Member-only story
There Is No Such Thing as Race at the Genetic Level
The part of the human genome that makes our skin and hair look different is tiny compared to what we share. Race is 100% a social construct, though it is still being used as a biological category.
Those in certain minority groups are being hit harder by COVID-19 than others. In particular, the black population in America accounts for 33% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, while accounting for only 13% of the total population. Economic and social conditions drive these differences, not genetic or biologically-based ones.
Minority groups experience:
- Higher rates of poverty,
- More toxic stress with long-term health consequences,
- Poor living conditions in more densely populated areas,
- Less career advancement and educational opportunities,
- Less access to health insurance,
- Less access to high quality nutrition, and more.
These groups experience these inequalities not because of who they are at the biological level, but because of historical and systemic prejudice. And these inequalities tend to lead to greater likelihood of obesity and chronic health conditions, all of which are leaving these groups prone to developing more serious symptoms related to COVID-19.
Race is an attribute that we tend to take for granted, yet our identity is often strongly rooted in the race or races to which we feel that we belong. Even those who don’t acknowledge their racial allegiance have been shown to carry hefty racial biases that affect their responses to those they perceive as racially unlike themselves.
For these reasons and more, many scholars now urge us to abandon the concept of race entirely, and say that continuing to use the concept of race supports inequality and misunderstanding between individuals and groups alike.
Race Is a Myth
Way back in 1950, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued a statement saying that “race” is a myth, not a biological reality, and…
