Race Matters Part 2

1
Race Matters Part 2
2
Biological Theories of Race Assume

• Humans are divisible into fixed racial
  categories
• Categories are primordial
• Human variation is sharp between races but not
  within a racial category
• Biological traits vary in a consistent way
• Assumptions not supported by evidence

3
Race is a Pre-Scientific Concept

• Emerges from Platonic notion of the ideal
• Merges with Christian idea of a great chain of
  being
• Little scientific concern over differences before
  1492
• Race science emerges as a means of justifying
  European Expansionist ideology and notions of
  white superiority

4
Most Traits are Continuous, Varying, and
Clinally Distributed

• Human variation gradual, only subtle differences
  between nearby groups
• Race implies variation is discontinuous and sharp

5
Biological Variables and Racial Science

• Problem moving from individual-level traits to
  group-level traits
• Duffy Fy allele more common in Guyana than among
  Bantu- cant tell us which person as the allele
• Male/Female height difference

6
Clinal Variation

• Defined asvariation that accumulates with
  distance
• Examples
• Skin color varies on a north/south
  gradientSickle-cell anemia peaks in West
  Africa- decreases moving away from West Africa
• These variations have no fixed boundaries

7
Most Trait Pairs are Nonconcordant

• Exceptions
• - height with leg length- skin with hair and
  eye color (less so with hair texture)
• Knowing skin color provides no insight into
  height or any other attribute

8
Additional Evidence

• On average- two individuals of same purported
  race only marginally more genetically alike than
  any two chosen at random (Lewontin, 1972)
• Humans fail statistical tests for subspecies-
  Fst of Wright must be between 0.25-0.30- Humans
  calculated at 0.156
• Racial Classifications not stable over time-
  Irish, Italians, Jews once not considered white

9
Conflating Biology With Lived Experience

• Widely reported that a mean birth weight between
  black and white babies in the United States is
  genetic.
• Statistical Study of Birth Weights (David and
  Collins 1997)
• US white women 3,446 grams
• African black women 3, 333 grams
• US black women 3, 089 grams

10
1863 Statement by Anthropologist

• The skeleton of the Negro is heavier, the bones
  thickerthis is especially true with regard to
  the skull, which is hard and unusually thick, so
  that in fighting, Negroes, men and women, butt
  each other like rams without exhibiting much
  sensibility.

11
Antacid Tablets and RaceExcerpt from The Six
Wrongs of Racial Science by Alan H. Goodman

• Antacid Labels ClaimRegular exercise and a
  healthy diet with enough calcium helps teen and
  young adult white and Asian women maintain good
  bone health and may reduce their risk of
  osteoporosis later in life.
• Claim is based onStudy by Trotter, Bowman, and
  Patterson (1960)

12
A Century Later Wasserman and Barzel (1987)

• Review the causes of osteoporosis list age, sex,
  and race as causal factors
• Section in the review that covers race states
• - It is a well-known fact that blacks do not
  suffer from osteoporosis.
• The well-known fact is based on one
  study- Trotter, Bowman, and Paterson
  (1960)- Study is flawed

13
Trotter Study Flaws

• Eighty cadavers
• No description of selection process- causes of
  death?- socio-economic status?
• - diet?- other risk factors?

14
Authors Conclusions

• Cervical, thoracis, lumbar vertebrae, sacra,
  humeri, and ulnae heavier in blacks than in
  whites
• No significant racial difference in - radii,
  tibiae, ribs, and femora
• Femoral neck fractures most serious effects of
  osteoporosis

15
Authors Conclusions continued

• Scatter plots of original data reveal the
  following- overall trend (for all groups) to
  decline in bone density with age
• - racial difference in rate of decline with age
  unclear

16
Significance

• Even if there were a million studies showing such
  a difference, it would still not follow from this
  that blacks are immune to osteoporosis, that they
  should not be given advice and treatment to help
  prevent or slow bone loss, or that they should
  not be encouraged to take TUMS etc.
• Alan H. GoodmanProfessor of Biological
  AnthropologyHampshire College

17
Social Darwinism

• Evolutionary biology co-opted to support views of
  social relationships
• Eugenics, Race, and Facism- survival of the
  fittest
• Race and the IQ Fallacy
• Social Darwinism and the Planet

18
Linnaeus (1758)

• Americanus is regulated by custom and paints
  himself with fine red lines Asiaticus is haughty
  and covetous and governed by opinion Afer is
  indolent, anoints himself with grease, and is
  governed by caprice and Europaeus is gentile,
  acute, inventive, and governed by law.

19
Why Studying Race is Important

• Racial meanings structure how we live
• Difficult to oppose racism unless we know how
  race is constructed and politicized
• Historical context is critical to understanding
  how race is subject to political contestation

20
Race as Social Construct Three Theoretical
Models

• Model 1 The Color-Blind Society
• Model 2 The Bootstraps Society
• Model 4 Racial Formation

21
Model 1 The Color-Blind Society

• No special significance, rights, or privileges
  should be attached to race
• Appeals to American values of fairness and equal
  opportunity
• Problems with this model

22
Model 2 Bootstraps Society

• Racial Divisions Disappear with Hard Work
• - Ethnic groups will find their place in
  American society through hard work, patience,
  and delayed gratification.
• - All ethnic groups are in the same position as
  earlier European immigrants.
• Problems with this model

23
Model 3 Racial Formation

• Race changes in meaning based on social and
  political conflict (it is dynamic)
• Noticing race is not racism
• To oppose racism one must recognize race as it is
  lived today

24
Racism As Defined by Tatum

• A system of advantage involving
• - Institutional practices
• - Cultural messages
• - Individual beliefs
• Operate to the advantage of whites and
  disadvantages of people of color

25
Prejudice As Defined by Tatum

• A preconceived judgment or opinion based on
  limited information or misinformation
• Why Tatum rejects defining racism as prejudice
  plus power- not all whites are powerful- but
  all benefit from being white- removing
  prejudice alone will not necessarily change
  system

26
American Ideology and Racism

• Understanding racism as a system of advantage
  based on race is antithetical to American ideals
  of meritocracy
• Studying the system means analyzing- how social,
  political, economic, and cultural forces
  maintain dominance and hegemony