Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Differing ideas exist and I'm not sure which I accept.
One race - We're all one species and no major sub-species of homo sapiens has existed in the last 10,000 to 30,000 years. Therefore if there isn't even different sub-species than we're all one race.
Around 42 - Based on Y-chromosome and mitochondrial haplogroups. None of these necessarily correspond to "white" or "black" and I think people often have more than one haplogroup in their ancestry. The Khoisan/Bushman however appear to basically count as a race by this system. As do Australian Aborigines and a few other traditionally isolated groups.
Nine - T. H. Huxley had nine races. These were Bushman, Negroes (I'm retaining his antiquated word usage to give you a sense of the era and because it's the language he used), Negritos (Andaman Islanders and the like), Mediterraneans, Australoids (aborigines and the like), Xanthocroi (non-Mediterranean white people), Polynesians, Mongoloids A and B (non-Western/non-Southern Asians), Mongoloids C (American Indians), and Esquimaux (Eskimos).
Five - Carelton S. Coon held the following to be "the races": Capoid (Khoisan/Bushman), Congoloid (Black African), Caucasoid (White), Mongoloid (non-Western/non-Southern Asian as well as American Indians), and Australoid (Australian Aborigine).
Genetically, there are five races. These are the Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, Amerind, and Australoid.
The Caucasoid Race includes the peoples of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Their characteristics include: skin colour that ranges from pale white to brown; hair texture ranging from straight to wavy; thin lips; and narrow noses.
The Mongoloid Race inhabits East Asia. Like Caucasoids, their skin tone can be anything from very light to dark. Their hair is almost always very straight. One of their main distinguishing features would be the epicanthic fold of the eye which gives their eyes a “slanted” appearance.
The Negroid Race is native to Sub-Saharan Africa. They have skin colour ranging from brown to black. Their hair is kinky; their lips are thick and their noses are flat and wide. Their jaws jut out noticably(prognathism).
The Amerinds are the native inhabitants of the Americas. They are closely related to Mongoloids, and were once classified as a branch of the Mongoloid Race; but, they are genetically distinct enough as to be considered separate.
The Australoids dwell in Australia, New Guinea, and neighbouring regions. They share a number of features with the Negroids, including black skin and wide noses. One of the main features distinguishing them from Negroids is their wavy hair texture, which, believe it or not, sometimes comes in blond or reddish shades.
The so-called “Hispanics” can be any race; however, most are Mestizoes, or people of mixed Caucasoid and Amerind ancestry. Those from Brazil and the island regions usually have a good bit of Negroid blood, as well.
East Indians are a mixture of Caucasoid, Australoid, and sometimes Mongoloid ancestry.
Speaking of race. The census lady came by my house the other day. I wasn't allowed to pick more than one race. What's with that? Our own president is biracial and still biracial and multiracial aren't being represented.
Race is too much of an emotionally-charged issue to allow it to be discussed here in such a flippant manner, in this open-ended 2008-vintage thread.
That's why the thread is now closed. Feel free to have this discussion in Politics and Other Controversies. We don't do controversy here in General US or any other local forums.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
