The Truth of Race is a Lie

August 9, 2008
 in Culture, Society
. Tags: , .

RacismThis is a guest post by Jasmin Smith (my wife), recent Sociology graduate and prospective Humanities teacher in support of International Blog Against Racism Week: http://community.livejournal.com/ibarw/

Race and racism are two concepts deeply entrenched in Western society, yet they are so commonly misunderstood. Racism describes prejudice or discrimination based on skin colour whereas race is merely an imaginary concept that segregates people into distinct social groups based solely on the colour of their skin. The existence of racism rests entirely upon this ‘reality’ of race. Consequently, the truth of racism is also a lie.

The Illusion of Race

We live in a multicultural, multiethnic world in which it has become normal to identify ourselves by our race. However, despite variations in skin tone, hair texture, and cultural practices today’s geneticists will tell you that race does not exist biologically. In fact, there is far more genetic variation found within a race than between different races.

This supports what sociologists have been saying for decades: that race is not real; it is a socially constructed phenomenon based solely on visible physically differences. Race is so fictitious a concept that in the post-emancipation U.S. a man could be considered Black in one state, and White in another!

The Very Real Consequences

Although race is not real, the effects of racial differentiation; however, are very real. Not every racial group experiences racism in the same manner or to the same degree. Racialized groups (those who society labels “visible minorities”) continually face institutionalized, racial discrimination based solely on stereotypes attached to our skin tone.

Non-racialized groups (most people who self-identify as White) also face the effects of institutionalized racism. By this statement I’m not referring to the concept of ‘reverse racism’ — which, like race, is baseless.

While racialized groups face many disadvantages from racism, on the other side of the coin non-racialized people enjoy the many benefits of being free from the racialization process. These advantages are otherwise known as White Privilege.

It’s easy, or should be easy, for us to point out racist stereotypes and blatant forms of racial discrimination. Where things become more difficult is identifying areas of institutionalized (or normalized) racial discrimination — this has been especially hard for non-racialized people to understand. This is where assessing White Privilege is most helpful. Although understanding the concept of White Privilege remains elusive to most of us, it illuminates the nature of racism by showing the other side of the coin. Where one group suffers, another gains.

To make this process easier, Social Theorist Peggy McIntosh in her piece, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack outlines 50 daily effects of White Privilege she herself experiences.

According to McIntosh:

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.”

Her 50 daily effects of White Privilege are listed below. I encourage you to read through these, take a look at your life and add your own experiences to the list:

  1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
  2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
  3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.
  4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
  5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
  6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
  7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
  8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
  9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
  10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
  11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person’s voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
  12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
  13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
  14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
  15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
  16. I can be pretty sure that my children’s teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others’ attitudes toward their race.
  17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
  18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
  19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
  20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
  21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
  22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
  23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
  24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
  25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.
  26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
  27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.
  28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.
  29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.
  30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn’t a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
  31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.
  32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.
  33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
  34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
  35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
  36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.
  37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
  38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
  39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
  40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
  41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
  42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
  43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
  44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
  45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.
  46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
  47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.
  48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.
  49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.
  50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.

Tags: racism, Society

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  • August 9, 2008 at 4:44 pm Peter Dawson
    in 2days screech, they call it "marginalization" .. some shit, different toilet
  • August 9, 2008 at 4:52 pm Helen Sventitsky
    While I agree with most of the items listed in the article, I have to respectfully disagree with one point: as a white person, I have not always been the beneficiary of "white privilege". I can recount many times growing up where I was harassed, spat upon, and otherwise excluded from various get-togethers, because of my Eastern European parentage. It even got in the way of my post-collegiate job search, at times. I've even been cased by security, since I've been told I also look like "a Latina".
  • August 9, 2008 at 7:26 pm Louis Gray
    Good work, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
  • August 9, 2008 at 7:39 pm Todd Jordan
    Shey, I'm glad you chose to share this. Though some of those statements aren't universal truths. I usually don't self identify as white on any forms. I typically choose other for race. As for being uncomfortable because of my race, that's happened to me many times in my travels around the US. It happens in my own city in the Midwest, even at the grocery store. That said, many of those statements ring true. But what's the fix? The fix is teaching our children and families not to see race as real.
  • August 9, 2008 at 7:49 pm idnan
    Nicely written! While regionally and temporally narrow in scope (a white person living in, say, Japan might be on the receiving end of this sort of thing, for example ... random country choice), this is an excellent post.
  • August 9, 2008 at 8:04 pm David Muir
    It is just so depressing to think that all those 50 things are true in my experience -- and that others encounter the exact opposite. @Jasmin: Despite depressing me, thanks for the post!
  • August 9, 2008 at 9:11 pm phil baumann
    Dispels the notion, propounded into our heads through nursery rhymes, that words can never hurt people. Words do hurt. We just don't want to admit that for some reason. Language influences our perceptions of things in such subtle ways that entire civilizations can be torn apart by them. Those 50 items illustrate just what a powerful sorcerer language can be over the conduct of our thinking. If we are to get past the lie-illusion of race, then we are going to need a fresh way of speaking. Where to begin?
  • August 9, 2008 at 9:17 pm Michael J. Cohen (mjc)
    begin with teaching the masses to question the status quo
  • August 9, 2008 at 9:20 pm xero
    The majority of those bullet points are due to statistics, not privilege. "I can turn on TV and see that most of the things appearing are human, therefore I have a human privilege over the under-represented platypus population. That's platypus racism." I don't mean to discount the issue, it does exist, but the list is not solid.
  • August 9, 2008 at 9:27 pm David Muir
    @xero: You can be statistically privileged. Stick to the human population in your arguments and you'll see that there are quantifiable ways that the things on the list are experienced.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:39 am Jasmin Smith
    @Helen thank you for sharing your experience. I actually think your experience highlights the point I was trying to make in the post about race being a lie. Although you self-identify as white your body is read as Latina, and therefore when you are racialized, you become at risk of facing racism. In situations where your body is read as white, you have access to white privilege. Living in the most multicultural city in the world (Toronto) many of my friends face your same situation!
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:46 am Jasmin Smith
    @xero I don't know if you read the entire post because you're missing the point. The list highlights many of the subtle (and not-so subtle) ways racism operates within society, and it's important to recognize that the list was personal to the writer. She wasn't suggesting that every White person experiences White Privilege in the same way - although I'm sure if you take an objective look at your own life you'll find that you can relate to many if not most of the items in the list.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:58 am Jasmin Smith
    One thing I neglected to flush out in the post was that White Privilege is an unearned, undeserved privilege granted simply by looking "White" -- some would go to say not just white but ANGLO-White (as Helen can attest to). And if we want to get statistical about it, great! That only highlights the fact of White Privilege even more....
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:01 am Shey
    Thanks Louis!
  • August 10, 2008 at 6:19 am Hayk
    Really nice piece! But I disagree on few points. Concept of race did not come to us, forming stereotypes, from thin air. The article referred to in the post agreed with that, but concluded that in the modern world its a social phenomena. This is true, but not universally. We should not forget that groups, which were/are relatively isolated, such as (historically) Jews or, till 1920s, PN Guinea populace, represent REAL races, with much genetic and cultural diffs. Flatter world flattens those diffs though.
  • August 10, 2008 at 1:55 pm Gregory Lent
    it is global, not western. every culture. micro-tonal differences of brown, not a black or white in sight, behave this way too. second, brain research shows it is difference, not color, that people notice (costume trumps skin color). third, if there is really just one race, the human race, why write this article? because the article wants to emphasize difference. four, stupid people are everywhere. stupid is not racist, anybody can be it, and it underlies racism. being stupid is the problem, racism is just one of its expressions.
  • August 10, 2008 at 2:04 pm Peter Dawson
    +5 Gregory for "being stupid is the problem, racism is just one of its expressions." :)-
  • August 10, 2008 at 2:09 pm Peter Dawson
    while on this subject its also good to read up the 'caste system" in India. IF you take of segregation /race etc. Then the Indian System trumps ALL, and has been in existence for like 5000 yrs ..:)-
  • August 10, 2008 at 2:10 pm Yuvi (has IRL friends!)
    @Peter and it's government endorsed!
  • August 10, 2008 at 2:18 pm Igor The Troll
    "white privileges" Do you buy these at Walmart? Racism is Racism across all shades and gradients! Ask a Jew, Nick, Hick! Do I need to go on?
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:34 pm Shey
    @Hayk What you are describing are cultures -- not races.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:40 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    That's actually not entirely true, Shey. Jewish DNA is different and we have diseases unique to us. It's one of the genetic qualifiers of race.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:46 pm mojay
    LOL. "Jewish DNA is different". @Akiva: How does religion affect DNA? Please link to something credible.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:47 pm Jasmin Smith
    white privilege hasn't always just been about the colour of our skin, that's the CURRENT manifestation of the issue. 100 years ago (and even more recently) in Canada and the US the Irish, Italians, and Jewish people were all considered BLACK--they were racialized... yes, I did say Irish and as such they faced every bit of racism as people of colour. Today Jewish people particularly religious Jews are still racialized and face their unique from of racism: anti-Semitism.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:53 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    Mo, oh please. Religion doesn't play into it; the people predate the religion. Do your own research. Start with Tay-Sachs: although not unique, it is probably the most well-known.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:54 pm mojay
    @Jasmin: Irish and Italian cannot be compared with Jewish. Nationality is not the same as religion.
  • August 10, 2008 at 3:56 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    Jasmin, this is true. Although I wouldn't dare equate the American Jewish experience with the American Black experience.
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:01 pm Jasmin Smith
    @gregory and Peter it was implied but I guess not explicitly stated in the post that this particular issue of White Privilege/racism discussed applies mostly to the North American context, and I suppose also Britain, Australia, South Africa, and other "White" nations. The caste system in India while not a "racial" segregation parallels the effects of racialization in many ways. I've heard ppl equate racism in America to an informal, yet institutionalized caste system -- very provocative idea.
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:01 pm Nathan Rein
    Oh, are we going to start with all that "Judaism isn't a race, it's a religion" thing? As a historian, I can tell you: it's a little bit of both. Historically speaking, not every "religion" conforms to the modern, Protestant, voluntary-association pattern, even though it's become common -- even dominant -- all over the world by now. Some traditions have typically been much more culture- or nation-centered.
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:12 pm Jasmin Smith
    @Mo Jawhari Jewish people who are dark-haired, dark-eyed, and dress in the traditional religious garb have been racialized (you can read the post for a proper def'n of what I mean by that). However, non-religious Jews and the blond, blue-eyes Jews don't "wear" their "Jewishness" and as such escape the risk of Anti-Semitism unless the self-identify -- these Jews are read by most as "White" and have the same access to White Privilege today as "non-ethnicized" White ppl (i.e. most Anglos).
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:31 pm mojay
    @Akiva: How did you label the DNA as Jewish if "the people predate the religion"? Think geography.
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:39 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    Mo, long ago people of the same race tended to be geographically bound as well. Also, don't get caught up in semantics. If you want to argue labels, that's a completely different discussion.
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:49 pm Hayk
    @Shey: Race differences are perceived from apparent differences in skin color, facial features, shape of skulls. Culture is uniquely a soft part and what i talked about was soft + hard. Genetic and environmental diffs, before 18th century, kept populations of the world quite diverse in terms of genetic pool, due to isolation and preferences of kin. This is why European incursion into America in 15th killed more indigenous by means of epidemics than guns. It all boils down to genes+env.
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:49 pm Melanie Reed
    Nathan, Agreed the national ethnicity is Israelite, the language/culture is Hebrew, practice of the faith/religion is Judaism. You were born into the nation and the nation was a "special possession of God". The male was circumcised on the 8th day as part of that national heritage & in obedience to the mosaic law given to that nation. Thus binding him on both levels: the heart and the law. The act was not to be separated so that later God could draw the comparison: "I will write my law upon their heart"
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:51 pm Melanie Reed
    Your race as in the color of your skin is sacred.
  • August 10, 2008 at 4:53 pm Hayk
    Races back then had a relatively clear frontiers. With industrial age, our ability to travel and globalization, these frontiers are brought down. Also, the modern tendency of equality in everything including human rights and gender makes it look like hate-mongering or backwardness to speak of races as separate entities due t negative acceptance of any such discussion.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:00 pm Melanie Reed
    Historically, all races have suffered at the hands of others. Historically, all races have oppressed and warred against another not of their race. No one is innocent of these things, whether within their own country of origin or outside of it. Given the staggered time line of these events, it encourages and incites a chronological outrage for one oppression after another. We have one place to look for lasting peace and it is not to ourselves. History has shown us that. The problem is in our own hearts.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:11 pm Shey
    @Melanie Agreed, furthermore -- anyone, regardless of skin colour, nationality, etc. could become an Israelite by accepting the culture and religion.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:13 pm Jasmin Smith
    I'm not so caught up in my Sociological perspective that I'm blind to the fact that there are genetic differences that make me have dark brown skin and my husband a "golden" complexion. The point is (like mentioned in the post) there is far more genetic variation within what we call a race than between so-called races. Which explains the tonal variation between me and Shey even though we both self-identify as "Black."
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:14 pm Jasmin Smith
    The point about race theory today is that it’s not about biology (we’ve moved past that pseudo-science—I hope). It comes down to what you look like—and if you don’t look “White-enough” you face the risk of being racialized and the potential racism that more-often-than-not goes along with it.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:17 pm Melanie Reed
    Interestingly, while we all want and need to be unique (and were made that way for a purpose), we resist it and act out how we don't like to be different from one another. It is ironic. We want to be better, brighter, darker, whiter...but at the same time we want to be like everybody else in the group, ie, the same language (esotorica) the same clothes, gesticulations, etc. Yet if ever a contest, we must be number one, which means a loser.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:19 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    Shey, I'm not certain on your usage of the word 'Israelite' here. One can become a religious Jew by conversion and one can become an Israeli by immigration. What exactly is an Israelite to you?
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:24 pm Shey
    @Akiva I meant in the historical sense Melanie was discussing.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:25 pm Peter Dawson
    Jasmin , "The caste system in India while not a "racial" segregation parallels the effects of racialization in many ways." , I think you missed the point. The British actually learned about it from India and then used it back home .Then it slowly become the 'colonization' effect across the globe. The stem of Racist behavior comes from Indian Culture. Else from days of old it was simple, Royalty blood line and commoners, going back to the days of Pharaoh too !!
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:31 pm Jasmin Smith
    @Peter. I agree with parts of what you're saying.. particularly about the British adopting ideas from India's caste system, but the point I'm making is that here in the West, it's not even about bloodline it's about what you look like.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:32 pm Peter Dawson
    @Jasmin , FYI only.. I once read up about the "black irish" and it really interesting Intersection within this convo.. not directly related, never the less related .:)-
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:32 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    Shey, I see and, as I wrote, anyone can assume certain aspects of Jewish life and Israeli nationality but it's still intrinsically different. As Jasmin so rightly points out, it isn't necessarily the Jewish race that causes discrimination but is the look of the race. Join a synagogue and get an Israeli passport but if you look like the next Anglo bloke on the train, no one's going to think twice. Show up wearing a black hat, payas, and tzitzit and you'll have a different experience, I guarantee it.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:33 pm Shey
    @Akiva Exactly.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:34 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    Peter, on more than one occasion I've been mistaken for Black Irish. Didn't get kicked out of Woolworth's over it, though.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:37 pm Jasmin Smith
    +1 Akiva that's exactly the point! "...Show up wearing a black hat, payas, and tzitzit and you'll have a different experience..."
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:40 pm Peter Dawson
    @Jasmin, Correct- I cant disagree with you on that ."about what you look like" fact !! @Akiva, its the same for every1 else here too, (Toronto) wear a hijab, a turban and I have noticed in the malls, people are walking , actually make a path to avoid passing by such individuals who wear the Turban, Hijab etc. I have seen it myself and have often wondered what causes the human species to behave n this manner. That is, considering that both parties are generally and genuinely don't believe in Racism !!
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:44 pm Akiva Moskovitz
    Peter, fear of the unknown perhaps? A dislike of exclusivity? I've always thought that people may hate having religion proselytized to them but they hate it even worse when they're told that they can't (or shouldn't) join the club.
  • August 10, 2008 at 5:53 pm Jasmin Smith
    in Toronto my experience has been that the turban/hijab fear spiked since 9-11. Sikhs were persecuted as much as Muslims because of general ignorance. and the fear of the unknown fuels racism in general because instead of looking at behaviour on an individual basis we apply stereotypes.
  • August 10, 2008 at 8:11 pm Gregory Lent
    i think it is high time for all people to self-identify as human. it starts with you

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    • v
    Fascinating piece. I found myself getting a little angry at what I face. (Though this piece did not trigger it. Just reminded me.) As a Native American who looks white, I hear insults to my culture constantly. And I am supposed to think that is funny. I was called into Human Resources at work because I said I thought Columbus Day was a stupid holiday to be celebrating in the 21st century. Though the reason I said this is because he decimated our population (among other things), I was told I insulted Italians and Spanish people, which I did not. I find it interesting that they are cautious to be so P.C. but obviously never looked at my HR record to see how I identify myself (or did not care). And this is just one example.
    I honestly can not believe we have not moved beyond race as a term for judgment in our species. We are, all of us, human. Why do we keep maintaining and building more walls when we should be working together to fix other graver ills that haunt our species? Damned if I know the answer to that or how to fix it but I am listening and seeking a solution.
    • ^
    • v
    Thank you so much for your comment Emma. I’m sorry that you had to endure that and I couldn’t agree with you more about Columbus Day!

    It’s actually very fitting that you bring up Columbus because racism as we know it today actually arose from the colonial expansion of Columbus’ era. The real story about Columbus is that he was far more interested in GOLD than land. Through his capitalistic drive he enslaved Native Americans to mine the gold (and silver), in a system of terror with people dying from being over-work, from disease, torture, and mass-murder (and I can’t bear to repeat what they did with these peoples’ bodies). Within 50 years of this system Columbus initiated 99.9% of the Tianos population had perished – that’s genocide, not a reason for a national holiday so I applaud you Emma for standing up for what’s right.

    The genocide of Native Americans spread rapidly throughout early America and soon new sources of slave labour were “needed.” Enter the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade of my ancestors... and well I guess that’s where the history books pick up the account. When human beings “of colour” were no longer considered people, but easily replaceable commodities for trade, modern racism was born.
    • ^
    • v
    I can understand why people hate racism - it brought much suffering to many people throughout history.

    But why make science a victim of politics?

    Race can be easily observed and if some instances race of a person is unclear because of his looks, that doesn't go against the concept in general.

    A niceassesment by forensic anthropologist and professor of anthropology George W. Gill:

    [...]
    The 'reality of race' therefore depends more on the definition of reality than on the definition of race. If we choose to accept the system of racial taxonomy that physical anthropologists have traditionally established—major races: black, white, etc.—then one can classify human skeletons within it just as well as one can living humans. The bony traits of the nose, mouth, femur, and cranium are just as revealing to a good osteologist as skin color, hair form, nose form, and lips to the perceptive observer of living humanity. I have been able to prove to myself over the years, in actual legal cases, that I am more accurate at assessing race from skeletal remains than from looking at living people standing before me. So those of us in forensic anthropology know that the skeleton reflects race, whether 'real' or not, just as well if not better than superficial soft tissue does. The idea that race is 'only skin deep' is simply not true, as any experienced forensic anthropologist will affirm.

    [...]

    "Those who believe that the concept of race is valid do not discredit the notion of clines, however. Yet those with the clinal perspective who believe that races are not real do try to discredit the evidence of skeletal biology. Why this bias from the 'race denial' faction? This bias seems to stem largely from socio-political motivation and not science at all. For the time being at least, the people in 'race denial' are in 'reality denial' as well. Their motivation (a positive one) is that they have come to believe that the race concept is socially dangerous. In other words, they have convinced themselves that race promotes racism. Therefore, they have pushed the politically correct agenda that human races are not biologically real, no matter what the evidence."

    http://racialreality.110mb.com/race.html
    • ^
    • v
    The science of race may be trivial, but one cannot argue down the consequences of race that face visible minorities today.

    That would be foolish.
    • ^
    • v
    Jasmin, have you read the paper 'Genetic Structure, Self-Identified Race/Ethnicity, and Confounding in Case-Control Association Studies' by Hua Tang,1 Tom Quertermous,2 Beatriz Rodriguez,4 Sharon L. R. Kardia,5 Xiaofeng Zhu,6 Andrew Brown,7 James S. Pankow,8 Michael A. Province,9 Steven C. Hunt,10 Eric Boerwinkle,11 Nicholas J. Schork,12 and Neil J. Risch3,13?

    They found that people's self-identified race/ethnicity is a nearly perfect indicator of their genetic background.

    James Serpell’s The Domestic Dog:

    ”Recently using genetic and biochemical methods researchers have shown domestic dogs to be virtually identical . . . to other members of the genus . . . Results using mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) data . . . reveal startling similarities among canids . . . Greater mtDNA differences appeared within the single breeds of Doberman Pinscher or poodle than between dogs and wolves . . . to keep things in perspective, it should be pointed out that there is less mtDNA difference between dogs, wolves, and coyotes, than there is between ethnic groups of human beings.” (pp. 32-33)”
    • ^
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    first, it is global, not western. every culture. micro-tonal differences of brown, not a black or white in sight, behave this way too.
    second, brain research shows it is difference, not color, that people notice (costume trumps skin color).
    third, if there is really just one race, the human race, why write this article? because the article wants to emphasize difference.
    four, stupid people are everywhere. stupid is not racist, anybody can be it, and it underlies racism. being stupid is the problem, racism is just one of its expressions.
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    It was implied but I guess not explicitly stated in the post that this particular issue of White Privilege/racism discussed applies mostly to the North American context, and I suppose also Britain, Australia, South Africa, and other "White" nations.

    White Privilege hasn't always just been about the colour of ones skin, that's the CURRENT manifestation of the issue. 100 years ago (and even more recently) in Canada and the US the Irish, Italians, and Jewish people were all considered BLACK--they were racialized... yes, I did say Irish and as such they faced every bit of racism as people of colour. Today Jewish people particularly religious Jews are still racialized and face their unique from of racism: anti-Semitism.

    And the post was indeed written to emphasize difference. Difference in treatment, not difference in "humaness."
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    ok, everybody everywhere treats people different from themselves differently. and your white privilege meme is true in every culture, on every continent, even within cultures where there are no "whites". differences are everywhere, differences in treatment are everywhere. ... what can be done about it?

    and as an aside, any self-identity that is a subset of the whole is guaranteed to bring problems with it, because it needs an "other" in order to exist.

    it is high time on this planet for all people to have only one self-identity, and that is "human".
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    yes, it will be wonderful when race is not a factor again (it's a fairly recent social issue). but unless and until that happens people like myself will continue to speak out.

    the post was intended for a North-American/Western context as is made obvious by the items in McIntosh's list of 50.

    and of course there is much social stratification in countries throughout the world, but I'm not talking about the world in this particular post.

    What can be done about it? It's my personal belief that it will take several more generations before the West heals from the effects of racism, and skin colour no longer matters. So in the mean time we can start with educating ourselves, our children and others about the issue. Acknowledge our own prejudices so we can rid ourselves of them and ensure that our prejudices never turn into acts of discrimination. Actively fight against racism by speaking out when we see it and correcting people who practice it -- right down to the level of stereotyping.

    It's a start, but you can't change what you don't acknowledge so being "blind to race" adds to the problem, it's not a solution. Gradually the tide will turn and racism will be no more -- but I don't see that happening in my lifetime! Here's hoping for my great great great grandkids' kids!
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    Fuck you, nigger!
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    I find it so sad that these types of discussions still have to be had. I agree with Gregory Lent: ignorance and stupidity prevail.

    I must say that I do not offend easily, and while I'm sure some, or all, of these experiences may be personal to you, or the writer, I find this post a good bit slanted against "whites" and in point of fact racist in and of itself.

    I find it hard to believe that being so educated, you would seek to use that education as a shield - and in this regards a club - in order to make such a broad - and reaching - over-generalization as to offend without thought of those "whites" who would have nor mean you no harm - nor have such privilege.

    While you probably have been exposed to some of this behavior, and for