I guess that I was lucky growing up because I was raised in a "mixed race" household. It was "mixed race" intellectually, not biologically. And of course I know that there is no such thing as "races" in humanity, but that's not the point. Most people still believe that there are "human races."
I was lucky on the subject of learning about theories of race and racism because I lived among these two polar opposites. I could see that "race" has more to do with whom you believe than actually existing nature. Naturally, when I started studying sociology at the graduate level and learned about reification, 15th Century European History, Mendel, Darwin, Sir Francis Galton (Every Crime Scene Cleaner should know about Galton), well, theories of race became so much poor mythology. Sir Francis Galton, incidentally, was Darwin's cousin.
As the reader might guess, my definition of "race" is biological: The inheritance of fixed, physical characteristics acquired without mutation.
So, to define "race" by head shape (7), ear lobe shape, skin color, or otherwise, one must find that these characteristics remain fixed generation after generation in all times, all places. Otherwise, just what are racial theorists talking about? NOTHING, because race theories are basically gossip writ large. There are no race genes. Race is a creation of the intellect, not the body. Race exists as language exists, out there by consensus. This consensus feeds the intellect.
I know that I intermix "intellect" with "intellectual." The two are different. There are great intellects in history with bigoted ideas. So just because someone pursues "intellectual" subjects for the sake of their "intellect," this does not bestow upon them a superior understanding of nature. More, a great intellect may be ego-centric to the extreme, not a healthy arrangement.
To regress, this is what I'm getting at: My mother was and is beyond a theory of multiple human races. My father was, unfortunately, a stone-faced bigot and racist. His intellect was meager. His understanding of the world narrow. His education poor. So between my two gringo parents I was raised "mixed race," in an intellectual sense, not biological. I could easily hear the creation of "races" from my father's words and actions. "Race" was my father's creation in our home, not unlike WMDs in Iraq recently.
Now consider that Hitler's ruling elite were bigoted, racist, and oftentimes well educated, not to forget that they controlled the flow of ideas.
So, considering the "intellect" and theories of race, we can infer that big and little intellects have embraced race theories for one cause or another. It is important to recognize the idea of "races" as biologically separate human types arose in the 15th Century. Before then, there was only one biological race, as far as anyone knew.
I ramble. Here is a snapshot on racism, a by-product of race theories.
So, to define "race" by head shape (7), ear lobe shape, skin color, or otherwise, one must find that these characteristics remain fixed generation after generation in all times, all places. Otherwise, just what are racial theorists talking about? NOTHING, because race theories are basically gossip writ large. There are no race genes. Race is a creation of the intellect, not the body. Race exists as language exists, out there by consensus. This consensus feeds the intellect.
I know that I intermix "intellect" with "intellectual." The two are different. There are great intellects in history with bigoted ideas. So just because someone pursues "intellectual" subjects for the sake of their "intellect," this does not bestow upon them a superior understanding of nature. More, a great intellect may be ego-centric to the extreme, not a healthy arrangement.
To regress, this is what I'm getting at: My mother was and is beyond a theory of multiple human races. My father was, unfortunately, a stone-faced bigot and racist. His intellect was meager. His understanding of the world narrow. His education poor. So between my two gringo parents I was raised "mixed race," in an intellectual sense, not biological. I could easily hear the creation of "races" from my father's words and actions. "Race" was my father's creation in our home, not unlike WMDs in Iraq recently.
Now consider that Hitler's ruling elite were bigoted, racist, and oftentimes well educated, not to forget that they controlled the flow of ideas.
So, considering the "intellect" and theories of race, we can infer that big and little intellects have embraced race theories for one cause or another. It is important to recognize the idea of "races" as biologically separate human types arose in the 15th Century. Before then, there was only one biological race, as far as anyone knew.
I ramble. Here is a snapshot on racism, a by-product of race theories.
Racism - Racism says that "I am different from and therefore inherently (i.e. without even trying) better than you." Blumenbach provided the formula; the Dred Scott Court acknowledged it; Hitler perfected it." Racism arises from bigoted attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and actions related to theories of race and imposed on others because of their physical characteristics, language, or national origin. Theories of race and racism rely upon stereotypes and generalizations created from naive assumptions related to genetics, and social and cultural beliefs. Frederick Douglas proclaimed that race would be the biggest problem of the 20th century. (Little did he know how accurate he would be!)
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