Frank W. Street, in his article "Afro-European Genetic Admixture in the United States," highlights the recent research of molecular anthropologists who track ancient and modern human migrations. Evidence of those migrations can be found in every individual's DNA. He gives the example of how some persons are lactose-tolerant depending on whether their ancestry is Danish, Dutch, Watutsi or Maasai, while people may be lactose-intolerant if their ancestry is Sicilian, Greek, Bantu or Khoisan1. Street also talks about the first inhabitants of North America who migrated across Beringia about 20 millennia ago until eventually rising sea leaves after the last ice age cut them off from the rest of human civilization. Consequently, their immune systems remained less developed, such that when the Spanish came in the early 15th century and brought with them European diseases, the Native Americans had no resistance and fell like flies - until 90 percent of their population died2. From the 15th to the 18th centuries millions of Africans came to America along with Europeans, and genetic admixing took place amongst the Africans, Europeans and Native Americans.
Street explains how researchers chart DNA markers, which they use to identify the ancestral heritage of individuals. For example, a person appearing white may have up to 20-30 percent African DNA or 5-10 percent Native Indian DNA, with no external physical signs. The actual percentages can only be known by DNA testing. Street says that only half a dozen genes in any individual are associated with dark skin tone and govern “dermal melanization.” By using a scatter diagram, for example, one can measure each person’s admixture percentage using DNA markers that trace ancestral origin. Medical researchers are using DNA markers to trace tendencies in individuals towards certain diseases,3. Molecular anthropologists and geneticists such as Dr. Rick Kittles at Howard University have created scatter diagrams that show substantial DNA overlap between white and African Americans. Street brings up the fact that around 5.5 percent of so-called African-Americans have no measurable African genetic admixture. The research further shows that one-third of white Americans have a recent African genetic admixture of between 2-20 percent, which comes to a potential 74 million Americans4.
Persons of mixed genetic ancestry with fair skin who look European have the option whether to merge with the white or the African endogamous group; however, those with darker skin have less choice, as society simply assigns them to the African group. African Americans with fair skin have a genetic admixture that happened not to include those particular alleles for dark skin. Hence it is those few alleles leading to more or less dermal melanization rather than one’s actual genetic make-up that determine where society places a person. Street’s main point in presenting this research is to scientifically demonstrate that there is no such thing as biological race, that many so-called white Americans have more than 20 percent African genes, and that only a very few genes determine dermal melanization and hence determine the course of a person’s life based on the lightness or darkness of his/her skin.
Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar has talked about the evolution of races as being a direct result of the different climate extremes in the various geographical regions of the earth, which range from snow-clad mountains to burning, sand-filled deserts. Through the centuries or millenniums the bodies of human beings had to adjust to these climatic adversities, which led to marked changes in their physical features5. As an example, the far greater degree of heat of the sun’s rays in hot countries caused human beings who were originally fair-skinned to develop more melanin so as to withstand the heat. The increased melanin in their skin caused it to darken. When white-skinned people live in a hot climate for a long time, their skin invariably darkens. For the same reason, in hot countries people’s eyes are generally black due to the extra melanin required to protect the eye from the sun’s rays6. Also in hot countries the people’s nostrils tend to be large with the nose somewhat extended. It is because the external heat causes the internal air to rise in temperature and then that internal heat tries to forces its way out of the body. Due to the rapid forceful exhalation of hot air, the diameter of the nose increases7. In contrast, people who live in cold countries develop small nostrils, as it thereby protects the lungs and vocal chord from the extremely cold external air8. These are the natural changes that have evolved in human bodies over the millennia as a result of physical adjustment with climatic conditions.
While understanding these variations in human color and physiognomy due to climatic conditions, it is clear based on the research of Street and others that geneticists are able to trace a mixture of races in each person’s DNA, reflecting a substantial racial blending over the generations. With the growing migration of millions around the world in the form of political, economic and environmental refugees, this trend of racial blending due to inter-ethnic mingling will only increase, until one day the distinctions between man and man, woman and woman, will be negligible in terms of racial characteristics. For example, Hispanics are marrying Hispanics from other countries, hence increasing the DNA admixture. They are also marrying whites, and hence increasing the number of mixed-ancestry offspring9. While the DNA admixture of various races may be known to scholars and academics, yet the common people are less aware of these genetic discoveries, and they continue to form opinions of other people based solely on the amount of melanin in their skin – on their relative shades of darkness or lightness. Hence while diverse ethnic groups are blending with increasing frequency as the ethnic diversity of the U.S. population increases, yet racism continues to thrive.
Vincent Parrillo provides a plausible idea of what the United States might look like as regards race and ethnicity in the year 205010, while simultaneously acknowledging the absolute difficulty in making such predictions. Without prior knowledge of future scientific and technological innovations, he nevertheless says that the economic globalization presently underway is bound to have an effect on future migration patterns11. He predicts that African, Asian and Latin American birth rates will continue to rise and outpace the birth rates in western countries. As Mexico between 1950 and 2000 quadrupled its population (from 27 million to 100 million), he believes that the number of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. will continue to spiral12. The U.S. Census Bureau gives the 2000 breakdown of the American population as being 70% Non-Hispanic white, 12.5% African-American, 1.5% Hispanic-American and 4% Asian-American. The Bureau predicts that in 2050 those percentages will change to 50.1% Non-Hispanic white, 14.6% African-American, 24.4% Hispanic-American and 8% Asian American. This would translate to 102.5 million Hispanic Americans, 61.4 million African Americans and 4.4 million Native Americans, keeping the latter’s percentage share at 1%. The number of Asian-Americans in 2050 would rise to 33.4 million13.
As Sociology Professor Prince Brown often says, race is not a biological issue. It is a social issue, a cultural issue. There is no such thing as biological race, he states categorically14. The only race left to talk about today is racism. With the extant extensive DNA admixture as demonstrated by Frank Street, the topic of biological race is a moot point. The only point to discuss today is the cultural and social worldviews people have concerning “race.” While we can study and search for ways to bring about true pluralism or peaceful co-existence of various ethnic groups, Street’s article provides scientific evidence that these so-called different ethnic groups are in fact not different. They overlap and often merge completely. They are inseparable.
Note:
|
"In economic life there is extreme inequality and exploitation. Although colonialism no longer exists openly in the political and economic sphere, still it persists indirectly, and this should not be tolerated... In this respect you should remember that in economic life, we will have to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to one and all... There cannot be any sort of adjustment as far as this point is concerned. The minimum purchasing requirement must be guaranteed to all. Today these fundamental essentialities are not being guaranteed. Rather, people are being guided by deceptive economic ideas like outdated Marxism, which has proven ineffective in practical life and has not been successfully implemented in any corner of the world. Why do people still believe in such a theory, which has never been proved successful? The time has come for people to make a proper assessment of whether they are being misguided or not." |
|
"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |