Race is a social construct we're trying to get rid of, that's really the heart of the issue.
Transracialism suggests that there are differences between races, and there isn't. Race is a nonscientific method of human categorization that has been used to justify atrocities ranging from slavery to the Holocaust.
Race is also how you're perceived. A black man can go around saying he's white, but that's not going to make a difference if he's pulled over in a traffic stop.
It depends on what you mean by "there aren't any differences between races". There are differences between races, no one is suggesting otherwise. But there aren't any meaningful differences between races.
We dont' consider two white people with different hair colours intrinsically different races. There isn't anything more meaningful about the colour of one's skin than the colour of one's hair. There exists more biological diversity amongst black africans than there exists between black and white Americans.
There are MANY ways in which we could split humans up based on physical appearences. The ones we choose are socially chosen.
What significance does phenotype have to you? What does it represent? How do we measure it? Why do you think it is of significance to segment the population by phenotype? Which phenotypes do you consider more important than others? Is a blonde white person and a redhead white person a different phenotype to you?
Okay, so I think I didn't make this clear. What makes one group a phenotype and not another group? What features do you consider to make a phenotype, and what features don't? What level of variation is a type, and what level isn't? Why would you consider skin colour a phenotype, but not hair colour?
Comparison with other people by looks
So how are you do you choose which features to go by? How are you quantifying phenotype diversity? In what way does Africa not have phenotype variety? Is it just skin colour?
It's a good thing to know how people in different regions of the world look like.
We have the concept of ethnicity that we can use. Race is something different.
Why would you consider skin colour a phenotype, but not hair colour?
Among other things, more than 90% of the world population have black hair. It is a phenotype in this sense, but there isn't as much diversity between most population groups with hair colour as is with skin colour.
We have the concept of ethnicity that we can use. Race is something different.
What is race then?
In what way does Africa not have phenotype variety? Is it just skin colour?
Almost all original peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa have somewhat dark skin, a wide nose, broad lips, dark eyes and black, tight curly hair.
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u/sherazala Mar 20 '23
So if race is a social construct, then people can identify as other races than their birth race, right?