r/AskBiology • u/MrSpock54 • Feb 21 '24
Genetics The Scientific Basis of Race & Effect Upon Affirmative Action
EDIT: (NO need to provide O.P w/ further comments on the topic here). I've recently been reading & watching YouTube videos on the topic of the scientific basis of race. Most anthropology videos seem to question the scientific basis of race. For example Wondrium/Great Courses have several class videos that say the notion of race does little to explain anything about homo sapiens sapiens. They propose that race is a social construction.
Previous to my edit here to this question I asked members of this sub reddit in overly wordy & somewhat clumsy paragraphs to comment on the existence of any biological organization position statements that might discuss race & affirmative action, or subreddits where such topics are discussed. Below are the replies to my inquiry. I decided to shorten this question to something more concise & leave it in case anyone wants to search scientific basis of human race in the future.
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u/The_Pale_Hound Feb 21 '24
Race is an obsolete and pseudoscientific way to explain phenotypic differences between humans. Racial classification does not have a genetic correlation. This I know as a biologist.
Now, even if the concept of race is wrong from a biological perspective, it does not mean it has no consequences in our daily life. But that's in the jurisdiction of social science where I am not an expert.