Race still relevant

By D.C. Swinton

Eddie Scarry is wrong in his assertion that race is no longer a controversial issue. I wonder how many times someone has had to say those words: “Eddie is wrong.”

Race does matter, but not in the way that he and most of the public portrays it.  It is an asinine social construct that has crippled society and led to the never-ending stereotypes of what it means to “act white” or “act black.” It is a true poison that continues to drive wedges within our species.  

The idea of races in humans first appeared in the 16th Century to distinguish a “kind” or “type,” like certain people within a particular job. By the 18th Century, it evolved into a ranking system to distinguish those of different skin tones and, rather rapidly, contained false sentiments of superiority and intellect.

Scarry claims that issues with race simply are in the past.  He is a newspaper editor and yet it appears that he doesn’t read any.

Recall the Jena 6 from 2006.  Recall the judge who would not marry an interracial couple in 2009.

What we as a society need to do is realize that race is not a biological fact.  Even in 1998, Washington University biology professor Dr. Templeton said that “race” is a “political and economic concept, but it is not a biological concept, and that unfortunately is what many people wrongfully consider to be the essence of race in humans.”

The idea of race as a biological concept has tortured our species for centuries. Look at the world’s population. There are more peoples of color – not just limited to “blacks” – that are in poverty than there are with lighter skins.

I guess Scarry slept through the majority of his history courses that discussed the European exploitation of Africa and India.

Maybe he was skipping class when there were lectures on the Trail of Tears and the several broken treaties with the Native Americans, forcing them onto terrible land.  Perhaps he was too busy to notice that four out of five Latinos or “African Americans” live within 30 miles of a coal plant or waste site in the south and yet they account for only 26 percent of the national population!

Dr. Templeton went on to say that, after his analysis of genetic data from mitochondrial DNA, 85 percent of our genetic variation was due to individual variation, not “racial.”

So before we try to ignore and avoid discussions of race, it is paramount that we eliminate the inequalities that it has caused.

And while Glenn Beck, Jr. may not be up for the challenge, I know I am.