It was recently reported in The New York Times that after their
release of the first draft of the human genome sequence, scientists at the National
Institute of Health and Celera Genomics, a Rockville, Md., company, determined that there
is no significant genetic differences among races. The scientists conclusion was
that there is, from a biological standpoint, only one race.
While we can easily distinguish superficial physical differences between
Caucasians, Africans, Asians, and Hispanics from visual information, there are no genetic
distinctions in the more complex traits such as intelligence, social skills, and artistic
talent.
The Times article pointed out that superficial characteristics like
skin color and eye color, features we use to distinguish races, are generally controlled
by very few genes. Traits such as intelligence, social skills and artistic talent are
thought to be the result of the interaction of thousands of genes.
Over the course of the approximately 100,000 years the human species has
been around, simple physical traits such as skin and eye color have evolved as a result of
environmental pressure. For example, people living in equatorial regions developed darker
skin and eye color as a means of protecting against the sun.
Contrarily, there simply hasnt been enough time for the complex of
interacting genes that determine intelligence, social skills, and artistic talent to
evolve en mass and thereby show distinctions between "races."
This fact, in effect, pulls the rug out from under 226 years of racism in
the U.S. and similar such episodes around the world. It doesnt mean that racism
suddenly vanishes into the ether. Despite the fact that differences in race have no
biological underpinnings, racism has persisted throughout the history of this country.
What then is the source of prejudice? Several factors may be at play: fear
of the unknown, intellectual laziness and a phenomenon called "stereotype
threat."
Fear of the unknown is something everyone experiences at one time or
another, whether it be a new job, town or school. But when we experience it in relation to
people of other skin colors and cultures we tend to express our own insecurities of
character. These insecurities manifest themselves in our disparaging others.
In many peoples world of values, pushing someone else down is the
same as raising oneself up. It seems unlikely that kindness and respect are part of a
zero-sum game, nonetheless, this is a fairly prevalent attitude.
People in even remotely competitive situations often defend their actions
and attitudes, racist or not, in the context of Darwins "survival of the
fittest." It is true for animals that anything goes; they compete to the death for
resourcesfood, mates, territory. But they also lack several human qualities that
enter into the survival equation, namely compassion, conscience and altruism.
Humans are different from all other animals. Survival means survival of
the species. And, ultimately, this will likely depend on the strengths of all ethnic
groups and cultures. It is why a "reality" show of such mass appeal,
"Survivor," is so offensive. It perpetuates a misunderstanding of human nature.
Yes, the mean guy survivedhe won. But then what? If we moved forward in time would
"Richard" survive living alone on that island? Would he propagate his genes,
live an enriched life? I dont think so.
While many of us turn a skeptical eye towards groups that are different
from ours, whether it is because we feel threatened or not, it is precisely the wrong
response. Any culture or ethnic group that has survived for this long, in all likelihood,
has learned a few things about life. And given the vagaries and complexity of modern life,
we can use all the help we can get.
What I mean by intellectual laziness has to do with making sweeping
generalizations about groups of people, which is also at the core of racism. It is always
easier to extrapolate from one to the whole group.
How many people can one truly know in life? Maybe a few. Can we really say
something intelligent or meaningful about an entire ethnic group based on such limited
experience? To judge people individual by individual requires character and patience and
imagination. Racism is simply a cop-out.
A third aspect of racism to consider is that it can and has become a self
-fulfilling prophesy. Once a hierarchy is established by the first in power in any given
situation, it is very difficult to erode it.
In the last few years, two scientists at Stanford University, Claude
Steele and Joshua Aronson, have discovered an interesting phenomenon called
"stereotype threat." In experiments, the researchers have given black and white
undergraduate students standardized tests. In one case they told the students the test was
a measure of their intellectual ability. In the other, they described the test as an
abstract research tool.
In the former test, whites scored much better than blacks. In the latter,
the scores were identical. In other words, when the black students knew that their
performance would be used in conjunction with a stereotype about their groups
intelligence, they did much worse. The fear of lending fuel to a stereotypethat
blacks are not as smart as whitesdiminished their performance.
This is to say that once a stereotype is established, whether based in
reality or not, it can have very real effects. It is a case of perception driving reality
rather than the other way around. It also underscores something about evaluating people
that we learned long ago about measuring physical quantitiesthat the way in which we
measure can alter the result.
How will we ever eliminate racism? Scientific knowledge is a start. Legal
protections help. Public policies have some effect. But the bulk of the problem will only
be solved person by person. Not until each person questions those undercurrents of racism
we have all learned along the way, will we get anywhere.
Ironically, part of the problem is the stigma attached to racism. Even
acknowledging racist thoughts is tantamount to proclaiming ones evil nature. I
dont think that should be the case.
Whatever racism we have in us we obviously learned. I suspect that
everyone, whether Caucasian, African, Asian or Hispanic, has thought racist thoughts at
one time or another. Until we acknowledge those thoughts and question ourselves as to
where they came from and what they are based on, we are perpetuating the problem.
It is a battle that will be won conscience by conscience. You cant
tell someone not to be racist. Each of us has to examine our own attitudes and arrive at
our own understanding of others before the whole moves forward.