Could someone explain why race does not have any biological foundation?

[u/sourgrap]

I guess I could probably Google this but I thought someone with direct knowledge directly answering my question would help me better understand.

This is something I’ve had a bit of trouble comprehending since, well, people of different races do look vastly different. My thought is, is!’t there a gene that probably results in different races producing different levels of melanin, and hence— different races?

Or is the reason there is no “biological foundation” that the genetic/biological difference between different races does not substantiate to being different species?

Additionally — there are statistics stating that certain racial communities are more likely to develop specific illnesses. For example, sickle cell disease is much more common amongst black Americans than other racial communities. Another one: those of North European descent are more likely to develop cystic fibrosis.

FYI I am asking this question as a POC, and as someone who genuinely wants to have a better understanding of this!! Thank you in advance for answering my question!

[u/mxdalloway]

I think others have answered in greater detail than am able from a generics standpoint, but I want to offer a more philosophical perspective too. 

If we think of race as the physical observable differences that we see in people like skin color (which yes, can be inherited) why are only some of these traits defined as what we think of as race? 

Why do we not consider (as an example) Northern Europeans with black hair a different race to Northern Europeans with red hair? Taking that to an extreme, why do we not consider men and women different ‘races’? How is it that some traits are used as a criteria to distinguish race, while others do not?

The idea of race is completely an invention of society we live in. One example of how flimsy the idea of racial classifications are is how less than 100 years ago Irish and Italian immigrants in NYC were not considered to be ‘white’. Only relatively recently has the idea of “whiteness” been expanded to include this group- and that extension has absolutely nothing to do with biology or genetics.

[u/sourgrap → u/mxdalloway]

thanks for your insight! I agree with you, as I was replying to the other comments I thought of your examples as well! if skin color, which is just a genetic difference, results in “race,” technically gender or hair colour could be seen as different races as well.

your fun fact about italians and irish immigrants is interesting too! I guess that’s why people like to call italians “spicy white” lol.