm, fry bread, one of my personal favorites! No joke.

One of my great aunts who lived in northern Louisiana made a comment once that I still remember. She said that she wasn't prejudiced at all. Even though her oldest daughter married a non-white guy. He was Italian. Still makes me smile.

My mom and her family were also cotton pickers. As a consequence, out of 14 kids, all of those who didn't die in WWII died of some form of emphysema due to exposure to cotton dust (DDT) further complicated by smoking. My two surviving aunts both have breathing problems. I am fairly close to one and recognize the symptoms of emphysema although we have never discussed it. I think the other one has it too. My mom died a painful death from the same disease.

Environment and heredity can be such a b**ch.

Marcos

Edited by - marcos on 16 January 2003 15:10:44

aluminutty

Marcos:
The latest scientific word on the race questionn is that genetically there is absolutely no difference between the races. This is really fresh news -- within the last few weeks -- and if you do a google search on the topic, you are sure to find something.

wednesday

The latest scientific word on the race questionn is that genetically there is absolutely no difference between the races. This is really fresh news -- within the last few weeks -- and if you do a google search on the topic, you are sure to find something

. yes i saw that news flash too, i htink it really supports the bible account of us all descending from one human pair. They did mention, i remember, that disease suspectibility was the only difference noted.

What is Race?

Share this