It is my impression (and that of the majority of Western biological and anthropological researchers) that biologically there is but a single human race. All the other "racial" terms are sociocultural constructs. With the advent of frequent travel between continents, and the resultant interbreeding of previously isolated populations, the differences of hair texture, eye shape, nose shape, etc. can no longer be used to identify recent geographical, or even ethnic origins.
Having said that I must add that possible "racial" origin is certainly significant to the genealogical researcher as it gives us a clue about where to look for records and relatives. Assuming genealogical research is eventually taken to its logical conclusion all genealogists will ultimately be searching for matching DNA somewhere in Africa. :-) John John Zimmerman Mesa, AZ On 7/5/2012 5:33 PM, David C Abernathy wrote: > > Try this > > “A *race* is a biological construct, of a more or less > distinct population with anatomical traits that > distinguish it clearly from other races. The anatomical > traits usually refer to the color of the skin, shape of > the eyes or the nose. For example, in India the people in > the southern parts are quite different anatomically from > the people in the northern parts, because the people from > the south belong to the Dravidian race and the people from > the north belong to the Aryan race. *The three major races > of the world are the Caucasian, the Mongoloid and the > Negroid*. > > *Ethnicity*refers to the cultural factors of the racial > group, especially religion, food habits, dressing and life > style and occupations. Ethnicity refers to a subset within > race. For example not all the Caucasians of the world > follow the same religious or cultural practices. > > In short, Race is genetically determined by Nature” > > So in today’s World, with so many cross breading of the > different Races, what are the real Races? > > From http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Race > > “*race^“ * > > /n./ > > *1. *A local geographic or global human population > distinguished as a more or less distinct group by > genetically transmitted physical characteristics. > > *2. *A group of people united or classified together on > the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic > distribution: /the German race./ > > *3. *A genealogical line; a lineage. > > *4. *Humans considered as a group. > > *5. */Biology/ > > *a. *An interbreeding, usually geographically isolated > population of organisms differing from other populations > of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. > A race that has been given formal taxonomic recognition is > known as a subspecies. > > *b. *A breed or strain, as of domestic animals. > > *6. *A distinguishing or characteristic quality, such as > the flavor of a wine. > > Thanks, > David C Abernathy > Email disclaimers > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This message represents the official view of the voices in > my head. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > http://www.SchmeckAbernathy.com > <http://www.schmeckabernathy.com/> > == All outgoing and incoming mail is scanned by F-Prot > Antivirus == > > *From:*Ron Bernier [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* Thursday, July 05, 2012 5:11 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [LegacyUG] Race > > David is the second person that has commented on this > thread, saying that people need to be careful not to > "confuse" race with nation of origin. This totally baffles > me as to how anyone wouldn't know what the difference > between a person's race and their nation of origin. > American and South African are nationalities. Caucasian is > a race. How would someone confuse the two? Japanese is a > nationality. Asian is a race. Again, how do you confuse > the two? > > Ron Bernier > Sent from my iPad > > > On Jul 5, 2012, at 7:26 PM, David Abernathy > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Only some of them (census) had contained race. > > Also one needs to careful as to what is a race and not > a nation of origin. > > Sent from my Kindle Fire > In God We Trust > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Online technical support: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > Follow Legacy on Facebook > (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog > (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). > To unsubscribe: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > Online technical support: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > Follow Legacy on Facebook > (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog > (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). > To unsubscribe: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). 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