Liliya Reymer

Professor Teresa Potter

Anthropology 1020
20 November 2014

Concept of Race
J. Philippe Rushton, a prominent Canadian Psychologist once said, Deconstructing
the concept of race not only conflicts with people's tendency to classify and build family
histories according to common descent but also ignores the work of biologists studying
non-human species. In other words, Rushton is saying that the concept of race is not
something that we should ignore or attempt to eliminate from society. The concept of race
has not always been what we see it as today; historically, it has changed overtime. There is
a social view, and a biological view, with both having value to them. However, many believe
that race holds a stronger merit biologically than socially. By reading this paper, I hope to
give you a better understanding of the social and biological perspective, the history, and the
changes on the concept of race.
Many of us would say that we know what the word race means. However, the
definition and idea of this word has changed overtime. The word race first came to the
English language in 1500. (Jurmain, Kilgore, and Trevathn 314). During this time, it was
used as the same word species; for example, the animal species. About 100 years later,
many also used the word in relation to different culturally distinct groups. As time went on,
this word began to have more and more emotions tied to it. It took on a greater social
significance. People began to have the idea that your race, or different physical traits, such

as skin color, height, etc., had a bearing on your intelligence and social standing in society.
In the 1950s, to avoid confusion and people having presumptions, biologist wanted to use
the term ethnicity instead of race when they were discussing phenotype expressions. From
Dictonary.com, the anthropological definition to race is an arbitrary classification of
modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on any or a combination of various
physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based
on such genetic markers as blood groups. In more recent years, the view has gotten even
more specific in terms of seeing differences in allele frequencies and phenotype and
genotype variations.
The social perspective on the word race is one that is very emotionally charged.
People combine and categorize humans based on their skin color, hair color, height, eye
color, gender, and many other affiliations. Based on these categories and specifically the
geographical location of these populations, this definition to race is now widely accepted
and understood as being so. Due to this, there has been an overall perception that your
physical traits have something to do with your intelligence and cultural characteristics.
Society has judged many people on how their phenotypic expression are expressed. We can
see proof of this by the many laws (i.e. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) that are in
place in order to prohibit discrimination and give everybody a fair opportunity without
being judged based on their race.
The Biological view of race is geographically patterned phenotypic variation within
a species and especially differences in DNA. Many biologist and anthropologists argue that
categorizing biological complexities into general categories is meaningless. They see that
the amount of genetic differences between groups is much larger than variations that occur

within groups. Overtime technology has grown so much that being able to see changes in
DNA has taken a much greater significance than seeing changes in the overall appearance
of races located in different geographical locations. The study of genotype and phenotype
changes has been pivotal in how the biological viewpoint differs from the social viewpoint
on the word race.
The biological concept of race has much more value in it than the social concept of
race. Biologist and anthropologist do not make conclusions based solely on observed
phenotypes. They use technology to pose and answer question such as what is the degree
of underlying genetic variation that influences phenotypic variation. (Jurmain, Kilgore, and
Trevathn 314). The biological concept or race gives information about gene flow,
population adaptation, genetic drift, mutation and many more in depth concepts. The
concept of race in this view has many more practical applications than the social view of
race. Data is collected, analyzed, reviewed, and conclusions are made based on facts that
are used for purposes that serve the greater good. In my viewpoint the greatest merit of the
biological perspective or race is that an individual is not judged based on their skin color,
hair color, geographical location or any other physical expression.
All of this poses the question, are there any ethical concerns in categorizing
populations by race? Categories such as race and ethnicity are helpful as experimental
beginning points for the investigation of biological connections. To see the range in human
genetic variation, social categories that we discussed above are practical when studying
diversity and geographical changes between populations. However, ethical concerns do
arise. The public understands race by categorizing and putting boundaries on populations.
This is misleading because most genetic variation exists within all groups - not between

them. We have seen how categorizing people by races has led to discrimination, murder,
and even war. The greatest ethical concern can be seen through World War 2, when Hitler
wanted to exterminate an entire race because he believed that their phenotype expressions
made them meaningless and brought no value to society.

Reference Page
"J. Philippe Rushton." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2014. 20 November 2014.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jphilippe296754.html
Trevathan, Jurmain, Kilgore. Human Origins Evolution and Diversity. 9th. Cengage Learning,
2013
"race." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 20 Nov. 2014. <Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/race>.
Civil Rights Act of 1964. Public Law 88-352, Title VII, Sec. 703, 78. U.S. Statutes at Large
(July 2, 1964).