Expert: John Shea - 4/10/2004

Question
i have another question,what is the "biological validity of race" is all about?i mean,is there any arguments about it?how would an anthropologist define it?(not the history of the race concept)i do hope you can give me an answer on this.thank you once again.


Derrick

Answer
Dear Derrick
The term "race" as it is used in social sciences is a social construct with only a tenuous link to biology (it is sometimes based on phenotype -physical appearance that itself has some underlying genetic basis, for example, dark/light skin or brown/blue eyes).  There are probably few serious anthropologists who use "race" as a way of describing human variation any longer, but the concept has persisted in some other social science fields.
The nearest biological approximation of "race" is subspecies, sub-populations of a species with geographically-distinct morphological characteristics, all of whom remain capable of interbreeding with each other (e.g. red wolf, grey wolf).
Bottom line: "race" is a way that early European anthropologists divided up the continuum of human cultural and physical variation.  The triumph of 20th century anthropology was the demonstration that culture and biology vary independently of each other.  With that recognition, there was no longer any point in classifying people in terms of race.
I hope this answer helps. If not, send me a follow up.
Cheers,
John Shea