Racial Science & AnthropologyBiological Essentialism vs Cultural RelativityInventing WhitenessCategories: Caucasian & HispanicEstimation of Biological AncestryGenetics of RaceHuman Biological VariationWhat have we learned from GeneticsAnty 101d 1st Edition Lecture 11 Current Lecture Racial Science & Anthropology-Carolus Linnaeus (1735):• First formal human classification -Homo sapiens americanus• Reddish, choleric, and erect; hair black, straight, thick; wide nostrils, canty beard; obstinate, merry, free; paints himself with fine red lines; regulated by custom -H.s. asiaticus• Sallow, melancholy, stiff, hair black; dark eyes; server haughty, avaricious; covered with loose garments ruled by opinions-H.s. africanus• Black, phlegmatic, relaxed; hair black, frizzled; skin silky; nose flat; lips tumid; women without shame, they lactate profusely; crafty, indolent, negligent, anoints himself with grease governed by caprice-H.s. europeaus• White, sanguine, muscular; long hair Biological Essentialism vs Cultural Relativity These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.-Linneaus: beginnings of biological essentialism -Jefferson: Ardor, hairiness and civilization • Native Americans cant have ardor because they aren’t hairy• not hairy because they pluck all their hair out • biology determining whether or not they are capable of civilization • comparing europeans to native americans and africans-Philadelphia physician Samuel Morton (1839)• Intelligence & Craniometry • race and skull size were linked; skewed the results -Didn't include samples that didn't fit his model -20th century American racial thinking • Race predicts biology, athletic ability, mental capacity, productivity, morality • Some races are superior; destine being equal?..• Race can be categorized and measured by scientists • Eugenics movement; miscegenation laws -Can’t marry different races -weeding out the bad traits: eugenics movement -“Race was imported into science from social practice” • justification & legal basis for ongoing inequality • What is race? What is being measured?-Franz Boas: Father of American Anthropology • Inuit research • Historical Particularism & Cultural Relativity -every group is a result of their historical trajectory; how well they adapted -look at them relatively-Dissociated biology from culture • Creates new definition of culture! Impact of race science..• 1912 study of Jewish and Sicilian immigrants -measures skulls; children of immigrants that have grown up in america has the same size skulls as other americansInventing Whiteness-1691 Virginia, first legal use of term “white” • Homogenizing of Europeans (trumps religion or ethnicity)• Political or legal ‘whiteness’ • Whiteness undermined interracial working-class solidarity• Race trumps class in the United States -‘Inferior stock’ of new immigrants in early 1900s• Italian, Jewish, Russian, Polish (1929)• Irish no ‘white’ until early 1900s • Male whiteness became criteria for citizenship and voting rights-In the U.S., “white” is an “unmarked” racial category • Linguistic term• what is means to be a ‘standard American’ Categories: Caucasian & Hispanic-German scientist Johann Blumenbach• 5 racial categories: Mongolian, Caucasian, Malayan, Negro, American • # categories has ranged 3-20+; scientific problem -Caucasus Mountains 1795• Bumenbach: “world’s most beautiful people” • Armenians, Persians and North Indians, Northern Iran, South-central Russian, Georgia and Azerbaijan-Caucasian • Culture? Ethnicity? Ancestral home? Language? • Conveys false scentific precision & authority -Hispanic..? Estimation of Biological Ancestry -Broad Racial Categories• Negroid, Mongoloid, Caucasoid-Important traits• The mid-facial region of the cranium is the most useful part of the skeleton-the area between the eye sockets-nasal bones-base of the nasal opening-nasal opening-eye sockets -cheek bones -So much Diversity within populations -No “pure” races EVER Genetics of Race-Sandra Laing, South Africa -two white parents have a black child -Family has twins, one white one dark -Skin Color-Bone Structure (face)-Hair form -Eye Shape/color-Race Classification Human Biological Variation -Phenotype- visible variation; a product of genes and environment -Genotype= variation in the gem one (DNA)-Most phenotypic traits are not single genes • e.g. eye color (a gene for..)• Linked traits, sometimes located on the same chromosomes -Most traits controlled by multiple genes and environment• Range/continuous variation • Height • Eye, skin, hair color• Hair texture• intelligence, athleticism, musical/artistic ability What have we learned from Genetics -Penguins• 2x genetic diversity of humans-2 people at ransom share more than 99% DNA• No genetic trait shared by all within a population• Majority of variation exists between people of same population • just as much genetic diversity within a population as from separate