Racism – A misunderstanding of biology – Towards the end of discrimination
From a medical point of view, racism does not exist.
How can this be? There can be no racism if there are no races. Scientifically speaking, there is only one human race.
When we speak of the various human races, we refer to a set of appearances (the phenotypic expression of the genotype). These traits have accumulated within certain niches of the population as people mate with each other.
Skin color is the easiest to understand. The more melanin in the skin, the darker the color. Discriminating based on skin color is just as silly as discriminating based on hair color. In certain populations, other physical traits are grouped with skin color: nose or eye shape, hair color or texture, height, weight, body shape, muscle mass, etc. People tend to favor the physical appearance with which they are most familiar or comfortable, an emotional response.
Similarly, some people like dachshunds, others prefer poodles. In many ways, the physical differences in humans are analogous to the differences in dogs. If dachshunds are crossed with dachshunds, their offspring will generally have short legs and long bodies. If dachsunds are crossed with poodles, a variety of body types will be produced, but they will undoubtedly all be dogs.
Genetically speaking, the average skin color in humans should be the most common. Very light skin or very dark skin would be equally rare in a genetically mixed population.
The real fear on which discrimination is based is cultural. When people do not understand each other’s language, beliefs and traditions, fear arises. What gives us clues about the differences between human beings begins with external appearances and behavior.
My outward appearance would be described as Caucasian, although with brown eyes and hair, it could be assumed that I have Italian, German, Spanish, Eastern European, or Russian ancestry. In fact, I am a mix (like my dogs) and therefore have no particular allegiance to a distant country of origin. However, I would feel much more comfortable with peaceful, darker-skinned citizens than gang members of my own color.
One answer could be to homogenize the population, but this should be unnecessary. There is beauty in all varieties of the human form. What we have to do is open our eyes to the real problems of cultural misunderstanding. Although this would require overcoming the barriers of language, geography, and tradition, loving our neighbor as ourselves is the ultimate solution to ending discrimination.
Copyright 2010 Cynthia J. Koelker, MD