THERE IS ONE RACE: THE HUMAN RACE

THERE IS ONE RACE: THE HUMAN RACE

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

In different periods of time it was advantageous to be from one racial group or another. During the pre Civil War period many people in the USA attempted to “pass” for white. People who had only 8% black blood were legally considered to be black even though 92%, a vast majority of their ancestors, were white.

In our present “white privilege” culture some whites are motivated to identify themselves as black. The head of the NAACP chapter in Oregon, Rachael Dolezal, stated that she started to identify herself as black around 5 years old although her parents, who are white, said she was raised as a white child. Her parents said they were concerned about her distorting her past. She now calls herself “transracial.” Shaun King, a leading activist in the “Black Lives Matter” charade claimed to have a black father. He won an Oprah Winfrey college scholarship as a black male but both his parents are white. His identity and claims of attacks by “rednecks” have not held up under scrutiny. These are indications of how confusing the concept of race can be.

In the 2000 United States census citizens were told to self-identify their race from a long list of choices including Pacific Islanders. Some checked more than one box making them multi racial. This program of racial self-identification further muddies the racial waters in determining a person’s race.

President Obama had a particularly difficult racial dilemma. His father was an African from Kenya while his mother was a white woman from the Midwest. He was as much a white man as a black one. President Obama self-identified as a black man. This emphasis on his father’s Kenyan roots gave him a decided advantage in his national election for president. He received 94% solid support in the past election.  His self-identification as black rather than white made him a trailblazer. He became classified in the media as the first black president of the United States. This underscored the absurdity of the false notion of race since he is as much white as black.

The precept of race is a very fluid and arbitrary one. Adolf Hitler spoke about Germans belonging to the “Aryan race” and viewed Jews as being Semites. In the Roman period people around the Mediterranean were considered to belong to their own race. Indians from the Americas were considered to be from a “red” race. The people from India are considered Caucasians even though their complexion tends to be dark. Everyone has color. There is much overlapping of complexion in each group. So-called “white” people have complexions ranging from albino to very dark. While so called “black” people can range from ebony to white. The same can be said for Asians.  

In the turn of the 20^th century there were 6 million Italians that emigrated from Italy.  Most of them left the southern provinces. Many of them were classified as “colored” by the government because of their dark complexions. Presently these American-Italians are classified as white.

Currently Hispanics are considered as an affirmative action racial group although it is not a particular “race.” They come from Spanish speaking countries all over the world regardless of their physical characteristics. The conquistadors mixed with natives and Africans. Hispanics share a cultural identity, not a racial one. The Portuguese that come from the same Iberian Peninsula as Spanish people and are physically similar people settled Brazil. Portuguese are not considered in the group of Hispanics while 60% of Argentinians who originated from Italy are.

Scientific studies show genetic differences are very weak. DNA indicates that most physical variations, 94% are within the racial group and only differ in 6% of their genes. Anthropological studies are uncovering more migrations of past civilizations than previously thought.  People from different geographical regions have biologically mingled due to conquest.

Race is a construct of the human mind not a creation of God. Even if there ever were distinctly pure races, those days have long passed. People from all over the earth have intermingled eliminating distinct racial differences.

There is no genetic evidence that specifically identifies any particular race. There are more similarities than differences in so-called “racial” groups. Race is divisive, dividing rather than uniting us.  The “black lives matter” movement is missing the point. It is not about race. It might be partially about culture but it is certainly about justice.

We should not only be color-blind but feature-blind.  We should treat everyone as a human being. As Martin Luther King said, all people are human beings and should be judged by their character not the color of their skin.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.