[Matty]

[ QUOTE ]
The odds that I know are 0. I failed anthropology. I barely know what you are talking about.

I guess this means there is no such thing as racism?

[/ QUOTE ]Absolutely not. Racism is an emotional phenomenon best explained in terms of collective psychology. "Race" does exist as a cultural concept. Racial conflicts result from social stereotypes and not known scientific facts. Racists of the past and present invoke the notion of biological difference to support unjust social practices.

The reason there's no such thing as race biologically speaking is because we as a species have been interbreeding for a very long time, and alleles (genetic codes) are inherited independently of each other. So having one trait like dark skin does not mean you're more likely to have another trait unless it is also adaptive to hot climates like dark skin is. Certainly intelligence, strength, behavior, and most other traits aren't more adaptive to one climate over another climate so you can't predict them based on a climate-specific trait. There are genetic differences between populations, but it's impossible to divide populations into "races" for many reasons. For example, if you go by skin color (a genotype inherited independently) then Africans and populations from Sweden are different races. However if you use other genotypes like that for sickle-cell red blood cells then people from Sweden are the same race as some populations of dark-skinned Africans, and other populations of dark-skinned africans are the same race as Italians and Greeks. The only reason skin color, hair type, etc. are used most commonly and traditionally is because they're easily noticed.

What scientists use since they can't use race is "clines" which is just gradual differences among populations based on a single (and only a single) trait. For example the closer to the equator populations were, the higher their surface to body mass ratio was to give off heat (i.e. they were taller and slimmer). Light skin developed among populations that moved North from Africa as a way to absorb more UV rays and produce more Vitamin D since there was less sunlight up north.

So assuming you're white, next time you see a black guy think of him as just a white guy with black skin who has always been treated differently than you.