Race Without Color PDF
Race Without Color PDF
Race Without Color PDF
ID=436
interbreed with yellow-throated birds. That's why we states would stand out from afar against the brown ground
consider myrtle warblers and Audubon warblers as races of and would be picked off by predators.
the same species rather than different species.
Other traits vary geographically because of sexual selection,
Racial classification of these birds is easy. Throat color, meaning that those traits serve as arbitrary signals by which
voice, and habitat preference all vary geographically in individuals of one sex attract mates of the opposite sex
yellow-rumped warblers, but the variation of those three while intimidating rivals. Adult male lions, for instance,
traits is "concordant"--that is, voice differences or habitat have a mane, but lionesses and young males don't. The adult
differences lead to the same racial classification as male's mane signals to lionesses that he is sexually mature,
differences in throat color because the same populations that and signals to young male rivals that he is a dangerous and
differ in throat color also differ in voice and habitat. experienced adversary. The length and color of a lion's
mane vary among populations, being shorter and blacker in
Racial classification of many other species, though, presents Indian lions than in African lions. Indian lions and lionesses
problems of concordance. For instance, a Pacific island bird evidently find short black manes sexy or intimidating;
species called the golden whistler varies from one island to African lions don't.
the next. Some populations consist of big birds, some of
small birds; some have black-winged males, others green- Finally, some geographically variable traits have no known
winged males; some have yellow-breasted females, others effect on survival and are invisible to rivals and to
gray- breasted females; many other characteristics vary as prospective sex partners. They merely reflect mutations that
well. But, unfortunately for humans like me who study happened to arise and spread in one area. They could
these birds, those characteristics don't vary concordantly. equally well have arisen and spread elsewhere--they just
Islands with green-winged males can have either yellow- didn't.
breasted or gray-breasted females, and green-winged males
are big on some islands but small on other islands. As a Nothing that I've said about geographic variation in animals
result, if you classified golden whistlers into races based on is likely to get me branded a racist. We don't attribute higher
single traits, you would get entirely different classifications IQ or social status to black-winged whistlers than to green-
depending on which trait you chose. winged whistlers. But now let's consider geographic
variation in humans. We'll start with invisible traits, about
Classification of these birds also presents problems of which it's easy to remain dispassionate.
"hierarchy." Some of the golden whistler races recognized
by ornithologists are wildly different from all the other Many geographically variable human traits evolved by
races, but some are very similar to one another. They can natural selection to adapt humans to particular climates or
therefore be grouped into a hierarchy of distinctness. You environments--just as the winter color of a hare or weasel
start by establishing the most distinct population as a race did. Good examples are the mutations that people in tropical
separate from all other populations. You then separate the parts of the Old World evolved to help them survive
most distinct of the remaining populations. You continue by malaria, the leading infectious disease of the old-world
grouping similar populations, and separating distinct tropics. One such mutation is the sickle-cell gene, so-called
populations or groups of populations as races or groups of because the red blood cells of people with that mutation
races. The problem is that the extent to which you continue tend to assume a sickle shape. People bearing the gene are
the racial classification is arbitrary, and it's a decision about more resistant to malaria than people without it. Not
which taxonomists disagree passionately. Some surprisingly, the gene is absent from northern Europe,
taxonomists, the "splitters," like to recognize many different where malaria is nonexistent, but it's common in tropical
races, partly for the egotistical motive of getting credit for Africa, where malaria is widespread. Up to 40 percent of
having named a race. Other taxonomists, the "lumpers," Africans in such areas carry the sickle- cell gene. It's also
prefer to recognize few races. Which type of taxonomist common in the malaria-ridden Arabian Peninsula and
you are is a matter of personal preference. southern India, and rare or absent in the southernmost parts
of South Africa, among the Xhosas, who live mostly
How does that variability of traits by which we classify beyond the tropical geographic range of malaria.
races come about in the first place? Some traits vary
because of natural selection: that is, one form of the trait is The geographic range of human malaria is much wider than
advantageous for survival in one area, another form in a the range of the sickle-cell gene. As it happens, other
different area. For example, northern hares and weasels antimalarial genes take over the protective function of the
develop white fur in the winter, but southern ones retain sickle-cell gene in malarial Southeast Asia and New Guinea
brown fur year-round. The white winter fur is selected in and in Italy, Greece, and other warm parts of the
the north for camouflage against the snow, while any animal Mediterranean basin. Thus human races, if defined by
unfortunate enough to turn white in the snowless southern antimalarial genes, would be very different from human
DISCOVER Vol. 15 No. 11 | November 1994 RACE WITHOUT COLOR By Jared Diamond
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races as traditionally defined by traits such as skin color. As loss. Tall basketball players, for example, have an obvious
classified by antimalarial genes (or their absence), Swedes advantage over short ones, and slender, long-limbed tall
are grouped with Xhosas but not with Italians or Greeks. players have an advantage over stout, short- limbed tall
Most other peoples usually viewed as African blacks are players. In the United States, it's a familiar observation that
grouped with Arabia's "whites" and are kept separate from African Americans are disproportionately represented
the "black" Xhosas. among professional basketball players. Of course, a
contributing reason has to do with their lack of
Antimalarial genes exemplify the many features of our body socioeconomic opportunities. But part of the reason
chemistry that vary geographically under the influence of probably has to do with the prevalent body shapes of some
natural selection. Another such feature is the enzyme black African groups as well. However, this example also
lactase, which enables us to digest the milk sugar lactose. illustrates the dangers in facile racial stereotyping. One can't
Infant humans, like infants of almost all other mammal make the sweeping generalization that "whites can't jump,"
species, possess lactase and drink milk. Until about 6,000 or that "blacks' anatomy makes them better basketball
years ago most humans, like all other mammal species, lost players." Only certain African peoples are notably tall and
the lactase enzyme on reaching the age of weaning. The long-limbed; even those exceptional peoples are tall and
obvious reason is that it was unnecessary--no human or long-limbed only on the average and vary individually.)
other mammal drank milk as an adult. Beginning around
4000 B.C., however, fresh milk obtained from domestic Other visible traits that vary geographically among humans
mammals became a major food for adults of a few human evolved by means of sexual selection. We all know that we
populations. Natural selection caused individuals in these find some individuals of the opposite sex more attractive
populations to retain lactase into adulthood. Among such than other individuals. We also know that in sizing up sex
peoples are northern and central Europeans, Arabians, north appeal, we pay more attention to certain parts of a
Indians, and several milk-drinking black African peoples, prospective sex partner's body than to other parts. Men tend
such as the Fulani of West Africa. Adult lactase is much to be inordinately interested in women's breasts and much
less common in southern European populations and in most less concerned with women's toenails. Women, in turn, tend
other African black populations, as well as in all to be turned on by the shape of a man's buttocks or the
populations of east Asians, aboriginal Australians, and details of a man's beard and body hair, if any, but not by the
American Indians. size of his feet.
Once again races defined by body chemistry don't match But all those determinants of sex appeal vary
races defined by skin color. Swedes belong with Fulani in geographically. Khoisan and Andaman Island women tend
the "lactase-positive race," while most African "blacks," to have much larger buttocks than most other women.
Japanese, and American Indians belong in the "lactase- Nipple color and breast shape and size also vary
negative race." geographically among women. European men are rather
hairy by world standards, while Southeast Asian men tend
Not all the effects of natural selection are as invisible as to have very sparse beards and body hair.
lactase and sickle cells. Environmental pressures have also
produced more noticeable differences among peoples, What's the function of these traits that differ so markedly
particularly in body shapes. Among the tallest and most between men and women? They certainly don't aid survival:
long-limbed peoples in the world are the Nilotic peoples, it's not the case that orange nipples help Khoisan women
such as the Dinkas, who live in the hot, dry areas of East escape lions, while darker nipples help European women
Africa. At the opposite extreme in body shape are the Inuit, survive cold winters. Instead, these varying traits play a
or Eskimo, who have compact bodies and relatively short crucial role in sexual selection. Women with very large
arms and legs. The reasons have to do with heat loss. The buttocks are a turn-on, or at least acceptable, to Khoisan and
greater the surface area of a warm body, the more body heat Andaman men but look freakish to many men from other
that's lost, since heat loss is directly proportional to surface parts of the world. Bearded and hairy men readily find
area. For people of a given weight, a long-limbed, tall shape mates in Europe but fare worse in Southeast Asia. The
maximizes surface area, while a compact, short-limbed geographic variation of these traits, however, is as arbitrary
shape minimizes it. Dinkas and Inuit have opposite as the geographic variation in the color of a lion's mane.
problems of heat balance: the former usually need
desperately to get rid of body heat, while the latter need There is a third possible explanation for the function of
desperately to conserve it. Thus natural selection molded geographically variable human traits, besides survival or
their body shapes oppositely, based on their contrasting sexual selection- -namely, no function at all. A good
climates. example is provided by fingerprints, whose complex pattern
of arches, loops, and whorls is determined genetically.
(In modern times, such considerations of body shape have Fingerprints also vary geographically: for example,
become important to athletic performance as well as to heat Europeans' fingerprints tend to have many loops, while
DISCOVER Vol. 15 No. 11 | November 1994 RACE WITHOUT COLOR By Jared Diamond
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aboriginal Australians' fingerprints tend to have many hypothesis for how those variations might actually enhance
whorls. survival.
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and hair straighteners enjoy such wide sales. You can bet A method that could in principle overcome these problems
that it's not to improve our chances of surviving grizzly bear is to base racial classification on a combination of as many
attacks and other risks endemic to the North American geographically variable genes as possible. Within the past
continent. decade, some biologists have shown renewed interest in
developing a hierarchical classification of human
Nearly 125 years ago Charles Darwin himself, the populations--hierarchical not in the sense that it identifies
discoverer of natural selection, dismissed its role as an superior and inferior races but in the sense of grouping and
explanation of geographic variation in human beauty traits. separating populations based on mathematical measures of
Everything that we have learned since then only reinforces genetic distinctness. While the biologists still haven't
Darwin's view. reached agreement, some of their studies suggest that
human genetic diversity may be greatest in Africa. If so, the
We can now return to our original questions: Are human primary races of humanity may consist of several African
racial classifications that are based on different traits races, plus one race to encompass all peoples of all other
concordant with one another? What is the hierarchical continents. Swedes, New Guineans, Japanese, and Navajo
relation among recognized races? What is the function of would then belong to the same primary race; the Khoisans
racially variable traits? What, really, are the traditional of southern Africa would constitute another primary race by
human races? themselves; and African "blacks" and Pygmies would be
divided among several other primary races.
Regarding concordance, we could have classified races
based on any number of geographically variable traits. The As regards the function of all those traits that are useful for
resulting classifications would not be at all concordant. classifying human races, some serve to enhance survival,
Depending on whether we classified ourselves by some to enhance sexual selection, while some serve no
antimalarial genes, lactase, fingerprints, or skin color, we function at all. The traits we traditionally use are ones
could place Swedes in the same race as either Xhosas, subject to sexual selection, which is not really surprising.
Fulani, the Ainu of Japan, or Italians. These traits are not only visible at a distance but also highly
variable; that's why they became the ones used throughout
Regarding hierarchy, traditional classifications that recorded history to make quick judgments about people.
emphasize skin color face unresolvable ambiguities. Racial classification didn't come from science but from the
Anthropology textbooks often recognize five major races: body's signals for differentiating attractive from unattractive
"whites," "African blacks," "Mongoloids," "aboriginal sex partners, and for differentiating friend from foe.
Australians," and "Khoisans," each in turn divided into
various numbers of sub-races. But there is no agreement on Such snap judgments didn't threaten our existence back
the number and delineation of the sub-races, or even of the when people were armed only with spears and surrounded
major races. Are all five of the major races equally by others who looked mostly like themselves. In the modern
distinctive? Are Nigerians really less different from Xhosas world, though, we are armed with guns and plutonium, and
than aboriginal Australians are from both? Should we we live our lives surrounded by people who are much more
recognize 3 or 15 sub-races of Mongoloids? These varied in appearance. The last thing we need now is to
questions have remained unresolved because skin color and continue codifying all those different appearances into an
other traditional racial criteria are difficult to formulate arbitrary system of racial classification.
mathematically.
DISCOVER Vol. 15 No. 11 | November 1994 RACE WITHOUT COLOR By Jared Diamond