- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Perseus; New edition edition (29 July 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0813343224
- ISBN-13: 978-0813343228
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,066,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Race: The Reality of Human Differences
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Product Description
Product Description
This book contends that race is a biologically real phenomenon with important consequences, contrary to widespread and politically correct views that race doesn't matter - or doesn't even exist When the head of the Human Genome Project and a former President of the United States both assure us that we are all, regardless of race, genetically 99.9 per cent the same, the clear implication is that racial differences among us are superficial. The concept of race, many would argue, is an inadequate map of the physical reality of human variation. In short, human races are not biologically valid categories, and the very ideas of race and racial difference are morally suspect in that they support racism. In Race, Vincent Sarich and Frank Miele argue strongly against received academic wisdom, contending that human racial differences are both real and significant. Relying on the latest findings in nuclear, mitochondrial, and Y-chromosome DNA research, Sarich and Miele demonstrate that the recent origin of racial differences among modern humans provides powerful evidence of the significance, not the triviality, of those differences. They place the "99.9 per cent the same" figure in context by showing that racial differences in humans exceed the differences that separate subspecies or even species in such other primates as gorillas and chimpanzees. The authors conclude with the paradox that, while, scientific honesty requires forthright recognition of racial differences, public policy should not recognize racial-group membership.
About the Author
Vincent Sarich is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. Frank Miele is senior editor with Skeptic magazine.
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First Sentence
This book is about what remains America's most taboo four-letter word-R-A-C-E. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
This book is about what remains America's most taboo four-letter word-R-A-C-E. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are many more reviews of this book over on Amazon.com, where it is amusing to see people getting their knickers in a twist trying to trash the book. I say don't listen to them, (or even to me!); buy it and make up your own mind. Anyone (and I mean anyone) who is interested in human variation should find something of interest in this book. Sure, it will make a lot of people angry, but then so what! I personally enjoyed it enormously, but if you are of a 'PC' bent it may make your hair fall out!!! ;-)
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book sets out to prove a very simple idea, which would be commonsense if it weren't for politically correct ideology: that races in fact do exist as a biological reality, and that they do differ in many physical and (yes) possibly mental traits.
They debunk a number of politically correct but ultimately meaningless statements (e.g. "we are all Africans", or "85% of genetic variance is within ethnic groups", or "we share 99.99% of our genes with each other"), and show how political correctness has led to distorted or outright falsified accounts of recent genetic and biological findings.
They also propose how to deal with the issues of race - one might or might not agree with them, but getting the facts straight (which is the bulk of the book) is important no matter what.
They debunk a number of politically correct but ultimately meaningless statements (e.g. "we are all Africans", or "85% of genetic variance is within ethnic groups", or "we share 99.99% of our genes with each other"), and show how political correctness has led to distorted or outright falsified accounts of recent genetic and biological findings.
They also propose how to deal with the issues of race - one might or might not agree with them, but getting the facts straight (which is the bulk of the book) is important no matter what.
1 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book should be called, "Racism: We Didn't Start It!". With the help of a mere handful of historical anecdotes (which ignore broader historical evidence), the authors stumble over themselves to prove that racism did not originate with Europeans. In particular, they refer to a few derogatory comments about Black Africans made by Greeks, Arabs, Egyptians, etc., and inflate them into sweeping generalisations about the views of the ancient world. For example, two references are made to the stele of the Twelfth Dynasty Pharaoh Sesostris III, whilst carefully ignoring the centuries-long reign of the Kushite Empire; and the destructive sweep of the Aryans from the Caucasus Mountains into India, introducing the caste system and gender oppression, is also ignored. In order to justify its premise, the core of the book relies on Sarich's extensive anthropological knowledge. Whilst very informative of itself, this data provides no definitive answers to most of the authors' claims. The book ends with the expected call to avoid racism, and seems to feel that this is the task of government to force upon individuals, rather than the consequence of a more enlightened society.
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