Introduction
All issues related to the origin and evolution of man, the formation of races, are studied by the science of anthropology. One of the sections of anthropology is – racial studies – the science that studies human races. Every person needs to study the biological evidence of the unity of the origin of races in order to be convinced of the inconsistency and inhumanity of racism.
Human Biological Variation vs “Race”
First of all, I learned from sources that the races began to add up to 30-40 tons. years ago, even individual groups of people, being in very different natural conditions, acquired differences in appearance. False ideas I had before are associated with the emergence of racism. The first racist ideas originated in ancient Egypt, where it was believed that slaves were representatives of an inferior breed of people (Graves 581). I did not think that ancient people viewed slaves as a different species, and that this was an example of racism.
Some people who have not gained this information continue to falsely base their racist beliefs on the fact that the struggle for existence is a law of nature. Therefore, they, having no information about the nature of genetic differences, believe that races can be divided into higher and lower. Seeking and finding new information regarding the evolution of DNA and genome was exciting (Graves 584). In the process of searching for new information, I tried to make assumptions and reflect, and then check myself. For example, at first, I tried to independently recall the external signs that helped people adapt to environmental conditions and, during natural selection, were fixed in the genes and began to be transmitted from generation to generation.
I have successfully organized the knowledge I have already acquired into my existing knowledge. I knew about the taxonomy of races, and already had an idea that they are divided into Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloid (Fuentes 501). The knowledge gained helped me to see not only the differences, but also the similarities and their common origin. Opinion based on false belief was that races are different, and have significant differences in the DNA and genome. Inquiry has shown that the differences between people of different races are not as striking as is commonly believed.
Other sources, for example, my family or people I know, more conditioned their knowledge on religious traditions. For example, I have often heard a legend about how God created people from clay and the temperature regime affected the color of their skin. I was surprised to realize that this legend really has something in common with reality. Skin color is indeed one of the biological adaptations to the climatic conditions of the habitat (Deyrup et al. 404). The images presented in the video are an excellent source of information and visual learning. These, as well as the narrator’s emotional and statistical examples, are ways of how pathos, ethos and logos show up even in the video.
Variants of a Virus vs Human Biological Variation
Variants of a virus as an example of biological variation. Compare to human biological variation. I learned from sources that millions of years ago retro elements and retroviruses participated in evolution, acting as a genetic reservoir for the creation of new genes and the complication of species. False ideas I had before are related to the perception of viruses. I did not think that they could be not only deadly harmful, but also beneficial (Deyrup et al. 394). I did not think that viruses could act as one of the tools of evolution, regulating the number and viability of populations, but considered them only as malicious creatures.
Other people who have not failed this information still believe that the diversification of variations of both humans and bacteria evolve by acquiring unique genotypes with excellent ecological functionality. They may think that human races, as well as viruses that originally consisted of one genotype, develop into a complex ecosystem of up to three racial subspecies. The process of seeking and finding new information was quite time-consuming. I got acquainted with many theories regarding the genotypes of variation of viruses or humans (“Twievo 74”). However, there were not so many works comparing and contrasting the processes of humans and viruses, which created certain difficulties in finding information.
In the space of my knowledge, information about viruses and people existed separately. It was difficult for me to organize new information into my knowledge because it was not easy to combine areas of knowledge that previously existed separately. Opinion based on false belief consists in either excessive equating or excessive separation of the concept of the human genome and viruses (Fuentes 502). After conducting an inquiry, it becomes obvious that both of these opinions have both false and sound provisions. However, before the inquiry, it is impossible to draw a line between them independently, since the topic is complex and requires extensive scientific knowledge.
I did not learn much about the human and bacterial genome from other sources. The religious beliefs of my culture view both viruses and man as a creation of God. Therefore, according to the religious worldview, their genome should be similar (Graves 582). The video presentation of this topic was more convenient to understand due to the visibility. Whereas in the text it was necessary to constantly look at the illustrations and at the same time remember quite complex explanations, in the video these processes were facilitated by the narrator’s voice superimposed on the images. Pathos, ethos and logos are present in video due to the active passion of the scientists and their demonstration of various visually statistical materials.
Civil War Documents and View of Racism
From the sources I learned that there is a concept of positive discrimination, representing additional benefits for minorities, in particular, advantages over whites during the Civil War, fixed at the state level. Previously, I thought that the fight against racism began relatively recently and has progressed quite strongly. However, I learned that the history of the fight against racism is very long, and began during the Civil War (Graves 588). However, there is still a lot to be done in the field of restoring minority rights, because progress in this area is much less than I imagined.
Other people who have not failed this information may think that the racial issue during the Civil War and the law issued by the Senate in 2022 somehow infringe on the rights of whites. In fact, this issue has always been and is being paid attention because of the need to restore injustice. The process of seeking and finding new information was complicated by the fact that, mainly regarding historical events, either dry facts with dates were submitted, representing a list of events, or a biased opinion of a particular historian (Deyrup et al. 391). Therefore, it was difficult to find information that would allow me to form my own vision of this issue.
It was not difficult to organize the acquired knowledge into a general sphere of knowledge. I already had extensive knowledge of the Civil War, gained in history lessons, so I just supplemented them. According to false belief, many historians, as well as the modern Senate, pay too much attention to the problems of racism (“Twievo 74”). At the same time, the problems of the white population, which is thus oppressed, remain unnoticed. However, the inquiry demonstrates that, in fact, the problems of racism are more urgent, and their consideration in a historical context helps to eliminate the injustice that has been established today.
From other sources, during discussions of bills issued by the Senate, or discussions about the civil war with family members or friends, I learned only speculation, which, as the inquiry showed, diverged from reality. I liked the video presentation of information a little less than the text, since a significant layer of information that seemed important to me was not discussed due to the limited time of the speakers. Images in this case are a source of information and visual learning, but the text is of great importance, since it gives an understanding of what is happening in the images. Pathos, ethos and logos are clearly expressed in the video due to the presentation of material combining personal experience and statistical facts.
Conclusion
At this point, I came to the conclusion that the genotype of people is not as different as it is accepted in society, and these differences are due to biological environmental factors, and not the superiority of one race over another. I also concluded that focusing on the problem of racism in the context of historical events allows me to better understand the processes taking place in modern times. Future research on topics I want to know more about, in relation to my major and college career as well as my personal goals includes the study of modern bills dealing with racism issues.
Works Cited
Deyrup, Andrea, et al. “Racial Biology and Medical Misconceptions.” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 386, no. 116, 2022, pp. 501–503.
Fuentes, AgustĂn. “Biology versus bias Racism, Not Race: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.” Science Journal, vol. 375, no. 6579, 2022, pp. 390–411.
Graves, Joseph. “Human Biological Variation and the “Normal”.” American Journal of Human Biology, vol. 33, no. 5, 2021, pp. 579–590.
“Twievo 74: On Racism, Not Race with Joe Graves.” YouTube, uploaded by Vincent Racaniello. 2022. Web.