But there are two troubling suppositions that the anthropologist in me has
to address. First, there is the assumption that anything like a "pure"
race exists. Even the two most different-appearing people or populations
are so much alike genetically that the biological and genetic traits that
divide them constitute a miniscule proportion of their total genetic
make-up. An article (I think in Discover; I'll look it up) a couple of
years ago calculated that after 10,000 years of selective breeding
(eugenics) we would be able to show no more than about a 6% change in human
gene frequencies! And we know that it takes only 1 (that's right ONE)
immigrant per generation to maintain gene flow between two populations that
otherwise do not interbreed.
So, to take the example of our granddaughter, she has genes on one side
from Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, the British Isles, Normandy, and
North American Natives; on the other side from Spain, Africa, and Central
American Natives. So what "race" is she? They couldn't tell at the D.C.
hospital where she was born. In fact, her parents had several choices,
many of which were different from their own "races" as recorded on their
marriage certificate.
The second issue is that there is anything like a "pure" culture (see an
article by Wax, 1993 in _Anthropology and Education Quarterly_). It isn't
only our genes that come in contact when people interact, it is also our
cultures. There are numerous examples of cultural artifacts, including
language, being present far from their culture of origin and transmitted by
trade, warfare, or other forms of social contact. Each culture has in it
elements that it has adopted as a result of these contacts, and it can be a
colossal waste of time and energy to "preserve" and purify the culture
(witness the Academie Francaise).
So, to go back to my granddaughter, what "culture" does she have? and why
does she (or can she) have one without the others? She lives closest to
her relatives from El Salvador, so her cultural milieu will probably
reflect that, just as my children live closest to their relatives from
Northern Italy. But, when she travels to El Salvador they will not
recognize her as a Native (this has happened to one of our graduate
students from Colombia, but who was raise in New York).
So, we need to stop thinking of humans as imperfect representations of some
ideal "pure" culture or race. Once again, it is not the facts of the
matter that give us trouble, but the political and social ends to which
these concepts are put.
Anj
Andrew J. Petto, PhD
Associate Director
Center for Biology Education
660 WARF
University of Wisconsin
MADISON WI 53705-2397
Voice: 608.263-0478
Fax: 608.262-0014
Internet: ajpetto@macc.wisc.edu
Bitnet: ajpetto@wiscmacc