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Race as a Recent Scientific Construct
- High school textbooks in the 1970s presented the three races (Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid) as scientific fact.
- Nell Irvin Painter reveals this was not always the case, becoming accepted science only in the 1940s.
The Biological Basis of Skin Color
- All humans share a common ancestor from Africa, variations in skin color arose due to environmental factors like sun exposure.
- Scientifically, race is not a meaningful biological category, but rather a social construct.
The Social Reality of Race
- There is minimal genetic variation between human groups traditionally categorized as races.
- Race is a powerful social and political construct, despite lacking biological grounding.