Changes for page The Existence of Race

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82	82	* Disease Susceptibilities: Different races show differing patterns of disease prevalence. For example, hypertension and type-2 diabetes rates are notably higher in some populations (e.g., African-Americans have higher hypertension prevalence than whites in the U.S.), likely due to a combination of genetic predispositions and environmental factors. Prostate cancer is another example – it has a significantly higher incidence and mortality in men of African descent worldwide compared to other groups, suggesting genetic risk factors play a role. Meanwhile, osteoporosis is more common in people of European and Asian descent and relatively less common in Africans (consistent with the higher bone density in black populations).{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=higher%20mineral%20content,in%20blacks%20than%20in%20whites{{/footnote}} {{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=Blacks%20have%20more%20lean%20body,years%20sooner%20than%20white%20children{{/footnote}} Skin cancers are very rare in darkly pigmented races but common in light-pigmented groups under strong sunlight. Each of these disparities has a biological component tied to race.
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84		-A dramatic illustration was given by former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher: as of around 2000, *black infants in America were 2.5 times more likely to die in their first year than white infants.{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=This%20difference%20is%20often%20ascribed,be%20caused%20by%20one%20of{{/footnote}} While some of this difference is socioeconomic, studies have found that even after accounting for factors like income and access to care, racial gaps in infant mortality and other health outcomes persist.{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=This%20difference%20is%20often%20ascribed,be%20caused%20by%20one%20of{{/footnote}} {{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=This%20difference%20is%20often%20ascribed,be%20caused%20by%20one%20of{{/footnote}} The cause is not fully understood – hypotheses range from chronic stress of discrimination to possible genetic or bio-social factors. The AR (American Renaissance) source cynically noted that it’s hard to attribute an excess death rate in *newborns* to social racism,{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=This%20difference%20is%20often%20ascribed,be%20caused%20by%20one%20of{{/footnote}} hinting that biological differences (e.g. lower birth weight, different maturation rates, etc.) might be involved. While that interpretation is controversial, the raw facts of health disparities underscore that human populations are *not identical in health profile*, and some differences may stem from inherited traits. Modern medicine is actively studying such differences to better tailor treatments and preventive measures to diverse populations.{{footnote}} https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26756268_Is_Homo_sapiens_polytypic_Human_taxonomic_diversity_and_its_implications#:~:text=Finally%20the%20implications%20of%20this,save%20lives%20in%20the%20future{{/footnote}}
	84	+A dramatic illustration was given by former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher: as of around 2000, *black infants in America were 2.5 times more likely to die in their first year than white infants.{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=This%20difference%20is%20often%20ascribed,be%20caused%20by%20one%20of{{/footnote}} While some of this difference is socioeconomic, studies have found that even after accounting for factors like income and access to care, racial gaps in infant mortality and other health outcomes persist.{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=This%20difference%20is%20often%20ascribed,be%20caused%20by%20one%20of{{/footnote}} {{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=This%20difference%20is%20often%20ascribed,be%20caused%20by%20one%20of{{/footnote}} The cause is not fully understood – hypotheses range from chronic stress of discrimination to possible genetic or bio-social factors. The AR (American Renaissance) source cynically noted that it’s hard to attribute an excess death rate in *newborns* to social racism,/footn hinting that biological differences (e.g. lower birth weight, different maturation rates, etc.) might be involved. While that interpretation is controversial, the raw facts of health disparities underscore that human populations are *not identical in health profile*, and some differences may stem from inherited traits. Modern medicine is actively studying such differences to better tailor treatments and preventive measures to diverse populations.
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86	86	## Evolved Differences Beyond Skin Color##
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88	88	As the above examples show, many racial differences have legitimate evolutionary purposes aside from the superficial trait of skin pigmentation. Each race represents an adaptive package: a set of traits that offered survival or reproductive advantages in their ancestral environment. A few key examples of adaptive differences include:
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90		-* Thermoregulation: Body builds (slender vs stocky), sweat gland activity, and even resting metabolic rate differ by climate of origin.{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=A%20related%20biological%20reality%20is,more%20likely%20to%20become%20obese{{/footnote}} These help people either shed heat (Africans have more sweat glands and lower metabolic heat production){{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=A%20related%20biological%20reality%20is,more%20likely%20to%20become%20obese{{/footnote}} or retain heat (Inuit and others have compact builds and maybe higher metabolic rates). Even fat storage patterns (steatopygia vs generalized fat) are adaptive responses to heat vs cold stress.{{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=A%20related%20biological%20reality%20is,more%20likely%20to%20become%20obese{{/footnote}} {{footnote}} https://www.amren.com/archives/back-issues/october-1999/#:~:text=human%20equivalent%20of%20the%20camel%E2%80%99s,too%2C%20is%20a%20biological%20reality{{/footnote}}
	90	+* Thermoregulation: Body builds (slender vs stocky), sweat gland activity, and even resting metabolic rate differ by climate of origin. These help people either shed heat (Africans have more sweat glands and lower metabolic heat production) or retain heat (Inuit and others have compact builds and maybe higher metabolic rates). Even fat storage patterns (steatopygia vs generalized fat) are adaptive responses to heat vs cold stress.
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92	92	* Altitude Adaptation: High-altitude populations (Tibetans in Asia, Quechua in the Andes, Amhara in Ethiopia) have evolved unique physiological adaptations to low oxygen – e.g., Tibetans carry genetic variants (*EPAS1, EGLN1*) that prevent thick blood at altitude, allowing them to thrive where others get chronic altitude sickness. These variants are largely absent in lowland populations, indicating a relatively rapid local evolution. (Though not among the provided sources, this is a well-established racial adaptation.)
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102	102	## Controversies and Misconceptions##
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104		-Despite the scientific evidence for biological races, the topic is often contentious. One reason is that racial classification was historically misused to justify discrimination. This has led some scholars to reject the race concept entirely or say “race is only a social construct.” It is certainly true that the *folk categories* of race (how societies arbitrarily define racial groups) have some ambiguity and that no single gene distinguishes all members of one race from all of another. However, to leap from those truths to the claim that “race has no biological basis” is an overgeneralization not supported by current science./foot
	104	+Despite the scientific evidence for biological races, the topic is often contentious. One reason is that racial classification was historically misused to justify discrimination. This has led some scholars to reject the race concept entirely or say “race is only a social construct.” It is certainly true that the *folk categories* of race (how societies arbitrarily define racial groups) have some ambiguity and that no single gene distinguishes all members of one race from all of another. However, to leap from those truths to the claim that “race has no biological basis” is an overgeneralization not supported by current science.
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106	106	Modern researchers advocating a biological understanding of race do not claim that races are *totally separate or discrete*. Instead, they recognize that human variation is clinal and statistical – meaning traits change gradually over geography and that any racial boundaries will be blurred at the edges. But *fuzzy boundaries do not erase the existence of clusters*. As evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne explains, the existence of intermediate cases or the arbitrariness of drawing lines does not negate the reality that genetic ancestry clusters exist and matter. We can analogize to colors of the rainbow: there is no sharp boundary between, say, orange and yellow, yet orange and yellow are real groupings on the light spectrum. Similarly, human groups transition gradually, yet Africans, Europeans, East Asians, etc., are real genetic clusters at the continental scale.
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