Is this the best definition of race ever?

[Tani Coyote]

If we go by skin color, then Hispanic makes no sense.

If we go by language, then black no longer makes sense.

It sounds like the current racial breakdown is apples and oranges.

Interesting way to phrase it though. Race is an interesting issue, we go from "it's not a big issue" to "it doesn't exist." Personally I don't care much, you are who you are.

 

[warpus]

I don't understand the inclusion of "unless that person is white" in the above

 

[Dachs]

The best and most potent example I can think of is penis size. Classical Greco-Roman civilisation considered a large penis a mark of barbarism, which is why the penises on classical sculptures appear smaller than normal.

Somebody needs to do more reading on what these 'classical Greco-Romans' actually thought about barbaroi!

I recommend Guy Halsall.

 

[aneeshm]

If we go by skin color, then Hispanic makes no sense.

If we go by language, then black no longer makes sense.

And if we go by the 'cluster of alleles' measure as an indicator of shared ancestry, then some classes make sense and some don't.

It sounds like the current racial breakdown is apples and oranges.

Because it is in no sane sense a racial breakdown at all. It is a mishmash of incoherent groupings based on the historical accident of groups that had (or have) enough political clout to get themselves classified separately as a 'race' in order to avail of the benefits thereof.

Interesting way to phrase it though. Race is an interesting issue, we go from "it's not a big issue" to "it doesn't exist." Personally I don't care much, you are who you are.

I agree that the individualist approach is, in fact, the only sane one to actual interpersonal interaction. But that in no way invalidates the existence and importance of all the data I have mentioned previously.

 

[Earthling]

I don't understand the inclusion of "unless that person is white" in the above

A bad journalist/writer doesn't understand any sort of logic or has some weird bias, is the explanation. Either they have some weird obsession over Asians dating blacks specifically or something or they're just dumb/unprofessional, which could be evident from some other language and problems with the same article.

 

[JollyRoger]

The best and most potent example I can think of is penis size.

That'll get you motivated to ace a standardized test.

 

[aneeshm]

Somebody needs to do more reading on what these 'classical Greco-Romans' actually thought about barbaroi!

I recommend Guy Halsall.

If I am wrong, please correct me; you are a far better authority on Classical civilisation than I am. (I've heard of Halsall before - probably from you yourself - but haven't had the time to get into him. Too many other academic commitments.)

 

[Formaldehyde]

Agreed. But it is equally absurd to assert that 'relative distance from the equator' (or, rather, different ancestry) has no effect on the statistical distribution of traits within the said population, or that all ancestral groups must have, contrary to all theory and empirical evidence, exactly the same distribution of all the traits that we have decided are in some way important. (This, by the way, is why asserting black prowess in some sports is uncontroversial, but asserting the same prowess with respect to, say, Ashkenazim intelligence leads to a massive storm of reality-denying protest.)

You just got done trying to insinuate that the offspring of intelligent blacks will "regress". You apparently have no idea what is "empirical evidence" and what is not.

 

[aneeshm]

You just got done trying to insinuate that the offspring of intelligent blacks will "regress". You apparently have no idea what is "empirical evidence" and what is not.

I hope you are aware of what 'regression to the mean' refers to. It is a specific phenomenon with a specific meaning, used with that same meaning in this specific context. A naive or 'emotional' interpretation of the term will, of course, lead you astray.

Further, the effect I mentioned has been repeatedly verified - empirically. I have not said that the RTTM effect will be observed, it is the data that say that it is in fact observed.

 

[Camikaze]

Self-identification is an excellent for finding out what someone wants you to think they self-identify as. It's not that useful for a concept which it is in large measure possible to objectively assess, like race/ancestry, or genetic propensity to a given disease, or something of this nature.

Yeah, that's why it's going to be difficult to get a good answer out of a census. All answers on a census are 'self-identification', in that you fill the answer out yourself.

 

[BuckyRea]

I hope you are aware of what 'regression to the mean' refers to. It is a specific phenomenon with a specific meaning, used with that same meaning in this specific context. A naive or 'emotional' interpretation of the term will, of course, lead you astray.

I hate it when people are mean. It seems so... I dunno... regressive.

 

[Mango Elephant]

Then the Internet came in and I met Americans who told me the world was divided in 3 races : caucasians, asians and africans. Then I asked them... where do you put Arabs, Indians, American natives, Polynesians or Aborigenese people? You just can't divide the world this way. The 3 "primary colors" Americans believe in are just a myth.

I'm an American, and I don't think there are only 3 races, and I've never been told there's only 3 races. The Americans you met must have been unusual.

 

[GoodGame]

I'm an American, and I don't think there are only 3 races, and I've never been told there's only 3 races. The Americans you met must have been unusual.

The truth is that the "three races idea" is very old school racism from at least medieval times based on an interpretation of the old testament about the sons of Noah.

 

[Virote_Considon]

I don't understand the inclusion of "unless that person is white" in the above

"Unless that person is white" as in unless the person whom you or your child is dating is white (and/or of the same race as you if you are not white)

 

[Japanrocks12]

A bad journalist/writer doesn't understand any sort of logic or has some weird bias, is the explanation. Either they have some weird obsession over Asians dating blacks specifically or something or they're just dumb/unprofessional, which could be evident from some other language and problems with the same article.

It's a blog post. About the politics of racism that people are unwittingly engaged in. Not an article.

EDIT: The author wrote "unless they were white" because there's a documented long historical trend of non-white people seeking marriage to white people to secure themselves economically and socially. As an Indian, I am racist if I would prefer to date white girls to the detriment of all other girls.