Our Human Family

Natalie Davis on "racial" classification insanity:

Believe me, I generally do not engage in horn tooting. Being wrong more than often enough, I am always worried about stating categorically, and for the world to see, that I am correct about anything — especially when it appears as if 99 percent of the world disagrees with me. (Doesn't mean I don't speak my mind — obviously — but it does mean that doing so is often painful and unpleasant.) But on this issue, I don't care if anyone decides to label me naive, insane, or, as the slam is liable to be, something worse. Because when it comes to my assertion that the only race is the human race — save for speed contests, of course — I am right.

Well said Natalie, and as long-time readers of my blog already know, I wholeheartedly agree. We are all family, as we all share the same biological beginnings in Africa. The superficial differences you see in skin color, hair, etc. are simply geographical adaption applied over centuries by environmental stimuli, at least that's the Cliff's Notes version as told to me (name drop alert) by noted anthropologist Dr. C. Loring Brace. These differences do not constitute separate "races", nor are they a permanent condition of the human experience. Our species hasn't stopped evolving and recombining folks. Let's stop attaching some magical, mystical importance to these recent, temporary adaptations. Natalie and I are cousins when you get down to it – same as everyone else. Like it or lump it, we are ALL related to both David Duke and Al Sharpton. It's time to stop boxing each other in. Our family deserves better than that. Read the rest of Natalie's posting here.