NEWSFLASH: WE'RE ALL THE SAME I recommend the whole article, but here's a taste: "'I am an African American,' says Duana Fullwiley [professor of anthropology and of African and African American studies at Harvard], 'but in parts of Africa, I am white.' To do fieldwork as a medical anthropologist in Senegal, she says, 'I take a plane to France, a seven- to eight-hour ride. My race changes as I cross the Atlantic. There, I say, Je suis noire, and they say, Oh, okay—métisse—you are mixed. Then I fly another six to seven hours to Senegal, and I am white. … Is race, then, purely a social construct? The fact that racial categories change from one society to another might suggest it is. … Genetic science has revolutionized biology and medicine, and even rewritten our understanding of human history. But the fact that human beings are 99.9 percent identical genetically, as Francis Collins and Craig Venter jointly announced at the White House on June 26, 2000, when the rough draft of the human genome was released, risks being lost, some scholars fear, in an emphasis on human genetic difference. Both in federally funded scientific research and in increasingly popular practice—such as ancestry testing, which often purports to prove or disprove membership in a particular race, group, or tribe—genetic testing has appeared to lend scientific credence to the idea that there is a biological basis for racial categories. In fact, 'There is no genetic basis for race,' says Fullwiley, who has studied the ethical, legal, and social implications of the human genome project with sociologist Troy Duster at UC, Berkeley."
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You are very brave, Cord, to keep posting about these issues despite some of the attitude you have been receiving.
Race is a social construct, just like language and culture.
When I am in Asia I am considered South-Asian (I do have ancestors from India), when I am in North Africa I am considered Moroccan (which I am not), when I am in Canada I am considered First Nations (which I am as well), when I am in Martinique I am considered Créole (which I am not). From the Philippines to Madagascar, people are convinced I am from their homelands. In Sénégal, they perceive me as white. In Wales, I look like Shirley Bassey's cousin. In the U.S., people perceive me as Latina.
It doesn't change who I am (a woman of African, Indian and First Nations heritage). I am perceived as non-Jewish yet I am (and so are all the black and Indian people in my family). I am perceived as straight yet I have been a lifelong lesbian.
Because French is my first language, I am considered chi-chi yet I grew up working-class.
It is all a construct.
Are we what we are OR are we what others perceive us to be? We are both who we are but our lives will be affected by how we are perceived. Since some of these effects will be very negative, it is difficult for most people to accept that mere constructs are regulating their lives.; race, class, gender, culture, religion, etc.
This is my longest post ever. I am exhausted.
Thank you Stereohyyped, for discussing things other than just the fluffy stuff, though I also love the fluff.
"In fact, ‘There is no genetic basis for race,'"
No shit Sherlock!? Why is she whinning? Urgh. The only reason to put it simply that people get 'weird' about were their from is all to do with INFORMATION. When you know were you are ACTUALLY from-then you can sing for all your hearts content. But in Europe-where I live-people tend to no more-we aint America.
If people knew and thus proud of the background, I don't think we'd have these issues.
Surely this makes sense?
I'm from the UK and we have the largest growing numbers of mixed black and white people in the world…also the UK has the slavery shit plus the Jew shit that happened since the 10th Century.
Sigh. What am I trying to say?
We're not from anywhere but we're from everywhere?