Dienekes – What is a race?
Friday, March 12th, 2010The link
This is an excellent post that differentiates between a genetic isolate and a race. They are NOT the same thing. A race must be genetically isolated, but being genetically isolated is not a sufficient condition to have a race.
There seems to be a confusion between race and “inbred population”, or “reproductively isolated population”. For example, Steve Sailer defines race as follows:
“A racial group is an extended family that is inbred to some degree.”goddless capitalist uses races as a synonym for “reproductively isolated groups”.
It’s true that relative inbreeding (within the race) is a necessary condition for a race to exist. But, it is not sufficient as we will show by means of examples.
Example #1. The Amish are an inbred population. Occasionally foreigners marry into the Amish population, but not often. The Amish are a population that is inbred not to some degree, but to a great degree. Are they a race? Of course not. They are simply a genetic isolate within the Caucasoid race. The same is true for the Samaritans, a genetic isolate of about 650 members in Syria and Lebanon. The Samaritans are also a genetic isolate within the Caucasoid race.
It was recently proven that Caucasoids, Mongoloids, Negroids, Australoids and Amerindians could be distinguished from one another with an objective test. That is because these groups are inbred populations that have had enough time to evolve group specific genetic profiles. That is what makes a race.
Consider the example of a hypothetical island on which 500 Swedish and 500 Nigerian settlers intermix to form a hybrid population. After a few generations of interbreeding, the population will remain what it is: a racially mixed population. Its individuals will be random assortments of genes in the parental gene pools. But, they won’t be a race distinct from others in the sense that Caucasoids and Mongoloids are distinct. Over time, this inbred population may also develop into a race, as it evolves separately from the rest of mankind and develops its own genetic profile.
These examples should caution us against using “reproductively isolated group”, or “partially inbred extended family” as synonyms for race.