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I agree with this (except the Latino part, since Latinos can be of any race) but the reason why this will always cause controversy is that these statements rarely have any closure to them. In other words, those who disagree will continue to ask, "Why does it actually matter to make these statements when we are all seen as equal anyway?"
I think answering the question is absolutely necessary when stating that intelligence differs among different types of humans. Otherwise, these statements will continue to be seen by those who disagree as just fuel for the race supremacists to voice their opinions.
I completely disagree. I would never say, "Why does it actually matter to make these statements when we are all seen as equal anyway," because way too many people out there don't see everyone as equal, and they use these types of statements to justify cruelty, oppression, and even genocide. Often these statements cross various racial, ethnic, and gender demographics. When men sell underage women as sex slaves in Cambodia, they use similar statements to justify their actions. When Millions of people were murdered in Rwanda, their attackers used similar statements to justify their actions. People who understand that their fellow human beings are equals don't do such things.
Anytime you allow people to think that ANYONE is lesser than, I don't care if the person swears up and down that they think everyone should be treated the same, the fact is, words do matter, and these statements automatically cause harm. I guarantee you, someone out there has read the OP's statement, and he or she will ignore all of the stuff about equality. That person will find comfort in the fact that someone else agrees with their thoughts, and they will use that comfort to justify the negative way they treat or think about someone else. All that person needs is validation, and that person most certainly got it in this thread.
I believe there are differences between the races. For example, I believe that, on average, Asians are more intelligent than Whites, Whites are more intelligent than Latinos, and Latinos are more intelligent than Blacks.
With that said, I don't believe that any one race is superior to others in all areas. For example, I believe that Blacks are more athletic than Whites, on average.
I'm in favor of treating everyone equally under the law. I just think it's foolish to try to pretend that there aren't differences between groups of people who evolved in very different environments over many thousands of years.
So, would you define me as a racist?
Your ignorance is overwhelming!
I believe that the people who think along the lines which have expressed have a severe inferiority complex.
Seek out a good therapist to help you with those issues.
The various races ARE different. The differences DO extend beyond physical traits. Recognizing this fact is not sufficient for the definition of racism. The OP went out of his way to say that he didn't think any race was superior to any other race. He went out of his way to say that all races should be treated equal. That is not racist. I'm sorry but you are incorrect.
- Reel
Not only are you wrong again but you obviously have poor reading comprehension skills. You say, "the OP went out of his way to say that he didn't think any race was superior to any other race." Go back again and reread the original post because he blatantly DID say that some races are superior to others. To help you along a little more sir, I will paraphrase for you what the op is saying: "Asians are superior in terms of intelligence compared to all other races. Whites are naturally smarter than blacks but blacks are naturally better at sports than whites. And in terms of natural intelligence, hispanics are in the middle somewhere."
So, you see, he actually IS saying that some races are naturally superior to others in certain aspects. And that is the epitome of racism. I think you suffer from what a lot of people do when talking about racism. That is, when you hear the words "racist" or "racism" you automatically picture in your mind an African-American swinging from a tree with a noose around his neck. While some racists espouse things like that not every racist suffers from the same degree of Racism. Martin Luther King Jr. said that , "Racism is a sickness unto death." He knew and often spoke of degrees of racism and how some are sicker than others. Racism can be to one extreme or it could be what the OP suffers from. And in my opinion, he suffers from something a little stronger than being just prejudiced. He thinks that a black man is naturally superior to a white man in terms of athletic ability. That is a racist statement.
For example: in essence, what he is saying is this: if a black baby is adopted by a white couple and that couple never let that child play basketball and instead forced him to study and join the debate club throughout the years it would not matter; because when the opportunity finally comes for him to play basketball he will already have an advantage because of his race. If an Asian grows up in the inner-city playing basketball in all his free time and ignoring his studies it wont matter because he is still innately more intelligent than any other race. All of the things that people talk about when they say that one race is superior to another usually have to do with socio-economic factors, NOT RACE.
Would you say that Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas became Supreme Court Justices in spite of their respective natural disadvantages to be smarter than someone of another race? Or did race have nothing to do with their accomplishments? I would say that the minute each one was born they were born into the HUMAN race. They triumphed over any socio-economic barriers that they might of had to face and became succesful human beings. They did not have to overcome the fact that they are genetically predisposed to be less smart than another race because that is simply not true.
Was Larry Bird a great basketball player in spite of being white? Or did he just work hard and practice to achieve his goal with race not being a factor?
The Op is asked his fellow posters if he is a racist. I think yes, and I have stated my case as to why and how I came to that conclusion. If you think not, fine, you are entitled to your opinion. Nothing you have said so far has caused me to consider changing my opinion. However, I have an open mind so I am all ears. Can you explain to me exactly what you meant when you said: "The various races ARE different. The differences DO extend beyond physical traits."?????
Last edited by NEWARK MAGIC; 08-10-2009 at 12:14 PM..
PREAMBLE
As scientists who study human evolution and variation, we believe that we have an obligation to share with other scientists and the general public our current understanding of the structure of human variation from a biological perspective. Popular conceptualizations of race are derived from 19th and early 20th century scientific formulations. These old racial categories were based on externally visible traits, primarily skin color, features of the face, and the shape and size of the head and body, and the underlying skeleton. They were often imbued with nonbiological attributes, based on social constructions of race. These categories of race are rooted in the scientific traditions of the 19th century, and in even earlier philosophical traditions which presumed that immutable visible traits can predict the measure of all other traits in an individual or a population. Such notions have often been used to support racist doctrines. Yet old racial concepts persist as social conventions that foster institutional discrimination. The expression of prejudice may or may not undermine material well-being, but it does involve the mistreatment of people and thus it often is psychologically distressing and socially damaging. Scientists should try to keep the results of their research from being used in a biased way that would serve discriminatory ends.
POSITION
We offer the following points as revisions of the 1964 UNESCO statement on race:
1. All humans living today belong to a single species, Homo sapiens, and share a common descent. Although there are differences of opinion regarding how and where different human groups diverged or fused to form new ones from a common ancestral group, all living populations in each of the earth's geographic areas have evolved from that ancestral group over the same amount of time. Much of the biological variation among populations involves modest degrees of variation in the frequency of shared traits. Human populations have at times been isolated, but have never genetically diverged enough to produce any biological barriers to mating between members of different populations.
2. Biological differences between human beings reflect both hereditary factors and the influence of natural and social environments. In most cases, these differences are due to the interaction of both. The degree to which environment or heredity affects any particular trait varies greatly.
3. There is great genetic diversity within all human populations. Pure races, in the sense of genetically homogenous populations, do not exist in the human species today, nor is there any evidence that they have ever existed in the past.
4. There are obvious physical differences between populations living in different geographic areas of the world. Some of these differences are strongly inherited and others, such as body size and shape, are strongly influenced by nutrition, way of life, and other aspects of the environment. Genetic differences between populations commonly consist of differences in the frequencies of all inherited traits, including those that are environmentally malleable.
5. For centuries, scholars have sought to comprehend patterns in nature by classifying living things. The only living species in the human family, Homo sapiens, has become a highly diversified global array of populations. The geographic pattern of genetic variation within this array is complex, and presents no major discontinuity. Humanity cannot be classified into discrete geographic categories with absolute boundaries. Furthermore, the complexities of human history make it difficult to determine the position of certain groups in classifications. Multiplying subcategories cannot correct the inadequacies of these classifications.
Generally, the traits used to characterize a population are either independently inherited or show only varying degrees of association with one another within each population. Therefore, the combination of these traits in an individual very commonly deviates from the average combination in the population. This fact renders untenable the idea of discrete races made up chiefly of typical representatives.
6. In humankind as well as in other animals, the genetic composition of each population is subject over time to the modifying influence of diverse factors. These include natural selection, promoting adaptation of the population to the environment; mutations, involving modifications in genetic material; admixture, leading to genetic exchange between local populations, and randomly changing frequencies of genetic characteristics from one generation to another. The human features which have universal biological value for the survival of the species are not known to occur more frequently in one population than in any other. Therefore it is meaningless from the biological point of view to attribute a general inferiority or superiority to this or to that race.
7. The human species has a past rich in migration, in territorial expansions, and in contractions. As a consequence, we are adapted to many of the earth's environments in general, but to none in particular. For many millennia, human progress in any field has been based on culture and not on genetic improvement.
Mating between members of different human groups tends to diminish differences between groups, and has played a very important role in human history. Wherever different human populations have come in contact, such matings have taken place. Obstacles to such interaction have been social and cultural, not biological. The global process of urbanization, coupled with intercontinental migrations, has the potential to reduce the differences among all human populations.
8. Partly as a result of gene flow, the hereditary characteristics of human populations are in a state of perpetual flux. Distinctive local populations are continually coming into and passing out of existence. Such populations do not correspond to breeds of domestic animals, which have been produced by artificial selection over many generations for specific human purposes.
9. The biological consequences of mating depend only on the individual genetic makeup of the couple, and not on their racial classifications. Therefore, no biological justification exists for restricting intermarriage between persons of different racial classifications.
10. There is no necessary concordance between biological characteristics and culturally defined groups. On every continent, there are diverse populations that differ in language, economy, and culture. There is no national, religious, linguistic or cultural group or economic class that constitutes a race. However, human beings who speak the same language and share the same culture frequently select each other as mates, with the result that there is often some degree of correspondence between the distribution of physical traits on the one hand and that of linguistic and cultural traits on the other. But there is no causal linkage between these physical and behavioral traits, and therefore it is not justifiable to attribute cultural characteristics to genetic inheritance.
11. Physical, cultural and social environments influence the behavioral differences among individuals in society. Although heredity influences the behavioral variability of individuals within a given population, it does not affect the ability of any such population to function in a given social setting. The genetic capacity for intellectual development is one of the biological traits of our species essential for its survival. This genetic capacity is known to differ among individuals. The peoples of the world today appear to possess equal biological potential for assimilating any human culture. Racist political doctrines find no foundation in scientific knowledge concerning modern or past human populations.
No, you are not a racist. You do, however, ride the little yellow bus through life.
Oh God...I'm going to get fired from my job messing round with this forum. I was on the phone half-listening to my manager remind me for the 967th time that today is the 10th when I read this and burst out laughing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 17th Street
Your other words are exactly what my mother told me, and exactly what I plan on telling my children. I was taught to ignore comments like those made by the OP, study hard, achieve my goals, and then slap my achievements in the faces of those who said I was lesser than. That is what I have been doing, and what I will continue to do. I suggest others do the same.
Same here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LogicIsYourFriend
I think most of the averages you describe can be attributed to cultural differences, rather than genetic. There is a wider genetic variety within each race than in the specific differences among races. I do agree there are genetic differences, but I do not agree that it is as much as described in the OP.
Exactly.
Why do people post here and ask if they're racist? You know if you're racist or not. That's like creating a thread and saying "Am I typing?"
"Race science" has gone as far as being in full support of social programs for blacks because they feel these "Poor unfortunate souls" have all the cards stacked against them biologically. The limits of these professorial lunatics have no boundaries in regards to keeping hope alive that there exist a superior race and that race would be White. ......I always thought it would of been Egyptians
Not only are you wrong again but you obviously have poor reading comprehension skills. You say, "the OP went out of his way to say that he didn't think any race was superior to any other race." Go back again and reread the original post because he blatantly DID say that some races are superior to others. To help you along a little more sir, I will paraphrase for you what the op is saying: "Asians are superior in terms of intelligence compared to all other races. Whites are naturally smarter than blacks but blacks are naturally better at sports than whites. And in terms of natural intelligence, hispanics are in the middle somewhere."
So, you see, he actually IS saying that some races are naturally superior to others in certain aspects. And that is the epitome of racism. I think you suffer from what a lot of people do when talking about racism. That is, when you hear the words "racist" or "racism" you automatically picture in your mind an African-American swinging from a tree with a noose around his neck. While some racists espouse things like that not every racist suffers from the same degree of Racism. Martin Luther King Jr. said that , "Racism is a sickness unto death." He knew and often spoke of degrees of racism and how some are sicker than others. Racism can be to one extreme or it could be what the OP suffers from. And in my opinion, he suffers from something a little stronger than being just prejudiced. He thinks that a black man is naturally superior to a white man in terms of athletic ability. That is a racist statement.
For example: in essence, what he is saying is this: if a black baby is adopted by a white couple and that couple never let that child play basketball and instead forced him to study and join the debate club throughout the years it would not matter; because when the opportunity finally comes for him to play basketball he will already have an advantage because of his race. If an Asian grows up in the inner-city playing basketball in all his free time and ignoring his studies it wont matter because he is still innately more intelligent than any other race. All of the things that people talk about when they say that one race is superior to another usually have to do with socio-economic factors, NOT RACE.
Would you say that Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas became Supreme Court Justices in spite of their respective natural disadvantages to be smarter than someone of another race? Or did race have nothing to do with their accomplishments? I would say that the minute each one was born they were born into the HUMAN race. They triumphed over any socio-economic barriers that they might of had to face and became succesful human beings. They did not have to overcome the fact that they are genetically predisposed to be less smart than another race because that is simply not true.
Was Larry Bird a great basketball player in spite of being white? Or did he just work hard and practice to achieve his goal with race not being a factor?
The Op is asked his fellow posters if he is a racist. I think yes, and I have stated my case as to why and how I came to that conclusion. If you think not, fine, you are entitled to your opinion. Nothing you have said so far has caused me to consider changing my opinion. However, I have an open mind so I am all ears. Can you explain to me exactly what you meant when you said: "The various races ARE different. The differences DO extend beyond physical traits."?????
Not 'sir'.
You don't have to get belligerant.
The OP's point was that some races are better at some things and other races are better at other things but that no race was overall superior or inferior to another.
By physical I meant 'what you can see'. The races differ in ways that go beyond appearance. For example blacks are more prone to get prostrate cancer due to higher levels of testosterone.
The OP's point was that some races are better at some things and other races are better at other things but that no race was overall superior or inferior to another.
By physical I meant 'what you can see'. The races differ in ways that go beyond appearance. For example blacks are more prone to get prostrate cancer due to higher levels of testosterone.
- Reel
You know anyone on a computer can google link between Prostrate cancer and testosterone ,
some one being born black brown or blue does not make them any smarter or faster than anyone else on earth. its the opportunities presented and siezed that make the difference. it has nothing to do with race. no thing at all
to think so is very very ignorant. and irrational. think it thru. talk it out if you have to. your ideas make no sense.
besides what groups are you talking about? US citizens? people on this continent? asians around the world. by not defining your parameters alone, makes these ideas invalid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale
I believe there are differences between the races. For example, I believe that, on average, Asians are more intelligent than Whites, Whites are more intelligent than Latinos, and Latinos are more intelligent than Blacks.
With that said, I don't believe that any one race is superior to others in all areas. For example, I believe that Blacks are more athletic than Whites, on average.
I'm in favor of treating everyone equally under the law. I just think it's foolish to try to pretend that there aren't differences between groups of people who evolved in very different environments over many thousands of years.
So, would you define me as a racist?
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I was on the phone half-listening to my manager remind me for the 967th time that today is the 10th when I read this and burst out laughing. 
