An interesting Q&A about race & racism

Could this be true?

This is sort of interesting, and embarrassing because I was unaware of it:

Q: Does modern science no longer recognize different human races as biologically meaningful?

A: Modern science does not recognize different human races as biologically meaningful categories. The genetic evidence shows that there is no clear biological basis for dividing humans into distinct races.

Human genetic variation is real and widespread, but it is clinal, meaning it varies gradually across geographic regions rather than falling into distinct clusters or races. The vast majority of human genetic diversity exists among individuals within populations, not between different "racial" groups. Genetic studies have consistently shown that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories or races. 

While there are some modest genetic differences between human populations adapted to different environments, these differences do not represent deep evolutionary divergence or separate genetic lineages that could define biological races. Traits like skin color are adaptations to specific environmental factors like UV radiation, not indicators of overall genetic differentiation into races. 

The concept of race is a social and cultural construct, not a biological one grounded in genetics. Racial categories are inconsistently defined across societies and do not correspond to objective biological distinctions. As the scientific consensus statement states, "There is no biological basis for 'races.'"

Considered a social construct without inherent physical or biological meaning, which is foundational to the concept of racism.

Wait, what? There is no biological basis for race? But, but, how can there be racism and White Supremacy? There can be bigotry against the ethnicity or culture an alleged race comes from, but not racism. Racism has gone extinct! Science killed it.

Q: 

1. Wadda think about the non-existence of racism as a real, specific thing in people's minds but not in actual reality?

2. Why was I unaware of this? 

Germaine didn't know!?

References:

1. Much of the recent scientific literature on human evolution portrays human populations as separate branches on an evolutionary tree. A tree-like structure among humans has been falsified whenever tested, so this practice is scientifically indefensible. It is also socially irresponsible as these pictorial representations of human evolution have more impact on the general public than nuanced phrases in the text of a scientific paper. Humans have much genetic diversity, but the vast majority of this diversity reflects individual uniqueness and not race. 2013

2. We argue that human races, in the biological sense of local populations adapted to particular environments, do in fact exist; such races are best understood through the common ecological concept of ecotypes. However, human ecotypic races do not in general correspond with ‘folk’ racial categories, largely because many similar ecotypes have multiple independent origins. Consequently, while human natural races exist, they have little or nothing in common with ‘folk’ races. 2022

3. Race Is Real, But It’s Not Genetic -- For over 300 years, socially defined notions of “race” have shaped human lives around the globe—but the category has no biological foundation. Human variation does not stand still. “Race groups” are impossible to define in any stable or universal way. It cannot be done based on biology—not by skin color, bone measurements, or genetics. It cannot be done culturally: Race groupings have changed over time and place throughout history. Science 101: If you cannot define groups consistently, then you cannot make scientific generalizations about them.

A few pundits such as Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute [home of Project 2025 😏] and science writers such as Nicholas Wade, formerly of The New York Times, still argue that even though humans don’t come in fixed, color-coded races, dividing us into races still does a decent job of describing human genetic variation. Their position is shockingly wrong. We’ve known for almost 50 years that race does not describe human genetic variation. 2020