There are many stereotypes and myths about race, but that doesn’t mean they’re true. Often these are not even expressed by overt racists.
Many well-meaning people have been led by experience and cultural history to views that are not supported by human genetics. For example, there are assumptions that East Asian students are inherently good at math, that black people have a natural rhythm, and that Jews are good at spending money. Many of us know someone who thinks this way.
Geneticist and BBC presenter Dr Adam Rutherford said: ‘Today is the most overt expression of racism in public life I can remember and it is our duty to challenge it based on the facts. ”.
Learn how to use science and facts to debunk five racist myths.
Myth 1: White and black people have completely different DNA
The main pigment in human skin is melanin. It is used to protect us from the sun.
It absorbs the sun’s ultraviolet rays before folic acid, one of the body’s important vitamins, is destroyed.
Many genes are involved in the biochemical pathways that cause melanin production. Natural variations within these genes are the root cause of the human skin tone spectrum.
So the biggest genetic difference in humanity is between whites and blacks, right? mistaken.
First, all humans share roughly the same DNA. This is a fact that belies any recent origins from Africa.
Second, the African continent has more genetic diversity than the rest of the world combined.
Two people from different tribes in southern Africa would be more genetically different than a Sri Lankan, a Maori, or a Russian.
We may classify people as white, black, or brown, but these visual differences do not accurately reflect the genetic differences, or rather similarities, between us. .
Myth 2: There is such a thing as “racial purity”
We believe that certain regions, lands, and peoples are isolated, both physically and culturally, and that their boundaries are insurmountable.
But this is not what history or genetics tell us. In fact, no nation is static.
“Throughout history, humans have moved around the world, having sex whenever and wherever possible,” Dr. Rutherford says.
In some cases, these can be big moves in a short period of time.
People are often more or less fixed over several generations, which can feel like geographical and cultural anchors.
“Nevertheless, the ancestors of all Nazis are Jewish; the ancestors of all white supremacists are Middle Eastern; the ancestors of all racists are African, Indian, East Asian; Just like everyone else,” says Dr. Rutherford.
“Racial purity is a complete illusion. There are no pure bloods for humans, only mongrels enriched by the blood of many,” he says.
Myth 3: “Germany for Germans”, “Turkey for Turks” (and other variations)
Some people feel very anxious about immigrants and refugees coming to their country, a phenomenon that has recently been experienced in many parts of the world.
Among recent examples, the shooting spree that began last month at a shisha bar in Hanau, Germany, was motivated by far-right doctrine to expel or kill immigrants.
Those on the far right have long expressed their anger in the form of adjectives. “Germany for the Germans,” “France for the French,” “Turkey for the Turks,” and “Italy for the Italians” have all been used as anti-immigrant phrases. By far-right groups.
“Go back to where you came from” is an offensive phrase that resonates around the world.
The fact is that countries like Germany, France, Turkey, and Italy have had immigrants throughout their history. In fact, it happens almost everywhere.
For example, Britain has been home to immigrants since it separated from the continent about 7,500 years ago.
Until the French occupied it in 1066, that part of the world had been invaded by Vikings, Angles, Saxons, Huns, and dozens of other small tribes and clans.
And even before that, it had been ruled by the Romans, who in turn came from all over the intercontinental empire, extending into sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
Going back even further, around 4,500 years ago, Britain was inhabited primarily by farmers, who had migrated from Europe across the continuum between the Netherlands and East Anglia.
Based on DNA evidence, they may have had olive skin, black hair, and brown eyes.
And before them were hunter-gatherers with even darker skin.
So when political parties and even racists talk about “indigenous peoples” like “France for the French” or “Italy for the Italians”, who are they actually referring to? Or?
Myth 4: A genealogy test can prove a person is 100% white.
Genealogy and ancestry fascinate us, especially racists.
Websites like Stormfront are frequently accessed by members of white supremacist, white supremacist, and anti-Semitic groups who spread Holocaust denialism and are obsessed with population genetics.
They use mainstream genealogy tests like those offered by Ancestry DNA to “prove” that they are 100% white or non-Jewish.
However, the logic is flawed.
DNA can tell you some interesting things about your family history. It can also be very useful in identifying next of kin, such as deceased siblings or biological parents, but its ability to do so is severely limited by basic biology.
Over time, descendants begin to shed the DNA of their actual ancestors, and the amount that disappears becomes enormous with each generation.
You have DNA from only half of your ancestors from 11 generations ago. Therefore, you may be genetically unrelated to those who actually descended from him in the 18th century.
Dr. Rutherford said, “You are the descendants of many people from all over the world, the descendants of people you think you know, and the descendants of people you know nothing about.” .You will not have meaningful genetic ties to many of them.”
5. Black people run better than white people.
The last time a white athlete competed in the Olympic 100m final was in 1980.
Black athletes have dominated the modern era of sprinting ever since. This fueled the popular belief that people of African descent had an advantage in the sport due to their genetic ancestry.
“Perhaps we could make probabilistic predictions about ethnicity and sports success based on genetics,” Rutherford says. “But that would be weak at best.”
The reality is that the genetics of success in sports are very complex.
Rutherford says a myriad of factors are involved in the body’s physiology, including heart size, oxygen absorption efficiency, and muscle recovery.
These are relatively well-understood phenomena and have a genetic basis. However, there are other physical characteristics (such as flexibility and coordination) that are less well understood.
In addition to that, there are also psychological aspects such as determination, focus, and risk-taking.
It has been found that people who are good at high-energy sports tend to have a higher proportion of “fast-twitch” muscle cells, which process energy more quickly.
The underlying genetics involve a gene called ACTN3.
Research has shown that elite athletes in power and strength sports are more likely to have an R-type copy of ACTN3. Studies have shown that this gene is present at higher rates in African Americans (96%) compared to white Americans (80%).
This suggests that African-Americans have a slight population-wide advantage in performing explosive-energy sports, but the number of African-American sprinters and white competition This is far from explaining the difference in the number of people.
If it were due to that gene, we might expect to see six black elite sprinters for every five white runners.
Adam says it’s a simplistic analysis, but it’s still a good example of how genetics don’t match racial stereotypes in sports.
This article was adapted from the BBC radio program ‘How to argue with racists’ and presented by Dr Adam Rutherford.
