Proud to be white

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Mmm, this kind of makes you wonder about the validity of science then. What does it mean when people can use simple powers of observation and see the differences between a white, black, asian, etc. and yet science can't?

 

Well, the thing is, the characteristics that humas base race on represent all of, what, maybe .01% of our genetic code? I mean, skin color is by far the most dominant factor, and it is a grey one, as you have a spectrum difference, not a yes or no situation. The others are minor variations in facial structure. Not really much of a grounds to categorize a species by.

 

I can tell a black man apart from a white man the same way I can tell a British Blue cat apart from a Siamiese.

Through observation and experience I have seen that both look and act differently.

If you think that's a load of bollocks you must have been living in a cave your entire life. Wake up and smell reality, not all stereotyping is misinformed.

 

No, not all stereotyping is misinformed, but do you really think you can tell all people of african decent appart from those not of african decent? Just how dark does their skin have to be to be black? The issue isn't if you could recognize one black person as different from one white person, but if you could seperate the entire human race by such categorization, and I promise you, you couldn't. One of my good friends looks so hispanic, we call him the Cuban, his email address is even JamesDaCuban. This has been true for all the years I've known him, which is about 15. Guess what, he's jewish! No hispanic blood in him! Its just the mixture of the right jewish facial characteristics with a slightly darker skin complection than most jews, and he looks hispanic. Neither of his brothers look like that at all. This is why skin color and facial features are not a scientific basis for racial division. An easy one, sure, but not scientific.

Also, the British Blue and Siamiese are different breeds, I don't think they're different races.

 

Nog is correct there is no scientific justification for racial discrimination. Genetically we are closely linked. We are the same species. Race is a cultural thing based on superficial attributes. There is a tribe in Africa that is Aryan although they have dark skins. Skin color was an adaptation to the amount and intensity of sun.

I saw a program on PBS where they tried to trace the African ancestry using using DNA and related techniques. The outcome was surprising in some of the cases. People who considered themselves black were found to be predominately white or Indian. White relatives were found who had black characteristics. The primary importance of race is that there are diseases linked to it. But this true of families; there are families were certain diseases predominate and other families that seem to have immunity to disease.

One of our bio-chemist or medical people could explain this better than I can.

 

People can identify, when they see me, that despite calling myself a half-british kiwi I actually have hispanic ancestors via my grandmother. Despite the fact that I'm nearly white as snow. There are exceptions to every rule including the supposed rule that we're all the same... or that we're all individually different.

Breed or not for cats, their genetic disposition is pretty much the same. They can inter-breed if they wish and the product of such will have characteristics displayed by both breeds... much like what Ishmael alluded to.

And I can quite often tell someone of one descent apart from another. I can tell a Maori apart from a Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islander or Fijian... and can tell those races apart individually. Different characterisitics, different culture, different mannaraisims. You'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice them.

[ March 05, 2007, 03:58: Message edited by: Abomination ]

 

Abomination, I can tell if some one is from a different culture by the way they speak and behave or even dress. Breeds are human created. The cats, dogs, horses, cows, fowl were bred for different purposes, different looks. They are not natural.

Scots, Welsh, English, Irish have different ways of speaking, different cultures and sub-cultures. Yes, humans vary. We can be identified by our fingerprints and our DNA but does that mean that each one of us a different specie? Cats are one species and humans are one species. Race is an artificial thing primarily based on the color of one's skin.

When we stop thinking that someone is different from us because of their skin color we will have taken one step towards establishing peace in the world.

 

On my moody days I tend to believe man is xenophobic and tribal by nature. It's a survival instinct. States are a new very recent thing by comparison, while tribes are ancient, and for milennia proven a mechanism of protecting kin against outsiders, who are either hostile or competitors, or both. Colour of skin is just an expression of tribe membership.

Point is, I don't want to believe that. I prefer to think that man is better than that.

 

Skin color isn't the only factor, people of different ethnic origins 'are' different. They're not freakishy different but there are differences none the less. I'd never discriminate against someone due to their race/nationality/ethnicity but I wouldn't ever think they're the same as me - and that's not a negative thing, being different is not a bad thing.

Being able to predict someone's personality or attributes based on appearances is not a hostile thing, just means you know better how to react and communicate with them.

People get so hung about about the morality of racisim that they want to shut it out and pretend it doesn't happen or there's little to no basis for their claims. If there wasn't some shred of proof or no basis to any claim then racisim would have died out ages ago.

 

Because of nature or nurture?
Look at council estates in the UK, and the attitudes and actions of the children, be them black, white or whatever are indistinguishable. You can same the same for a total middle-class neighbourhood.