Re: Modern Anthropology and its Political Agendas


In article <4D3Uf.29844$ty4.21083@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Philbert
Desenex" <nopoint@xxxxxxx> wrote:

In answer to your question, yes, there *is* race. It exists
in the minds of just about everybody.

Interestingly, 90% of people who insist that race is *only*
social construct, seem to not recognize that races of
just about any other biological species exist. And, as it
stands, although all taxonomists realize how fuzzy the
concept can be, very few of then advocate departure form
the race/subspecies concept of biological populations.

Correct!!

Could you please outline for me what is it so special
about our species that makes biological races
unexistent in human populations?

You don't seem to be listening, or reading, or whatever
it is that you do. I think I made myself pretty explicit in
the post where you snipped the above. To reiterate, people
don't use race to talk about straight or kinky hair. They
use race to discriminate. Surely you know this and are
using your rather benign use of the term to fan an argument.

True. I don't understand what you are saying. Are you saying
that discrimination will disappear when people will be using
some different term to describe what they perceive as members
of other populations? This is very naive, to say the least.

Aside from that, people *do* use race to talk about "straight
or kinky hair" (and a whole lot more of other differences; like
susceptibility to various diseases). Ignorantly or purposefully
mixing up socially tainted term with its perfectly valid biological
equivalent ends up throwing the baby with the bathwater.

Two wrongs don't make one right. You can't cure racism by
lies that races only exist in our imagination.

It is not a lie to say that racism exists only in our imagination.
Unlike straight or kinky hair, or a myriad of other measurable
bits of variation, it has no physical reality --except when
someone wakes up at 2 a.m. and finds a cross burning on
their lawn. You know this, I know this, so please stop calling
me names.

Correct!!

DK
--
Philbert Desenex, PhD., Stromatologist
University of Okoboji, Northern Iowa
Office hours: 2 -3, Thur-Fri

.

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