Race Does Not Define Us… Even Our Genetics

 Joseph Cabornero

Professor John Horgan

HST 401-A

7 February 2024

Race Does Not Define Us… Even Our Genetics

Contrary to what many might believe, race has little impact on our genetic makeup. According to Carl Zimmer from The New York Times, The National Academies of Sciences recommends that gene researchers cease the use of race as a category in their work (Zimmer). In the 239-page report, it explains how race as a category for genetic research is a poor choice for measuring genetic diversity.  This is because race is a social construct and holds only a small influence over gene makeup. We might think our race genetically defines us, but many geneticists, like Dr. Daniel Fairbanks, think race can’t distinguish people from other races genetically because all humans originated from Africa. Humans later Migrated to different parts of the world from Africa, but it had a minimal effect on our genetics (The Genetics Society).

But how can this be? Races share hair color and facial features, isn’t that genetic? Dr. Fairbanks says in an interview with The Genetics Society that those racial characteristics are “just a very small subset of all the variations that we have” (The Genetics Society). In his example, he compares two black groups in Africa. The Masai people are some of the tallest people in the world and yet the pygmy are some of the smallest. 

Unfortunately, in the past genetic research was used to confirm racial bias of the past that white people were superior to other races. It is now understood to be a lot less useful to keep race as a category in this scientific field. This isn’t always the case, in terms of healthcare and medicine, it is important to consider race. Some races are more susceptible to certain diseases and conditions. For example, NBC News ran a story speaking on the predicted increase in cases of Hispanic people with Alzheimer’s. They reported, “By 2060, cases among Hispanic Americans are projected to Increase seven times over today's estimates, according to The CDC” (NBC News). They continue, “Using a pool of patients from all different backgrounds, Dr. Seles and her team have already identified a genetic variant linked to Puerto Ricans” (NBC News). However, there is often so little correlation between genetics and race that races have more in common with different races than their own. 

What makes it seem like these races are so similar is not genetic makeup but the shared culture and traditions. These people being around each other might make it seem they have more in common when compared to other races. Oftentimes people don’t realize how much in common they have with each other until they spend time with each other. In places where one race is the majority, they also share specific issues that affect their genetics unrelated to their race. Zimmer explains, “Groups who live in neighborhoods with high air pollution, for example, will have higher rates of certain diseases” (Zimmer). People unfamiliar with this concept might believe it’s their race that causes those problems.

Races also share experiences of how other races in society treat them. For instance, black people in America have gone through so much between being brought into the country through slavery and then being treated as less than human long after they were freed. They might “act similarly” due to what society has put them through collectively as a race. 

This would even cause them to raise their kids differently in order to protect them. For example, in Chris Rock’s latest comedy special Selective Outrage, he ends his performance with the line, “I got parents, and you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people (Selective Outrage). Chris’ Mother was raised decades before Jim Crow was abolished. A time when black people had to get dental work done by Veterinarians. They understood the dangers of acting out in public due to how white people viewed them. They don’t want to attract more attention or be targeted by police. How society views their race changes how they act, not their “racial genetics.”  


 

Works Cited

The Genetics Society. “Why Race Is Not Based in Genetics – with Daniel Fairbanks.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 Apr. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNP2eAxLraA. 

NBC News. “How Diversifying Alzheimer’s Genetic Research Studies Is Advancing Treatment.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Mar. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ1kG5z1EW0. 

Selective Outrage. Directed by Joel Gallen, Performance by Chris Rock, Netflix studios, 2023. Netflix.

Zimmer, Carl. “Guidelines Warn against Racial Categories in Genetic Research.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Mar. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/science/race-genetics-research-national-academies.html?searchResultPosition=1. 

 

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