The Myth of “Human Races”

Throughout centuries of politics, the concept of there being “human races” has been weaponized by individuals, institutions, and governments to justify some of the most heinous crimes that mankind has committed. As such, in this article, we seek to explain, in a succinct way, where said concept emerged and its falsehoods.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Anna Shvets

The Origin of the Concept of “Human Races”

As did many other aspects of modern racism, the concept of “human races'' was born as a byproduct of colonial practices. During these times, as both the fields of philosophy and science evolved alongside colonial practices, there came the need for a scientific justification for the enslaving and colonization of African and Native American populations. In earlier centuries, these explanations were often left for the religious organizations, which claimed that “the lack of culture” of the colonized tribes gave reason enough to seek to conquer and convert these people. Nevertheless, scholars started to turn further and further away from religion as a means to understand and justify the world, and as a consequence, new theories were put forward.

Unfortunately, the German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach [1] can be accredited with these developments. In his work, Blumenbach described the human species as divided into five categories, which would later become known as races: The Caucasian or white race, the Mongolian or yellow race, the Malayan or brown race, the Ethiopian or black race, and the American or red race.

Blumenbach defended that differences which could be perceived by these supposed races, were a result of different climates and each race's respective acclamations to their living conditions. He also considered that the Caucasian race was the original race from which the other four differentiated. However, Blumenbach did not preserve any race as inferior to the Caucasian race, being critical of the scientific racialization that ensued from his works.

Despite his efforts, his work would become the foundation for the modern concept of “human races” and racism at large.

Why the Concept of Different Human Races is Wrong

In 2018 the ASHG (American Society of Human Genetics) published an article in which scientific data was used to back the notion that one cannot separate different human populations into races [2]. As explained in said article, the differences within the human genome are not significant enough to categorize different populations as “different races”. Furthermore, the inherent variety and genetic diversity of the members of different human populations cannot provide a clear and defined set of genetic traits that could categorize the human genomes into different races. There is also no evidence which supports the notion that a population considered a racial group could be inferior or superior. In fact, scientific evidence defends the opposite notion.

It is also important to understand that the concept of race is based on ideas of racial purity, which in themselves do not offer any type of logical or scientific backing/evidence, that could defend these beliefs. If one were to turn to science for said argument, one might find that evolution favors diversity and not “purity”.

Conclusion

As we informed in our introduction this article is supposed to be a short and concise look at the origins of the concept of human races and a gateway into debunking said ideology. As a result, we at Politdigm urge our readers to do their research and seek to expand their knowledge, not only on this topic but on all of the others which we have covered. At the end of the day, these ideologies only persist thanks to the lack of knowledge from those who subscribe to them. And it is by learning and sharing what we learn that any progress can be made.

Explore more with us! Join our Newsletter, support us on Patreon, listen to our Podcast, and discover our other captivating content. Together, let's shape a better future. #Politdigm

Sources

[1] Johann Friedrich Blumenbach’s Wikipedia page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Blumenbach

[2] The ASHG’s study on genetics racism

https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(18)30363-X