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Originally Posted by Greg B
I knew I'd get some low brow wisecracks.
The bottom line is this finding undermines all the racist horseshit used as justification to hate and dominate on both or all sides of the color scheme. Our physical differences are so minute in the grand scheme of things we could well be better classified as clones.
So everyone from the Nazi lovers to the Louis Farrakhanteers can all sit down and shut the fuck up.
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Actually, it doesn't work that way.
It's the small things that matter. The general framework makes up most of the DNA, and only within that framework do viable variations exist. Remember, bonobos are 95% genetically equal to humans.
Between any two humans, the genetic variation will be about 0.1%. The difference between these two people could be dramatic, though. One could be a tall, well-built, intelligent man, while the other could be a short, badly built and rather stupid man. This large difference nevertheless lies in a very small genetic variation.
Now, race doesn't just reflect skin colour. It is a set of common characteristics shared by people of a shared ancestry. Race clearly has other aspects than just colour, as is exemplified by the higher rate of lactose intolerance and sickle cell disease among people of African descent than among Europeans, the higher rate of Tay-Sachs disease among Ashkenazy Jews than among other population groups, etc.
It is not unthinkable, and indeed not even unlikely, that race has an impact of certain human characteristics that are judge valuable or harmful.
It's important to see that, first, one needs to judge individuals by their own merits if one indeed recognizes human beings as individuals and, second, that any value judgement is by its very nature subjective.