Very few credible or publicized articles on white supremacy and genetic proof it exists. Why in the world did the NYTimes pursue this for an article? Part of the agenda - they want to pretend that 'white people' are racist. The sad truth is that everyone has some kind of bias, conscience or sub-conscience. But there are less than 2500 white supremacists in the US, or <0.0001% of the population. Does that justify an article?!
15
White supremecists should be cautious about advancing claims to privilege or deference on the basis of their allegedly superior intellects. They might find themselves standing farther from the front of the line than they suppose.
39
Aside from all the scientific inaccuracies, what is ironic is that the average IQ of white supremacists is probably below the average of any ethnic group- black, white or purple. It would have to be, given the lack of critical thinking, knowledge and intellect in general.
70
Several times in the past few months I’ve had to listen to my Republican clients complain about getting campaign mail from black GOP candidates like Mia Love. They quickly donate to Republican candidates across the nation, so long as the candidate is white. I’m doing everything in my power to land new clients so I can stop working for these bigots.
49
It's great to have scientific reporting on a topic that, while uncomfortable to discuss, huge advances are being made.
Question: why the qualifier in "the supposed higher intelligence of northern Europeans"—isnt 't it an established fact that, by accepted measures of intelligence (IQ tests), Europeans are on average more intelligent than Africans, and less so than East Asians and Ashkenazi Jews? There may be widespread debate on why this is—genetics, environment, etc.—but the fact of the approximately 1 SD gap is not supposition, is it?
It would seem that unless we're able to honestly discuss the facts at hand, we lend credence to those who would distort science for twisted ends.
27
Dr. Reich was among those to decline an invitation to lead a discussion on the topic at the San Diego meeting. “I really wanted to return to research,” he said.
--------
It does no good to hide your head in the sand. Scientists need to confront the mis-users of their work—vociferously.
32
White supremacists will always find 'facts' to support their theories...this is just the latest. That it's based in science makes it perhaps more difficult to counter.
However, any efforts to counter all of the current and past 'facts' that these groups have espoused have proven fruitless at least among the members of the groups espousing them. These people are racist nuts and will always be so. Logic and data do not work on them, ever. So sad but so true...
17
Got Racism?
50
please stop calling them white supremist. The New York Times stop calling him that. There's nothing Supreme about them.
White nationalist, white extremist, white fascist or just simply KKK wannabes.
60
I am no scientist, but I'm as white as they come. My father was born in Austria and my mother was born in Scotland. I was born in Scotland. My grandparents are from Poland and Austria.
I am lactose intolerant to the highest degree since my mid-30s. so is my mother and my brother.
31
There is no question that evolution shapes genes. Africans sharing their land with some of the world's best predators quite likely had to develop greater athleticism. Indians and Chinese did not have to; and it shows in their relative weakness in track and field events.
Maybe the West derived some advantage in exploration as a matter of cultural adaptation to seeking food in the seas. Certainly digesting milk as adults is an issue for Asians and some Indians (like me). The value proposition of extended lactose tolerance as a matter of competitive advantage is long gone. What is starkly evident is that white superiority is a myth - in sports and in intelligence measures.
It is simply a matter of time when America turns into rainbow hues - we should all hope the transition is peaceful and prosperous for all in America and indeed the world. Lets focus on real issues like Global warming and the inevitable decline of fossil fuel reserves. And real opportunities like space exploration and scientific progress.
22
Let them chug milk! If they are too busy dealing with their diarrhea, maybe they won't have time to cause riots and mayhem in the street
37
How absurd have some of us gotten?? I am so darned white you can see my blood vessels, yet haven't been able to touch milk products for over twenty years! Guess I gotta "go back"! Boy oh boy, what a world, what a world!
17
"...celebrating traces of Neanderthal DNA...."
These people are literally Neanderthals and they're proud of it.
13
Why White Supremacists Are Chugging Milk (and Why Geneticists Are Alarmed):
Have these people in this milk chugging heathen dance achieved anything worth mentioning? Have any of them advanced science, math, or a cure for a disease? In fact, have any of them excelled in anything or contributed anything to their own communities to improve the life of someone? Have any of them been recognized by a respectable journal, medical research lab, etc. Of course, you can get a degree and still be a racist, but what good are they doing for the whole human family?
In addition, it is crazy to compare people based on appearances, special skills, or personality, each one of us is unique like our finger prints. Just recently they found DNA variation in triplets. However, if you do compare people from the same culture, ethnicity, and region and you will get striking differences. Children from the same parents can have extreme differences.
12
"Many geneticists at the top of their field say they do not have the ability to communicate to a general audience on such a complicated and fraught topic. Some suggest journalists might take up the task."
The [often willful] failure of many scientists to communicate properly with non-scientists is quite off-putting. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it were found to be one of the key factors behind anti-intellectualism. Some scientists I've known have believed, rather haughtily, either that it's beneath them to teach others what they know, or that non-scientists are just too unintelligent to comprehend anything science-related. The way I see it, if a person can't explain his own area of expertise to someone unfamiliar with it, either he doesn't really understand what he does, or he has a serious gap in his own education.
27
I'm not certain why an article about scientists being concerned about ignorant or purposeful misuse of science by racists requires not one, but two very large screen collections of racist junk?
When I first opened the article yesterday (a long time before comments were turned on) I thought the article had been hijacked.
Next time, please highlight the science, don't turn NYTimes into a billboard for ignorance.
17
Studying the evolutionary and migratory history of humans and other hominids is fascinating. But bringing it into political debates is counterproductive, only obscuring the real moral and policy questions. If anyone attempts to do so, one could simply cut to the chase by asking what policies they propose in the following hypothetical case:
1) Stipulate that all or most members of racial group A are intellectually and morally inferior to all or most members of group B, and that B greatly outnumbers A in a given nation. What should that nation's policy response be? What should a purely profit-driven corporation's recruiting and hiring policies be?
2) Stipulate that there is large overlap of the 2 groups' bell curves, but some measurable difference in their averages, favoring group B. Same questions.
Obviously, the racist (or whatever euphemism one chooses) response in any case will be "kill, deport, or suppress all members of every group other than my own, as defined by me, regardless of individual test scores or even group averages." So clearly neither science, nor practicality, nor conventional morality have any bearing. The racists morality is dominated by the exact section of ancient traditional morality that our species has generally evolved past: kill the stranger. Every myth and parable (starting ~3k years ago) exhorting us to welcome strangers has been an attempt to advance this evolution, bringing us out of the era of clan warfare (and increasing profits, btw).
3
I'd rather be lactose intolerant than get skin cancer, one of the blessings bestowed upon the pale-skinned.
8
I just saw the video accompanying the article - of shirtless, fleshy pale men with zero muscle tone chugging milk. Like the incels who are so ugly that nobody wants to date them - these men are so flabby and pale, of course they hate anyone who eats right, works out and gets out of their basement before the bats got out at night.
16
How many white people of European ancestry voted for Donald Trump?
Case closed.
14
I know this is not PC, but would like to open it up for civil discussion. Sweeping it under the rug for decades has not worked.
If we accept that dogs have a genetic predisposition; why not people? Some dogs are great for hunting, others to mind the herd, others to guard the house, etc.
Among people we find a great majority of advances in science, math, medicine to be by whites. A disproportionate number of basketball and football players to be African Americans. There are definitely statistical patterns that cannot be refuted, unless you have your blinders on. When millions arrive at the same statistical conclusion independent of each other, there must be a truth to it.
15
@Kam Eftekhar - I suggest that you read up on documented statistical biases in education, hiring/employment, home sales and finance to help you with your side of the civil discussion.
This Forbes article - and you probably already know that Forbes is considered moderately conservative, not liberal - is a very good place to start:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2017/09/16/job-discrimination-a...
13
There is only one sentient race on this planet and that is the Human race. Although, I'm not sure how sentient we are if we constantly try to kill each other.
14
Journallists compelled to edit an hour long explanation of complex bio-chemical processes down to a one and a half minute visually catchy piece of "news" do us a disservice, often unwillingly, sometimes with purpose.
Whether Race, Climate, Energy, Morality; all major issues.
What I have learned:
"Ain't Nothing Simple."
7
If this is superiority, include me out.
10
I'm troubled that the Times chose to reprint an enormous display of the distortions of science and accompanying hate speech identified in this article. There's no reason to give extra oxygen to claims that aren't true; we hear enough of them as it is.
6
These "milk-drinkers" have managed to prove at least one GIANT truth, that their ignorance and stupidity knows NO bounds. If only we didn't have to notice anything about their presence as a virus on this planet Earth.
10
The white supremacists have obviously not been to India, the land of brown people that is the original milk drinking capital of the world.
While milk consumption takes the form of cheese or yogurt or something added to tea or coffee in many countries, in India, milk is drunk straight up. It is a tradition that most children are introduced to at an early age. Most of Indian sweets are made out of milk as well.
White supremacists, sorry to burst your bubble.
185
@nytcalif Actually, this study by University of Chicago which looked at large swaths of the population shows that only 18 percent of people in India can digest milk.
https://sciencelife.uchospitals.edu/2011/09/14/lactose-tolerance-in-the-...
Like the myth that India is primarily a vegetarian nation, the lacto-vegetarian diet is an upper-caste diet imposed on the rest of the country.
21
The issue of milk is a herring. Note graph that shows that our concept of race maps onto gene clusters. This same point was made in a recent article by David Reich (below). Although he is tap dancing like crazy, he also makes it clear that it is unlikely that the difference between these clusters is limited to rates of prostate cancer, osteoporosis, etc
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929707625786
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/opinion/sunday/genetics-race.html
2
Sigh. You lot are just hell-bent on phonying up “proof,” of your “superiority,” aintcha?
1
Most mafiosi are Sicilians, but that does not tell you much about any individual Sicilian. Indeed, since most Sicilians are not mafiosi, it is unlikely that any individual Sicilian is a mafioso.
Similar principles apply to the relationship, if any, between race and intelligence. Suppose, for instance, that only 48% of blue-eyed people are lactose-intolerant. That tells you hardly anything about the lactose intolerance of any particular blue-eyed person. It tells you even less about the eye color of a particular lactose-intolerant person.
The battle line in the race vs. intelligence argument is being drawn in the wrong place. When we are trying to evaluate the intelligence of a particular individual, race at most, and perhaps not at all, provides useful information.
The whole notion of relying on a stereotype is based on a statistical fallacy.
7
@Paul Abrahams - "When we are trying to evaluate the intelligence of a particular individual, race at most, and perhaps not at all, provides useful information." Indeed, you cannot tell any persons IQ by their race. But the test shows statistical differences (averages) between groups
6
@SneedHearn - Yes, those differences surely do exist. But because of the variance within each group, it's unjust to downrate an individual on the basis of a probabalistic group characteristic.
2
I will not take this issue seriously until I see Elizabeth Warren chugging milk in a campaign video.
4
Winston Churchill described the racist eugenics of the Nazi régime as "perverted science." These white supremacists are doing the same thing with modern genetics to justify their racist psychosis. They conveniently ignore the fact that many East Africans drink milk, so I guess Kenyans and Tanzanians can stay.
This is a sign of the times and education won't help as this perverted science has fallen on fertile soil.
103
@Jack be Quick Probably shouldn't use Churchill as an example of someone to aspire to when it comes to racism considering Churchill was a devout racist himself.
8
@Andrew
No one should aspire to be Churchill as in many aspects of his life and beliefs he was despicable. However, the quote is apt and in this case, he was right.
12
I hope, at least, that it's whole milk, not that sissy skim milk or 2%!
Dang, but those white supremacist milk-chuggers are stupid.
Jus' sayin' what most people are probably thinkin'.
5
I'm a white teenager and if I est a bowl of ice cream my digestive system turns into a damn water park. What happens then?!
5
That's weird, on that Educability index vs. IQ graph, there's actually a dot for Peruvian. That just doesn't line up with my personal experience of having all the smartest people I know being Peruvian. Way smarter than most of the white americans I know. I also love how the little video of white guys chugging milk is supposed to represent intelligence. Me thinks they doth protest too much....
1
Pointing out racism is "sticking your neck out on political issues?" What a world we live in!
4
The larger problem for white supremacists is the on-going mixing of different peoples throughout the world and our nation. This they cannot stop. Moreover, there is no genetic marker for race. They are fighting a losing battle and their creating pseudo science will not change the fact that they are totally wrong.
4
No other species other than human are drawn to drink another’s milk. Very few species seek out milk after weening. Maybe a cat. So drinking milk appears to be an infantile aberrant behavior. Certainly not the most deviant behavior demonstrated by these subjects. Still.....
4
Once again, white supremacists demonstrate what pathetic walking arguments and evidence they are for white supremacy.
6
We are all descended from a Mitochondrial Eve and a Y-Chromasomal Adam, so to speak, likely dark skinned people based on where and when they lived. Whether those dolts want to admit it or not, any variance has only and exclusively to do with the environments our ancestors decided to live in after that and how much sun their skin had to deal with.
Sorry to say those milk-guzzling idiots ended up with more my shade of skin, but that is all we share. Let's hope someday they grow up and get a life.
5
Ignorance is Bliss
Beyond the sheer hilarity of this idiot “theory,” from American racists—I mean, the article does mention the Masai and similar groups, who you don’t seem to see vomiting their way across the Serengeti—and beyond the bizarroworld twisting of basic science into a Klein bottle coming from folks who think their ideas AREN’T racist, and even beyond the dippy claims that this rather good article didn’t offer any scientific backup for laughing at the whole notion, one thing stands out.
A buncha grown men are running around in packs, blathering about women and race and their tough guyness, and slugging quantities of milk. Then yelling about how this all proves their superiority.
Sorry, but superiority isn’t the word that comes to mind. For that matter, neither is, “men.”
This looks a lot like your basic retreat to boyhood; I can’t wait’ll Gavin et al start building treehouses and recycled-fridge cardboard box forts, all with “GIRLS KIP OUT,” crayoned onna front. There could be secret passwords and a code and badges and EVERYTHING.
Nice article, and a nice laugh.
15
When whites seek this "proof" of superiority so avidly, I suspect they are deeply afraid. Many of them, latching on to this higher education scam report, haven't finished grade school. Oh, but they could have, of course, and they'd all be Nobelists. In today's climate, if research doesn't prove what idiots have to believe or die, those idiots will invent "facts." I hope we get though this phase without blowing up the planet.
6
It is a longstanding habit of white supremacists and other racists to describe humans of African descent using simian terms. But looking at the group of preening, posturing, milk-swigging supremacists in the upper-left video, I can think of little else than a small island populated with chimpanzees.
10
Gee, considering the fact that most Trump voters are white males how did these supposedly "superior" white male voters manage to choose the dumbest president ever?
17
I’m embarrassed by these knuckleheads. Likely over half of them had diarrhea and gas later that day. I’m sure they are Trump supporters
MAGA?
7
@Mickey
Making
Americans
Gassy
Again
9
Please stop reporting on what these idiots are doing...I can no longer give the okay sign and now it looks like I’m going to have to take down the video of me in a milk chugging contest. Seriously. Stop giving these guys attention before people start thinking I’m some kind of hardcore white supremacist.
6
At a certain point ideas aren't responsible for the people who believe in them. These people will twist whatever they have to in order to support their worldview. We shouldn't stop doing research that can possibly help us bridge divides and help people because a bunch of morons want to show it proves white people are superior. The funny thing about all of this is if you interpret the data the way they want to then jews and asians end up being superior to whites. Although considering the reason they are drinking milk this point seems like it would be lost on them.
7
Hope the milk they're drinking is from white cows.
4
It is hard to refute that there is significant IQ variability between blacks and whites (85 vs 100) or ashkenazie Jews and whites (115 vs 100). These results are borne out by academic achievement. After all it's likely that at least 50% of geneticists are Jewish, a high IQ requirement. And they are the very ones who want to minimize discussion of IQ and race. It is better for them if lower IQ groups think that they can compete even if they can't.
7
@Ray Indeed, Ray. From their average IQ you would expect them to have a tremendous impact on the cultural and intellectual life of America. And that's exactly what you find - Jews are remarkably over-represented in benchmarks of brainpower. Though never exceeding 3 percent of the American population, Jews account for 37 percent of the winners of the U.S. National Medal of Science, 25 percent of the American Nobel Prize winners in literature, 40 percent of the American Nobel Prize winners in science and economics, and so on. On the world stage, we find that 54 percent of the world chess champions have had one or two Jewish parents.
3
@Ray
If we stipulate that your data are correct, would you say that a large corporation with 100 applicants for a position would do best to only interview the 2 Jews (making sure first that neither were Sephardim)?
1
@Dan Coleman Well, statistically, depending on the shape of the distributions you'll probably find the highest IQs among the 98 non-Jewish applicants. Also, for how many jobs in a large corporation is high IQ the only important qualification?
1
Pathetic. It’s so idiotic that it’s actually a little bit funny.
I suggest that a large group of folks who are lactose intolerant gather in close proximity to these morons and chug garlic & egg milkshakes.
Then we’ll see who “has to go back” where they came from after 20 minutes or so.
3
I love yogurt and cheese, and am disgusted that these white supremacist idiots are appropriating not only medieval European history and ancient Greek sculpture, but even dairy foods - thereby ruining it for everyone else.
58
The text below the picture says,"Scientists worry that new tools allowing them to home in on the genetic basis of traits like intelligence will be misconstrued to fit racist ideologies." -translation-The people that present the opposite viewpoint that we are all equal and light skin complexion in whites is because of a flawed gene mutation fear that science will prove them to be wrong all along. In reality I believe science will eventually prove both sides wrong and we will soon come up with a new divisive reason to feel uneasy about other races. For maybe thousands of years people have been of 2 minds about this issue. One view is everyone must be equal and the other, how could they possibly be equal. You must look at the wildly different characteristics in between races. African to Asian to Nordic to Aborigine. Not enough time has passed on earth for all races to have come from one race and then diverged because of being seperated by great distance and climate pressures. DNA has proven that people all living today share a gene with a sub african ancestor, but that does not mean that we all started out as one race. Rather than worrying about how the data may be interpreted, scientists should start to open their minds to some broader possibilities.
1
@Mark
Children that are left alone due to neglect, or lost in the wild never advance. This alone prove that the continuent our ancestors came from is not a factor for intelligent. By the way, I have DNA from several continent. Intelligent in a normal healthy baby can not stand alone based on some gene, and intelligent alone do not give you the traits to excel in in anything. There are prisons full of inmates with high IQ's
The article only discusses one trait, lactose tolerance - no discussion of what the actual arguments are on either side. And no mention of the fact that we all share mitochondria from the same ancestral woman, or that our brains are smaller than our distant African ancestors.
1
Scientists have to become more engaged in the political world. The scientific method is about seeking objective scientific truth at its core, and science affects important issues across a spectrum of issues like racism, climate change, and health. But when the results are misused to promote destructive ideologies or support false conclusions, there is an obligation to speak out.
5
This is a problem exacerbated by the internet and an ocean of easily available information. Anyone can look at papers online, but you need to have knowledge, context, depth, and expertise in order not to draw erroneous conclusions. Just ask your local physician about patients who google their symptoms and treatments. Yes, authority should be questioned, but expertise has its place.
White supremacists who don't know the first thing about genetics aren't going to trust a bunch of "experts" who do. Look no further than a President they admire - one who knows more about climate science than actual climate scientists, more about the economy than the Fed, more about military strategy than all the generals, ad infinitum.
6
This is not a very good article. Better was David Reich's piece in the NYT, "How Genetics is Changing Our Understanding of Race".
To adequately examine the issues around genetics and race, one must account for the fact that there will continue to be genetic differences in populations which drive average attributes and abilities. Declaring this to be simply alt-right propaganda will cause the entire science to be questioned. Reich understood this and warned that as the science progresses, the social implications must be carefully weighed. Failure to do so will only provide more ammunition to the eugenics crowd.
5
By the way, i find that I’ve become less and less tolerant of milk as I’ve aged. So my question to the mouth-breathers is, am I turning black or Chinese or something?
5
The big problem with these talking points by the Alt-Right is that none of it means what they think it means. Given that most human African groups did not travel (voluntarily) outside of the continent until after the Slave Trade it isn't surprising that you would see fewer genetic similarities with other groups. Moreover, when you look at other groups that did have more ongoing cultural contact that there is a smoother transition, which is exactly what you would expect, given that people tend to have sex and produce offspring with whoever is around.
On the issue of intelligence, the disparities we see is not the intellectual refuge the Alt-Right think it is either. For starters African and African-Americans have had their educational potential stymied for generation by oppressive policies, on top of just natural geographic barriers native to the continent, to the fact that we have observed that intelligence naturally increases overtime. So if there was some innate quality that held it constant we don't see it in reality.
At best what could a natural selection bias for lower IQ might mean, just that way back when in Africa, African-women selected for traits that were then in context more beneficial to them and their offspring survival, something in which they could easily change as their values and want change overtime. Nothing that we have studied suggests these are constants, in fact their own utilized visualizations goes to that very fact.
1
Using incorrect and cherry-picked scientific "evidence" to support racism reminds me of the Bible-based "evidence" relied on to support slavery and apartheid. Whether religion or science is misused to argue for the superiority of one race or gender, it's wrong, but using science is even more dangerous because science imparts a veneer and assumption of objectivity. I understand why the relevant scientists may be uncomfortable jumping into the fray, but as the most knowledgeable people on the science being misused, they have a moral obligation to put their research and conclusions into context, and to refute wrong deductions. Einstein and Oppenheimer understood this.
4
The horror of the black and white conclusion by the vast majority of the electorate is how Trumpism came to pass. Whatever geneticists can do to stop it would be a wonderful gift to humanity.
4
As someone whose DNA makes me as white as the milk I can't drink, I have a question. If living in a cold climate made my European ancestors so smart, why didn't they then migrate to a better climate?
3
"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe."
-Frank Zappa
6
Wonder if this same set of deep thinkers plan to gather to share and post group pictures of their skin cancers?
1
The young fellows chugging milk straight from the bottle while dancing shirtless in front of the Museum of the Moving Image? You're saying they are white supremacists? They look more like a group of Queens schlubs who should spend less time in front of the computer and more time outdoors getting a little exercise. These are the types that create 4chan memes. They are harmless. They'll go away if we lighten up on the moral panic.
4
When I see a bunch of shirtless guys dancing with one another while chugging milk, all I can think is that they need to find a way to admit that they're attracted to one another in ways that society, particularly their cohort, has traditionally rejected.
2
Well so much for the old slogan "Milk Does A Body Good."
So, these DNA-racists are basically of the same mold as the "Flat-earthers". What can you do with people who choose to be "willfully-ignorant" in the face of facts, other than never allowing them to attain positions of power in our society?
2
Nothing says "superior race" like the ability to digest baby food. This also explains the propensity of white supremacists to whine.
(eye roll)
13
What a bunch of madness! At least their bathing in and drinking all that milk will help the dairy industry.
55
To be a racist is to declare that your life is otherwise empty.
19
Not a good time to be a white supremacist. Since mapping the human genome, we've discovered that most Europeans and Asians have approximately 2 percent Neanderthal DNA. When I see torch-bearing Neo Nazis, I see the Neanderthal part of our DNA surfacing. Pure Africans could rightfully be wearing t-shirts that claim "Proud to be 100% Human".
131
@Pete Steitz There's nothing wrong with having Neanderthal DNA. Neatherthals were humans, they were of a sub-species of Homo like we homo sapiens. The thing to remember is what makes or breaks a species is just the ability to produce viable offspring, there were some unique enough genetic differences that we classify Neanderthal as a sub-species of humans, but they were still just as much humans as we are today.
We don't know the exact reason why they died out; however, we have no reason to assume it was because they were drastically less "evolved" than we were. Remember, they had lived in modern day Europe for millennia before we sapiens arrived. We could have just gotten lucky, perhaps a changing climate that we were more familiar with pushed them out. Who knows. The point remains the narrative you are spinning does not help advance the conversation.
13
@Pete Steitz
Leave the Neanderthals out of this. They wouldn't associate with these people either...
23
@Pete Steitz
I just read yesterday that Africans have Neanderthal DNA too. We're all connected!
https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-science/widespread-appeara...
I guess supremacists will now have to focus on Denisovan DNA. What comes next...
7
The jackasses in the video at the top belie the idea that being white makes one superior - they come off as meatheads and the milk thing only enhances their meatheadedness. Moreover, the whole idea of "my race is superior to yours" is idiotic because it does not say anything about the individual - average statistics, even it twisted, or birth group membership, tell you nothing about the person in front of you; that person's behavior and responses tells you all you need to know.
7
Well, duh! You didn't see that coming? Methinks it's not white supremacists that one needs to worry about but insurance companies and their ilk.
2
Genetic purity is a consequence of incestuous inbreeding. Observing the behavior of the "pure" is confirmation.
5
Drink up boys! All that rGBH in milk will soon give you “man-breasts’, wider hips and hopefully a kinder, more feminine disposition. Cheers!
26
@Cassandra - I think they are popularly known as "moobs." Man-boobs.
4
Let me guess
All these milk drinkers are part of The low Information Base
Sad
Pathetic
5
Does this mean that it's now politically correct to call an extreme right, White Supremacist a "Neanderthal"?
4
@monitor Oh, please No. We recently tested our whole family. All northern European and yes, Neanderthal. And we can digest milk. But we don't support white supremacists. We are liberals.
1
I’m possibly one of the whitest people in the world and can’t digest dairy. What would they make of that?
85
@Lisa And what of those of us who detest milk and most dairy? Do they label us 'traitors' then? Not that their opinions about anything are worthy of anyone's consideration.
8
In a way it's a self-disproving premise: Arguing for a superior intelligence among the white "race" demonstrates an inferior intellect.
If you were as smart as you claim to be, you'd realize you aren't.
9
So the next time the neo-Hilter Youth movement tries to recruit my kid based on the whole blonde/ blue eye thing, he can just throw out that he's lactose intolerant? Will that get the Nazis off my son's back or will that get my son killed?
7
I think this article points to a pervasive issue in our society about how we view science and truth. For centuries, Western societies have believed that absolute truths exist in our natural world - that the physical world is the key to unlocking all phenomena in life. Contemporary science is predicated on this ontological belief in absolutes, and the notion that genetics can give us answers about race is just another product of this belief structure.
I think it's time we acknowledge that our world is evolving (thank you science!), and so is what we understand as truth. Science allows us to see our world raw, stripped down to its most basic form, but this isn't how we should define it; it's how we should describe it. Be cautious of definitions that convince us that our world is fixed, and be open to discovering how our world is in flux. I'm sure there are scientific discoveries for racial differences, but those discoveries should never strip us of our humanity - of our capacity to evolve together.
7
Researchers don't know how to respond???
I'll tell them how to respond - strongly, now! I've seen what has happened in my own field, economics, with work being misrepresented but the authors not standing up and strongly calling out the charlatans, or ideas that have long been put to rest not being challenged en masse.
Geneticists: stand up and refute this, publicly and loudly, as often as necessary. Maybe bring to a forum educated smart people of different races to face off against some of the white supremacists; bring non-white athletes, musicians, composers, scientists, doctors, writers, foreigners, multi-linguists, well spoken. Black athletes should have put the notion of racial physical superiority to rest a long time ago.
11
"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." -- John F. Kennedy
11
The extent to which genetics play a role in the development of human beings has not been definitively measured. The environment, nurturing and government policies have a significantly more measurable impact on human development than genetics.
2
If they haven’t been measured, how exactly do you know this?
2
I'm not an accomplished researcher but I do think that the first rule of conducting and publishing a researched study is to make it understandable to the people you are trying to reach. That would avoid having to walk back and re-explain what you said. Unless of course the point is to confuse and leave the reason for your study as muddled as when you began.
3
Scientific studies are not aimed at the general public. You wants to understand, you gots to step up to their level. No, everything is not a duckie and a horsie.
3
@Back Up And how does that work with the morons among us, who still believe in a "Flat-Earth"? No matter what facts are presented, the "willfully-ignorant" will pathetically cling to their misconceptions.
2
Using “self-reported race” as the basis for classifying findings of genetic difference is no more empirically meaningful than using Hogwarts houses from the popular Harry Potter novels. This is because “human genetic diversity” and “race” and are two very different things. Human genetic diversity is a matter of specific and measurable configurations of chemicals within the human genome. “Race” is a slippery, 18th century invention combining beliefs about political hierarchy and stories about national characteristics with ideas of mystical humors that rule the human body and cosmos alike. Race, as many commentators have pointed out, is manifestly a fiction.
Depending on the statistical model that one uses, it is just as possible to find genetic markers that correlate with educational success among members of Harry Potter’s Gryffindor house as it is to find markers correlating with educational attainment among “whites.” Both results are just as meaningful, from a scientific standpoint — though, of course, predicating a study on “race” is much more meaningful from a social standpoint.
Thus, while it is heartening to hear that scientists are taking steps to think about the social implications of their studies, these same scientists share blame for the misinterpretation of their results when they predicate their experiment design on shaky, historically-bounded fictions like “race.”
4
I personally like my milk with a lot of chocolate.
2
There is a serious problem for advocates of innate differences in IQ. Almost all studies have concluded that within group variance is greater than between group variance. IOW, there is a wider range of scores within any racial or ethnic group than there is between any of the groups we might identify. If there were biologically determined differences in IQ among racial groups, the opposite would be true.
5
Well african descendants do seem to have a genetic advantage for all athletic activities, on average they are stronger, faster and taller. The majority of professional athletes in American Pro Sports are African Americans, most of the GOATS in every sport have strong african ancestry (Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Jerry Rice, Serena Williams, Usain Bolt, Pelé, etc). (The exception so far has been male Tennis -Federer- and the QB position -Brady or Montana- and winter sports). So there might be something about it...
3
@Mark or perhaps the experience of over 100 years of a highly-segregated and unequal educational system that pushes and conditions many young people of color to seek athletic, rather than academic/professional opportunities, to pull themselves out of poverty has something (or a lot) to do with that.
1
@Mark
Or not.
I guess you aren't a scientist.
1
@Mark Everything you cite is anecdotal; each is an N of 1 and has no statistical significance.
1
" I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."- Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963.
Dream on, Dr. King. We have a ways to go.
14
So true and so sad. Why can't we all just get along?
3
@WmC Apparently the same bad genes from at least 150 years ago are still be passed down among the spawn of 'willfully-ignorant' in this country.
2
Now if they swallow jar after jar of mayo, wouldn't that be considered cannibalism? #canthandleflavour
1
So being able to digest milk is a superior trait? Humans are staggeringly obtuse.
10
It was a superior trait for the Europeans that inherited the mutated gene.
@John Blackwood IKR--the ability to ingest the lacteal secretions of a bovine only prove that you might be as smart as a baby cow. A domestic baby cow (which aren't as smart as wild ones).
2
Humans seem to focus on difference rather than similarity, particularly when comparing humans. Therefore no correct presentation of data exists. It will all be parsed. IMO it's all part of our evolutionary history; we evolved attracting mates by distinguishing ourselves, and despite our, ahem, evolved rationality, we continue to do so.
Let the researchers research and stay away from spinning their results, or it'll grow far worse...
1
The difference between people within any ethnic or racial groups is much greater than the difference between those groups of people.
In other words, there are stupid and smart people in any ethnic or racial group. I'd like to think that white supremacists are dumb people, but for the reasoning above, I'd have to say that they're merely short of information and the tools it takes to understand that information.
2
My mother's cousin was white as a sheet, and couldn't tolerate milk. My niece, half black African, is at an Ivy League university. There is now a controversy about the perceived over-representation of Asian students at Harvard, and I know lots of white people who are dumb as dirt.
It wasn't that long ago that any non-Anglo-Saxon "white" person was considered racially inferior by (big surprise) the English. Many still are. Racists are racists, and will find justification somewhere or other. Trying to counter their bigotry by battering down their "evidence" is like getting an alcoholic to admit he has a drinking problem.
12
There is only one semi-intelligent race on this planet, it’s called “human”.
To any other life forms, we apologize for the subclass of humanity know as “bigots”.
Please simply ignore them - they come, unfortunately, in all skin colors of humanity, and are not easily detected until they open their mouths.
Despite their claims, in all but their behavior they’re identical with the rest of us, just socially maladapted for life on the planet.
5
Will my ability to eat about 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies along with chugging a gallon of milk further validate my shameful whiteness or will I get points for being woke after ingesting the chocolate and not getting acne?
If your only sense of worth is as shallow as the color of your skin, there is no help. These white supremacists, especially these boys, know that beyond their skin color they really do not have much to offer to make them attractive as mates to anybody else other than no self-esteem/no self-worth white gals. If anything, these people have to be pitied as they do not see themselves as having any inner worth. Look at the poster boy of neediness: Trump. I mean, these are people "proud" of drinking stuff not even cows/bulls drink once they are all grown. SAD!
5
They probably like drinking cow's milk because they know that producing it is extremely cruel:
http://www.milkiscruel.com/
They love all forms of cruelty. Decent people boycott cruelty products.
2
One thing white supremacists are conclusively proving is that, based on their idiotic behavior, white people certainly aren't genetically endowed with higher intelligence than other groups.
During the course of the 20th century, these despicable, ridiculous yahoos were rightfully pushed to the fringes. The disgraceful and frightening part is that the GOP, led by Trump, has now welcomed them back into the mainstream. Battles like those over civil rights, voting rights and other forms of equality are going to have to be re-fought.
20
When African-American US Congressman Charles Rangel was asked how he felt about President George W. Bush, Rangel responded, "Well, I think he shatters the myth of white supremacy once and for all."
That quote and the evidence it was based upon should have been enough to discourage the perpetuation of the myth. Yet, here we are today with the myth taking ever deeper root, while at the same time, Donald Trump piles up counter-evidence on a daily basis.
13
Does this mutated gene suggest that whites are more child-like as adults? That would explain the Proud Boys :)
12
Those who seek a genetic basis for their racism need to consider a couple of flaws in their arguments.
First - differences between individuals are due to a complex interaction between the genes and the environment in which they exist. It's not nature OR nurture, it's both, and the effects of one's environment can produce greater differences than the underlying genetics in some cases.
Second, when racists latch onto a particular version of a gene (an allele, to use the proper term) they only call it superior because it is more common within your own group. What does lactase persistence have to do with white superiority?
Geneticists may find alleles that produce differences in lots of different traits, such as increased strength, endurance, disease resistance, ability to digest particular foods, and a number of different types of mental ability. You can bet that racists will only hold those that are more common within their population as being "superior".
8
White supremecists are wasting their time. Clearly we are not supreme judging by how we've destroyed our environment and committed unspeakable violence on other humans (white and non-white) and the animal kingdom. We may have invented incredible things, but so have non-whites. It's time for everyone to wake up and realize, before it's too late (and it may already be) that we are humans and our humanity is what will save us. We all share this planet and our actions have consequences for everyone. And how we treat each other and the planet is all that matters in the end. This selfishness and competition must end for our survival. Otherwise, we can continue on our suicidal course (and it is suicidal to poison and turn into a cesspool the world that ensures our very survival) and go down in flames thinking to ourselves how superior we were.
9
This has probably already been stated, but this brings a whole new meaning to the "Got Milk?" commercials. I mean, milk? Really? If someone can't drink milk they "have to go back." Go back where? To Ohio? To St. Louis? Phoenix? Chicago? What's next? Peanut allergies to the back of the bus? It sounds like maybe these white supremacists need to go back to school and learn the difference between science and pseudoscience.
11
More relentless race baiting from the Times.
SHAMEFUL.
3
I’m dying to know why reporting on one of the nuttier far-right racist attempts to twist science into a Klein bottle would be race baiting. Could you explain, please?
3
@Eyes Wide Open And how is pointing out the stupidity of the Willfully-Ignorant, race-baiting? How do you feel about the Flat-Earthers, since both are cut from the same under-educated cloth?
1
What?
Perhaps you need to reread the article.
1
Do I dare buy/drink milk ever again? Someone might see, and jump to the wrong conclusion about my views! Hard enough to be a democrat in and bright red state. Who would've thought that things would come to such a pass.
2
@boethius
I agree, First they come for the OK sign and now milk?
3
@boethius
I think you’ll be fine as long as you don’t take off your shirt and chug a gallon in the middle of town.
3
@boethius
Buy milk and own it to keep it from being 'theirs'.
I noticed the alt-right and White Supremacists tend to gravitate towards using the study of genetics to make a case for their racial superiority. However, because they don't truly understand the subject they make incorrect assertions not supported by scientific study. The human genome is mapped the next step would be to decipher it and eventually edit it. The day is fast approaching when anyone from any race can have any trait.
2
Genetic variability is the core of natural selection and evolution. Statistics demonstrates that when random events occur a large number of times, the resulting distributions will not be homogenous, and improbable clusters of events will occur (e.g. long runs of heads or tails in coin flips). There are genetic differences that are associated with what are typically called races, such as an increased rate of the gene causing sickle cell trait in black populations. The critical point to remember is that these differences do not diminish the humanity of the individuals carrying them. We are all one tribe. Science needs to continue to study genomic variations to increase knowledge and should not be influenced by racists who can distort their findings.
3
@Ronald
Sickle cell disease has nothing to do with race. Google sickle cell and malaria
2
Here's hoping research continues, unencumbered by fears of what it finds.
3
Guys chugging milk to prove their "superiority" without their shirts in the cold? Superiority at what- getting fat? Drinking cattle antibiotics? This is like those folks who had to be talked out of eating soap a few months ago. They must be receiving academic papers via finger puppets.
Is this the Trump admin's idea of "opening up new markets" for the dairy industry if Canada continues to boycott American dairy or is this Trump's whining bit about "Think about your sons?"
4
Normally I would be dismayed to read about anyone chugging milk, given its links to various diseases, including heart disease, cancer and obesity. But in this case, I can't really say that I am dismayed. Let's have another round for the boys!
4
.."“There are often many layers of uncertainties in our findings,” said Anna Di Rienzo, a human genetics professor at the University of Chicago. “Being able to communicate that level of uncertainty to a public that often just sees things in black and white is very, very difficult.”...
I find it interesting that scientists point fingers and say "anti-science!" when some of us disagree with their findings on GMOs, pesticides or organic regulations but quickly point out the uncertainties when it fits their needs. It isn't just the public who sees in black and white.
Science is not exact, never was. It's all theory and should be continually reassessed without bias.
2
@B Dawson
Actually, it is constantly reassessed.
And much IS fact, not theory.
@B Dawson
Science is not theory except at the begining before being tested. Empirical work with fruit flies, and other serious genetic experiments, led serious researchers to disavow the eugenics movement - problem is they did not do so vehemently enough or early enough. What scientists say about GMO and other things is to say "there is no evidence to show this or that" which is not the same as saying GMO is perfectly okay; it is less the scientists than the industries and their political lackeys who make it black and white, saying "see, it's safe".
1
@B Dawson: "Science . . . [is] all theory and should be continually reassessed without bias."
It IS constantly re-assessed, you dolt. It's what scientists DO.
Start over.
Both right wingers and leftist will twist the results. Leftist will not countenance any indication of real difference between races. They'll do what they do: come after the jobs of those whose research indicates these differences, which are bound to exist after 60,000 years of divergent evolution.
4
Except that our evolutionary history is as convergent over the last 20K years as anything else, and that genetics don’t work this way.
Might try some classes in, say, behavioral genetics. I know I did, and I’m pretty sure the guy I took them from is doin’ just fine.
2
The article is almost entirely content free; the author states a claim they oppose, cites an appeal to authority, and says nothing else.
It all looks rather hollow, the subtext is that geneticists can't actually rebut the conclusions being drawn, they just say they're wrong because they say so.
The article also obsesses over milk, which is quite clearly a silly joke.
3
Quite naive of you to think the milk thing is a joke for these racist imbeciles.
It’s really frustrating to hear about the science community’s apathy on this.
Very, very short sighted on their part.
2
@Jack
It's not great but I understand them. They do not want to have Twitter hate mobs at their doorstep whatever their affiliation or "ideology". One false word or some out-of-context quote can have you loose your job or project because shitstorm anxiety among superiors.
2
I am not a follower of Gavin McInnes and am not in any way a white supremacist. It is not unreasonable to think that environmental challenges of weather forced people in cold climates to manufacture and to build tight structures against the cold. That this required creative thinking cannot be disputed. It does not signal higher intelligence. It merely shows the capacity. "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond does a thorough investigation of europe's development, as does Eric Jones in "the European Miracle". Environmental challenges is just one of many possible reasons.
4
Oh. That must explain the lily-white Aleut.
1
With global warming slowly causing the average temperature on earth to rise, those populations adapted to "the environmental challenges of cold winters" may be less able to survive in the long term.What the study of cultural genetics really tells us is that a genetic adaptation to one set of circumstances at a given time may turn out to be a disadvantage at another time.This is one reason why I,with a Swedish background, am delighted that my grandchildren are more genetically diverse.They are better suited to survive the challenges of the future.Geneticists need to debunk in simple terms,the nonsense that the clearly less intelligent white supremacists are spouting.
6
I get that the article was really about "race science", so this is slightly off topic, but it's interesting to think about why dairy might have been so important that the government used to push it as one of the four food groups. One plausible idea is that they knew very well about the dangers of all the lead we were being exposed to and secretly believed that pushing calcium would help counteract it.
1
“Plausible,” has become the word people use when they want to make some crackpot theory sound plausible.
And this just in: given how A-tests pump out iffy isotopes of calcium and cesium, which fall on the grass, which cows eat, which they concentrate and then put into milk, which kids drink, which....are we getting the picture yet?
@Robert David South I read T Colin Campbell's account, that he was involved and it was because they gave milk to severely undernourished children and saw a huge improvement and thus thought it was a "superfood". He wrote that they didn't realize milk was very helpful if all you have is a diet of white rice. But he now advocates a good vegan diet if better food is available.
As an enthusiastic follower of the latest genetic research, I have been aware of this development for some time. Yes, I can understand he feeling of awe and even pride in learning unique details about one's roots (lactose tolerance is one such feature, which by the way. is shared by people of East Africa and probably has its origins in Western India), Blue eyes were among the latest currently observable genetic mutations among humans originating probably around the Black Sea region; those genes are the same involved in causing albinism. Melanesians have a genetic mutation that causes natural blond hair at the same frequency of Europeans, but the mutations are not related between these populations. The beautiful and isolated Kailash people of India/Pakistan were often assumed racially to be descendants of the Greeks (because, how could light-skinned European looking people be indigenous to Asia?), but it's now clear they have no genetic affinity to Europeans. Europeans have their roots in the Middle East and Asia, including the genetic inheritance for light skin. Having just coincidentally watched PBS's documentary on the Eugenics movement in the USA, there seems to be a pathological obsession among people of primarily European heritage to assert some kind of superiority. It's quite peculiar. (I myself am a mix of various races!) White people, it's fine to be proud of your race, as we all are. But leave your crazy ideas and the rest of us out of it!
5
Speaking of crazy ideas, it’s absurd to say that even an isolated human pop has “no genetic affinity,” to every other part of the human race, and even sillier to say, in America, that there’s anything resembling a pure, “white race.”
Cripes, there’s a whole INDUSTRY aimed at telling white folks who all their weird ancestors are.
1
@Robert, Plainly, the Kalash are not descendants or offshoots of modern Europeans, as it has been rationalized by white supremicists.
"The Kalash ... appear to be the earliest population to split from the ancestral Pakistani and Indian populations, indicating a complex scenario for population origins in the sub-continent rather than just the ancestral northern and southern Indian components identified previously. These Indo-European speakers were possibly the first migrants to arrive in the Indian sub-continent from northern or western Asia...."
"Whereas the Kalash have recently been reported to have European admixture, postulated to be related to Alexander’s invasion of South Asia, our results show no evidence of admixture. Although several oral traditions claim that the Kalash are descendants of Alexander’s soldiers, this was not supported by Y chromosomal analysis in which the Kalash had a high proportion of Y haplogroup L3a lineages, which are characterized by having the derived allele for the PK3 Y-SNP and are not found elsewhere. They also have predominantly western Eurasian mitochondrial lineages... [The Kalash may be] descendants of the earliest migrants that took a route into Afghanistan and Pakistan and are most likely present-day genetically drifted representatives of these ancient northern Eurasians"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4570283/
1
@Robert
Definition:
genetic affinity=relationship by direct descent.
I stand by my statement: the Kalash have no genetic affinity to Europeans.
I'm as white as they come and I can "tolerate" dairy and milk (in that it doesn't give me indigestion), but I still have a "reaction"--anytime I eat a lot of cheese I get a bunch of mucus in my throat. And it definitely causes me to bloat and retain water. I'd bet it's the same for a lot of these racist milk-chuggers (though they may be too dumb to notice). So congratulations guys, you can just barely tolerate something that isn't actually THAT great for your body. Someone please discover a gene mutation that shows white people are less likely to develop a chronic cough from smoking (while still being just as likely to develop lung cancer and emphysema) so these guys will all start celebratory chain-smoking and get themselves out of our lives that much faster.
7
I’m getting older, and like many, less and less tolerant of milk.
Does...does this mean I’m turning black or Chinese or something?
1
No doubt these groups are dangerous, but c'mon, tiki torches and milk aren't doing anything for their street cred.
6
White supremacists and nationalists of all sorts are motivated by fear, which is at the core of most anger and hate. The fear is about being displaced, of being denied what is perceived as a natural birth right, a status that was won by ancestors through aggression. Entitlement is the stuff of monarchies and dictators, which is why in a democracy we have laws and reason. We must never forget that.
6
DNA tests came in and confirmed that the white supremicists lack the intelligence genes to understand nuance in scientific studies and the world in general.
5
Milk is a good test, but going for what you know strictly based on merit is even a better test!
3
"Anticipating misinterpretations of a recent study on how genes associated with high education attainment, identified in Europeans, varied in different populations around the world"
This is junk science that should never have been conducted. GWAS studies should not be publishable straight out. Once genes are identified through GWAS and tested through time-honored techniques of knocking them out and comparing presence/absence of their expression in the same genetic background, then there is news to publish. But the bulk GWAS studies that identify expression correlated with traits or environments are just correlational junk.
2
@APS
Yes, sadly the article gives the impression that there is a unified group, "scientists," and another unified group, "the public," and that one is busy discovering knowledge for the other to take either well or badly on authority.
Instead as you're suggesting there are many different kinds of research communities that share the label "scientist." And some are much more careful and rigorous about their methods and their reach than others.
Sadly, on the public side, some colleagues in the sciences leave a rigorous education in all this for graduate school; too much undergrad teaching is being dumbed down to give students the impression that findings come as if from the hand of God. And that only gives credence to this kind of reporting. The article's mention of "uncertainty" doesn't get at the problem of all that correlational junk....
1
fascinating the extent to which certainty and conclusions are explicitly discouraged and dismissed in this case by not just the author but also the scientific community, to avoid any appearance of consensus.
contrast with climate science reportage and its eagerness to draw conclusions and extrapolate to behavior, assignment of social responsibility and general agreement that something must be done.
i’m indifferent to the conclusions or lack thereof offered by both subjects. neither affects my day to day existence nor can it. they are equally abstract and yet similarly politically charged. both areas of research want to teach us something. i wish the cautiousness of genetics reporting was more of an example. drawing wildly out of context conclusions isn’t a good look to the neutral observer of any subject.
1
I feel for the scientific community. The racists will twist their results no matter what. If they understood genetics, they would know we are all African if you go back far enough.
If all you have to be proud of is your ability to sunburn easily, I feel sorry for you.
23
Whites are phenotypically recessive. Genetics tells us whites are going to vanish within a few hundred years.
10
If any humans are left alive by then, because of climate change they will be in isolated Refugia like in times of severe climate disruption of the past.
2
@AS
“whites are going to vanish within a few hundred years.”
White sperm count is down over 60% since 1973, not so for Africans and Asians.
1
@AS No!!! This is exactly the kind of nonsense that people cling to. Genetics tells us no such thing about "whites."
1
One wonders: If there are no ethnic/racial differences between people and all humans have similar IQs and similar native aptitudes, why such an outrage from different groups in the US when there is any talk of intelligence, and why intelligence (IQ) tests have been banned almost at all levels both in education and business?
11
@Eduard C Hanganu That is because not everyone agrees that IQ tests accurately measure intelligence; find a universal mean to do that and you’ll get rich selling it to schools, businesses and academics.
But when you think about it, most academic tests are actually intelligence tests rather than pure knowledge tests: most of the knowledge you acquire at school or even at university will be pretty much useless to most students, so the test is actually more about how you can apply you intelligence to a certain set of knowledge (acquiring the knowledge is by itself not a very high bar). Your academic successes will very well be considered as a serious indication (while not being a proof) of your intelligence.
A big issue in education today is that kids from privileged backgrounds can learn how to succeed at tests better than less privileged kids, thus skewing the tests and making them look smarter than they actually are. This issue is actually particularly acute for IQ tests, because these are very easy to “learn”: someone who spends even just a couple of weeks practicing at these tests (which is a lot and you don’t even need that long) can truly ace them. This is probably why IQ tests are not much in use.
@Eduard C Hanganu IQ tests don't really measure intelligence. The subject regarding intelligence isn't well understood. I'm not even sure we even understand what consciousness is. If we were to look at the intelligence spectrum the difference between the village idiot and Ed Witten wouldn't be all that great. Artificial Super Intelligence will dwarf the whole of humanity and we are all going to be eating a slice of humble pie in the next century away.
The dubious superiority of white people is easily disproved by the very existence of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. Then there's a certain B. Kavanaugh. Bottom of the barrell--all three.
52
@Dee Dee
The white superiority trait is part of a genetic propensity toward delusion.
It presents itself most commonly in individuals who lack creativity, facts, and higher brain function.
1
White supremacists can’t be reasoned with, and trying to explain to them how they’re mistaken will only lead to their claiming that people who know what they’re talking about are willing to engage them.
9
The need ( not just the desire) to manipulate data to offer “proof” of perceived racial superiority implies significant self-hatred on the part of those disposed to do so.
The rudimentary intellectual exercises employed to justify such drivel reinforces my own stereotype that the alt-right is not particularly bright. Reading their screeds proves it.
12
Has the American Dairy Association had anything to say about this?
5
Some are proud of being able to digest baby cow food? Go figure!
11
Is there’s a gene for prejudice?
Science progresses, racism regresses. Scientists and other educated researchers live in a universe far different from that of the racists. Progress and the decemination of knowledge are the lifeblood of the academic community, which should never be throttled or diverted by misuse of valuable information information in the dark, small, ignorant circles of racism.
Seeing so-called supremacists dancing shirtless in an orgy of milk-drinking reminds one of a primitive tribal ceremony of hate and self-indulgence - the whites unwittingly parroting that which they claim to hate.
Should we fear the thugs? Should we change the language and dynamics of progress to accommodate the lunatic fringe?
Let us declare, “No!” and move forward.
7
Two quotes come to mind. The first I've seen attributed to Albert Einstein; Hydrogen is the number one element in the universe, stupidity is number two.
And to Winston Churchill; a fanatic is a man who won't change his mind, or the subject.
For myself, I just find the supremacists sad; very, very sad.
22
It's too rich that they have a slogan saying, "If you can't drink milk, you have to go back." Most Native Americans are lactose intolerant and therefore have trouble digesting milk. It seems to me, then, that those of us who CAN drink milk are the ones who should have to go back.
67
The only characteristic that needs to be examined carefully and understood is the tendency to racism; to define oneself solely on the basis of superficial characteristics.
Otherwise. Why should I care? I am born. I have certain abilities or lack thereof. I need to find a niche in which I can live. As comfortably and peacefully as possible. What should I care that someone else is not like me.
Unless that unlikeness is a threat to my peacefulness which, considering the general lack of intellectual development of people who define themselves solely on superficial characteristics is more likely than not to come from racists.
19
I disagree with the statement in the article "There is no evidence, scientists stress, that environmental and cultural differences will not turn out to be the primary driver of behavioral differences between population groups."
Recent papers by Plomin, Okbay and many others show that genomic differences across individuals explain over 10% of cross-sectional variation both in intelligence test scores and in educational attainment scores. Although this is limited to ethnic European samples, this data limitation only reflects the very large genomic differences across ancestral groups.
Does it not follow logically, as a strong likelihood, that the clearly observed, substantial differences in average intelligence scores and educational attainment levels across ancestral lines has some connection to the large genomic differences between these ancestral lines? Why would the genomic explanation which works so well within an ancestral line suddenly disappear as an explanation when looking across ancestral lines? The argument for a genetic explanation is strengthened, not weakened, by the large genomic differences across ancestral lines.
6
@Peter Johnson
This means that 90% off variation its not responsive by genetics. Oops.
1
When we can measure intelligence objectively, and have schools and other opportunities that are equally available to all, your argument might have some merit, if any such distinction were still apparent in the data.
Today, however, intelligence is socially determined and cannot be measured empirically. Schools are locally financed and more segregated than at any time since the 1970s. Many studies have shown identical submitted resumes are treated differently if the name at the top is “black” or “white”.
With discrimination so widespread and systemic, how can you hang your hat on that putative 10% difference?
3
@Peter Johnson - I guest we should leave out off our analysis actions and policies such as the trans Atlantic slave trade, legal segregation and its aftermath, Jim crow, government policies aimed at disadvantaging non-whites such as red lining and a discriminatory implementation of the GI bill of rights, underfunding of schools in minority neighborhoods, etc. If we can leave out these things, then I can see your point.
3
As a 74 year old white guy with black family members, I have chosen not to bother with DNA testing. I am happy and well adjusted, as is the rest of the clan. Who cares if we drink milk? I generally accept and enjoy peer reviewed science, but I will frequently read opposing points of view.
4
I just had a DNA test done and felt disappointed at the lack of diversity. I think we are strengthened by having a large gene pool... I regret I don't have more non northern European genes. But with multi ethnic and multi racial grandkids, nieces and nephews my family's gene pool will now be much more interesting. Ancestral research is fun, but race is primarily a social cultural construct. Yes there are minor difference because people inbred and were geographically isolated for millennia, making some physiological variations. Variety isn't a threat, it's an advantage
10
Ability or capacity to process milk dextrose is a consequence of the agricultural revolution that started circa 12,000 years ago in the "golden Crescent" of the Middle East (Neolithic). Milk was new product resulting from herding and NOBODY had the capacity to process milk. It took several thousand years for Europeans to acquire that capability. That's the reason Neolithic people developed cheese (processed milk). In fact, as agriculture and herding moved west, Ireland was the last country or area to drink milk. Today many Irish people still cannot process the dextrose in milk. Any other racial interpretation is Trump news.
29
Technically, it is the absence/limited efficiency of lactase (the enzyme which breaks down lactose (milk's disaccaride) into glucose and galactose) in the brush border of a person's small intestine which is the issue.
6
This is not the kind of issue where vague reporting is going to be helpful. The scientific consensus is, overwhelmingly, as stated in the LAST sentence of the article, that racist ideologies are scientifically unsupported.
There are identifiable subgroups within humanity. Many of the obvious ones are cosmetic: blue-eyed humans; curly-haired humans; dark-skinned humans. Those cosmetic (phenotypic) traits are largely what is used to assign "race," although there is also often a political/cultural layer over top of that (are Danes and Swedes actually different "races"? one thinks not). There are also some subgroups with non-hereditary distinguishing characteristics. Preternaturally gifted mathematicians have been found in every "racial" group I am aware of, from Paul Erdosh to Srinivasa Ramanujan to George Okikiolu. Rarely, however, is this mathematic exceptionalism hereditary (and to the extent you have seen it in family lines, social/nurture factors seem obviously more important). We may be more aware of exceptionalism in Europeans, but that is to be expected given Europe's military and imperial exploits over the last few centuries.
You are left then with a very small set of human groups of HEREDITARY remarkable traits. Even these demonstrate the narrowness of the range. Kalenjin Kenyans do excel at marathoning. How much? They generally exceed non-Kalenjin times by seconds, and do not hold all records.
Humans are humans. Our similarities dwarf our differences.
212
@Daniel
The Kalenjin live at altitude. Until recently their semi nomadic lifestyle favored the ability to cover great distances on foot. Accordingly their culture prizes the runner. Runners, being high status males, would tend to predominate reproductively. Accordingly, the hereditary remarkable traits you mentioned have a cultural, not racial basis even when confined to a discrete tribal group.
3
The milk chuggers are following the maxim "There is no point in being stupid unless you show it"
35
Well I guess I prefer those frighteningly ignorant white supremicists guzzling milk in the street than alcohol. Their bellies are likely to feel too bloated and heavy after their silly little stunt for them to do too much other mischief. And at least whatever social control they still have left over themselves won’t be obliterated by being drunk.
Have these guys seen this video of themselves? Do they not realize how completely ridiculous they look? What will be their next move? Will their girlfriends be partying and dancing around because of their higher risk for ovarian cancer due to their European ancestry? Or maybe next they will stand in the street slathering themselves in spf100 sunscreen. The stupidity of their behavior is mind boggling.
20
I find it pathetic that these guys feel the need to be superior! I know several Americans, with northern European ancestry, that are lactose intolerant & never found them less than anyone else LOL! I’ve also worked with brilliant people, of all races, who are far superior to some of the morons ( the eugenics term) I see in the milk jugging picture. People who have to shout out their superiority are usually not the least bit superior! Why can’t we all work together to make a better world?
11
Why is it that photos and videos of white “supremacists” never show them as the flower of humanity they believe themselves to be?
The images of milk-chuggers and grownups dressed like Pepe the frog do nothing to even suggest superiority! Quite the opposite in fact.
20
@ChrisJ Perhaps because those photos are selected by journalists who want to make them look bad?
1
@Hereward Wakenham
No need to make them look bad. They do a great job of that themselves.
1
This is what happens when one tries to mix genetics, sociology and ignorance.
32
I wonder if they are aware East Africans are also lactose tolerant. Being idiot White Supremacist that might take some steam out of the SS White Boys sails.
10
It goes without saying, but these people are incredibly stupid.
35
I, for one, would encourage white supremacists to continue drinking American milk, hormone and antibiotic laden, isn't it? We're avoiding U.S. dairy products .
15
@mariamsaunders: While your comment is not exactly relevant to the topic at hand, America does have dairy producers committed to hormone and antibiotic-free products, and they are widely available.
5
Correlation does not equal causation. Many an analyst has made fools of themselves by ignoring this, as clearly all of the white supremacists do.
And I think journalists should brush up on their statistics before writing articles like this that, through false equivalence of presenting both sides, give racist views a veneer of respectability.
12
When viewing the group of shirtless men (well, really just frightened, little boys) chugging milk my first thought was not "intellectual superiority".
56
Well, with any luck the milk guzzling white supremists will die shortly from getting obese because of too many high calorie dairy products in their diets. I mean how many calories can marching with torches burn?
And anyone who believes that a cold environment leads to higher intelliegence has obviously never spent a Sunday afternoon ice fishing with a bunch of drunken men.
12
Complicated subject? Yes...and no. Science does not stand still, nor should it. What is missing is the much need reminder that “all men/women are created equal”. Equal before the law and in the eyes of the Creator (however you wish to view him/her/it).
Each and every human being is a unique creation unlike any other. No two of us, however similar we appear, are the same. Evolutionary genetics is proving this.
That there may be variations among various human populations is not surprising. That said the universal underpinning of all science must be it’s focus on the word human. In the end, we all belong to one family, one tribe, one race...the human race.
Kindness, respect, generosity, faith, hope and love are the true basis of our humanity. Genetics does not hold sway in these principles. Our personal faith, upbringing (both by our nuclear family and community) and our societal moral code must emphasize this...so those who would use science to decieve are not validated.
21
There is no gene for the human spirit.
6
The last sentence of this article should have been the headline.
10
"Who was the guy who first looked at a cow and said 'I think I'll drink whatever comes out of these things when squeeze 'em!'?"
- Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes
16
PBS/American Experience premiered a program on eugenics this week. A fascinating look at the movement in the early 20th century and our complicated - and ongoing - relationship with xenophobia and classism.
9
This story is an example of the problem it talks about because it does nothing to explain the basis for the misunderstanding.
8
It is hard to imagine a trait less supreme than the ability to digest mammary milk, the primary food source of infant mammals.
16
All infant mammals can digest their mothers’ milk. What’s lost in the majority is the ability to digest milk readily after weaning. This ability, as noted in the article, arose from a freak mutation that would confer no evolutionary advantage unless milk became a common calorie source for adults. And that has happened, also as noted in the article, on several occasions in human history, in widely disparate locations, including Northern Europe and parts of Africa. No “race” conclusions can be drawn from this neutral piece of scientific fact.
9
Reading the history books of William Durant, written about 70 years ago, I noticed that he refers to Italians or Russians as if they were races. Durant was no racist; he was simply echoing the terminology used in his day.
I suppose that this is proof that race is a social construct.
As for the milk situation, another way of expressing it is that white people are mutants. But I doubt that the white supremacists are saying that.
10
@Charlesbalpha
"'We're all mucous filled mutations."
-Aarrrgh 1987.
The thing about being an extremist is that everyone has their own ideas and thus different extremes, so groups of extremists eventually all turn on each other as outside forces informed by the truths of reality burst their bubble of ignorance.
The weakness of a closed mind is one thing, but their fallacy/fantasy of finding racial purity in America was dashed several centuries ago by the early American racist and Trumpublican demigod, Benjamin Franklin, who pointed out in 1751 that practically none, if any, of these fools are WHITE enough (note: the Trumps descend from Palatine):
"[W]hy should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the Exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion.
Which leads me to add one Remark: That the Number of purely white People in the World is proportionably very small. All Africa is black or tawny. Asia chiefly tawny. America (exclusive of the new Comers) wholly so. And in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians and Swedes, are generally of what we call a swarthy Complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted, who with the English, make the principal Body of White People on the Face of the Earth."
9
Did you know that all humans have the same skin color: brown! The differences are simply shades of brown, from very, very light to very, very dark and everything in between. Racism is and always will be a way to identify “the others,” those who look and act different from those in your club/tribe/click. A simple way to exclude people, to discriminate against them. Sadly, many humans in the 21st century are no more emotionally intelligent than their distant ancestors who lived in caves. This fact alone doesn’t bode well for humanity’s future.
12
I doubt she intended this, but the author’s pastiche of “racist” slides and charts was actually more interesting to read than her rather predictable scouring of the “milk brutes”.
But do we really need to politicize milk? Is chocolate milk more ethinically correct? As a Northern European (99.7 % according to 23 and me) milk was an important food source in my youth and remains in my diet today. I am glad I have that source of protein available. All my family is tall, with good bone length and we are weight appropriate. That includes the third generation of our milk drinkers. Milk works.
5
@Robert Goodell
This is an example of the "correlation equals causation" fallacy. In order to weigh proposed evidence appropriately, people MUST learn how to avoid this way of thinking. In the "milk works" case, obviously many factors contribute to Robert's height. The primary factor is clearly his family's genes -- NOT what they eat. Given any diet consisting of the needed nutrients, without any milk at all Robert still would have been tall. Milk drunk by his ancestors did not cause any "short" genes to mutate to "tall" genes. His ancestors survived, along with their "tall" genes, but so did short people's ancestors, along with their "short" genes.
Robert presumably is thinking of protein, which is available from a great many plant-based sources as well as from animals. As long as you have the appropriate nutrients, from any source, and no impinging environmental factors, you will grow according to the plan laid out in your genes.
People make this same mistake when they jump to the conclusion that any particular action (wearing red socks, taking a pill) "caused" any particular reaction (winning the game, healing your big toe). Before you can establish even a valid correlation, much less causation, you have to eliminate all other factors and show that the same thing happens to a large proportion of a very large group all subjected to the exact same conditions.
1
The milk meme originated on 4chan as alt-right humor. You are all being trolled.
7
@Jonas
The campus PC meme originated as a self-deprecating in-joke among college progressives back in the 1980s. (I was there.) Is everyone who has yelled and debated about it since simply being trolled?
Sometimes things that start as humour stop being humour when taken up by people who don’t get the joke (or deliberately pretend they don’t).
2
If on 4chan, then white supremacists are trolling each other -- not us -- and we can sit back and watch yet another overextended group of ignorant extremists cannibalize each other to their eventual end.
1
The milk issue is petty. It doesn’t help however that there is indeed a history of dealing with scientusts who examine the data on race and come to disapproved uncomfortable conclusions with persecution, silencing, and career destruction. Look at what was done to Jenson a generation ago and is being done to Charles Murray. The non-scientist can only suspect that resort to such illiberal tactics suggests that the heterodox scientists may have reason and fact on their side.
6
Creationists often ridicule Darwin's theory of natural selection by saying that it has never been observed. Yet lactose tolerance is a textbook case: a mutation that spread through a local population because it gave its possessors an expanded food supply and helped them survive famines.
7
Fundamentally, this is the problem with the post-truth society in which we find ourselves. Everyone’s opinion is equally valid, whether or not it is truly informed. Without a doubt, genetic differences exist between human groups, as evolutionary advantages developed for different environmental conditions e.g., cattle herders, equatorial populations, etc. However, we are the exact same species and the only species of the homo group. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to physically produce viable offspring in mixed “race” couples. As for which of the genetic variations are best adapted for the survival of our species, I think the jury may still be out and it’s being sorted as we write.
11
I believe that there are no significant differences among "races" of people. Constructing causal models where the dependent variable is putatively some measure of "intelligence" and the independent variables are what used to be thought of as racial indicators (skin-color, eyelid shape, hair texture, etc.) may be the classic example of correlations that don't prove causality. There are many indications that these trivial differences, when used to group people, are primarily differences that can be linked to regional environments (e.g., dark skin is an advantage in tropical ecosystems).
In studying genetic combinations through time and across space, nonetheless, it also seems to be unlikely that the entire range of contemporary human phenotypes have exactly the same innate cognitive capacities. In Academia today any suggestion that groups of people, such as the Eskimos and the aboriginals of Australia, are not exactly the same in every aspect of what we call innate "intelligence," is dismissed as racist.
Perhaps population geneticists are unwilling to admit to a reality that is fraught with the potential to do great harm.
4
Based on DNA I am supposed to be to be lactose tolerant, but I am not. I drink lactose free milk! Genetic analysis has limitations.
4
Lactose tolerance is evidently something that can develop fairly rapidly - in evolutionary terms - in any line of descent. If a group has a good reason to depend on milk from other animals, the tolerance can apparently arise from mortality of the intolerant. Pigmentation is also something that can be developed or lost readily. For example cave organisms from many different phyla tend to lose pigmentation in geologically short times. It seems clear that there are now wide variations in pigmentation in several human lines of descent. There are actually some discernible lines of descent or human races, although there has obviously been a great deal of hybridization and the common "racial" classifications don't correspond well to any real genetic groups. But pigmentation is probably a poor marker for any real "racial" distinctions that may exist.
8
What we need is censorship of genetic research. We need an elite board of liberal scientists to screen out research that lends support to genetic influence on behavior. Make sure geneticists who produce such research never receive another grant. Make sure journals never publish it, and if they do, they are forced to retract it. Be like the USSR: silence politically incorrect research at the source.
15
@Bobo It's not the research that's the problem; it's the people who lie about it.
4
@Bobo
Lol. Of course Lysenko was right, just ahead of his time. CRISPR/Cas9 will allow hybrids of wheat above ground and potatoes below.
1
Lysenko may have been more right than that. He argued that you could create the New Soviet Man, i.e. genetically modified man, by changing social conditions. Recent research in epigenetics suggests that he was right.
2
The ability to digest a protein in a food that has been linked to diabetes and cancer and the production of which is significantly contributing to global warming and involves the mistreatment of animals. Yeah, that sounds superior to me.
19
@HRD
The ability to digest lactose was conferred by genetic processes long before any of your concerns were remotely relevant. Living in Minnesota, milk was the common beverage at meals. Contrast that with sugar sodas. The North Central Plains remain areas of dairy production and consumption, and are also areas of greater height among women and men. Calcium, and the 1 gram of digestible protein per ounce of milk, helps ensure strong bones and long bones.
10
@HRD, lactose is a sugar by the way, not a protein
6
Yep, but the point remains that touting the ability to digest a protein after infancy as inherently superior is just dumb. Like many mutations that took off because they made sense at the time, in 2018, this particular genetic trait doesn’t seem to be a helpful one for the planet.
3
What struck me most about these glugging milk drinkers was the state of their bodies. Out of shape, overfed, and fat in a way that is healthy only in infants.
That's what heavy dairy consumption will do to adults. Rock on, boys. Guess you didn't read the genetic details about heart disease.
29
@Pauline It's not the dairy. It's the terrible person drinking the dairy. Behold the master race, indeed.
4
Scientists need to report the facts, without worrying about how the facts will be used. There is no place for politics in science.
Intelligence is highly heritable. This is a fact. There have been numerous studies showing innate differences in intelligence as it relates to race.
If the geneticists have studies that refute these studies, then let them discuss them.
Science is not political.
I find any scientist who tries to keep truths and facts hidden to be disreputable.
This does not make me a racist.
23
@Jackie
I consider myself a social liberal and I support your point. The problem is that scientists are cowed by a social media mob that can caricature a nuanced and careful study into a 140 character rant.
Regretfully, many with the loudest voices, on both sides of our cultural divide, have the least scientific competence.
7
@Jackie For scientists to simply report data without any awareness of context or consequences is unethical. I say this as a scientist. In a world of pure thought and boundless rationality, maybe science would not be political, but in the actual world it becomes political the moment it engages with society.
Also, your statements about genetics and race are wrong.
11
@Jackie Actually, it does.
5
Isn't it kind of stupid for the NY Times to use white supremacist posters as illustrations without any real discussion of how they are wrong? What are you thinking? Even some of the commenters have failed to understand that DNA testing showings correlations with regional distributions of genes - not correlations with races. There are more variations in genes within Africa than between African groups and the rest of the world.
Also if you want to get into questions of superiority - the ability to digest milk as an adult is due to a mutation that destroyed the gene that turned off lactose production in adults - so those of us who can digest milk are really sort of damaged in a way.
(Of course this way of thinking is just silly, all humans are a huge mishmash of duplicated, damaged and rearranged genes of all types. We get about 800 mutated cells in our bodies every day and some of these end up in our sperm and eggs and go into our offspring and the accumulation of these changes is why none of us are alike. The vast majority of genetic changes are just random wander in human populations.)
21
While a lover of dairy myself, I have to laugh at the self-styled "tough guys" who make it a point to brag about their ability to eat like a baby bovine. Wow, way to go, fellas. Of course, at the root of this whole bizarre milk obsession is likely the fact that it's the whitest of drinks.
18
This is exactly what you get when you trumpet as does the the NYT the alleged right of the odious Charles Murray to an honorable platform for his racism. The simple fact is that whites have used bogus science to promote slavery and racism for centuries. None of the spurious science ever proves true but the damage is done. You whites get exactly what you paid for. But I’ll close with Cicero’s advice: never buy a british slave; they’re too stupid.
6
What if some of the research is not bogus? That's the question the article's author is trying to get you to engage with.
4
After hearing about this, many people who DO have the enzymes to digest milk will feel like vomiting anyway.
63
What was the point of researchers developing "a score that can roughly predict the level of formal education completed by white Americans by looking at their DNA." What was the value of this research? It sounds kind of scary to me.
I'm not surprised this information was hijacked by white supremacists.
7
I have a hard time believing that nobody in that entire group of white men chugging milk had an upset stomach or diarrhea after doing this.
But this is all besides the point. It’s no different than their appropriation of the “OK” symbol standing for “white power.” At the end of the day they’ll just argue that they really, really, really, love milk.
9
So Trump's obsession with Canadian dairy policy is just another dog-whistle to his Aryan base. We wondered why he was so willing to attack the sacred cow of Canafian supply management for a miniscule group of supporters in Wisconsin. Now it becomes more clear.
15
So how many of these racist have any health issue such as diabetes, asthma, IBS, or any other inflammatory disease? If they do the joke is on them as milk may not bother their stomach, but it is an inflammatory food that drunken in this fashion will cause them issues. Add to the problem high levels of antibiotics if the milk comes from many of the larger milk producers that have no clue what organic means. Go ahead and chug milk, do it every day to declare your purity. However, don’t be asking for Medicaid when you become ill.
Actually they aren’t so pure anyway. Most Europeans have Neanderthal genes. People are people, stop being racist.
8
99 bottles of milk on the wall, 99 bottles of milk
Take one down, pass it around
98 bottles of milk on the wall...
Maybe they’re practicing their higher level mathematics skills.
5
@itsmildeyes
Are we sure they can count to 99?
1
Last week the Metropolitan Republican Club invited Gavin McInnes, the leader of Proud Boys, a white supremacist group that has a documented history of roaming in packs and beating people up (e.g., see PBS Frontline's documenting hate.). To get into the Proud Boys, you have to declare that you are a "white chauvinist." Women are not allowed to join. After his speech his followers beat up an anarchist, punching and kicking him while he laid on the ground around the corner. It took days for the police to make an arrest, and before they did, McInnes thanked the NYPD for their support.
Last night CNN's Don Lemon amplified Trump's accusations that Democrats are radical mobs, while showing video of protesters yelling at Ted Cruz in public. (Meanwhile most of these left activists would never vote for a Democrat, who they consider sellouts in a corrupt system.) Neither he nor his panel mentioned that the Metropolitan Republican Club had invited a violent White Supremacist to speak at their club. He didn't play any of the videos showing the Proud Boys beating up someone around the corner.
If you want to know why white supremacy is making a comeback, look at how corporate media keeps trying to say that left activists that yell at people (because they are while supremacists) are a danger to democracy, while ignoring white supremacists who go around beating people up.
Global Corporate Mass News actively ignores the direct connection between the Republican Party and HATE
44
“Science is on our side,” crowed Jared Taylor, the founder of the white nationalist group American Renaissance, in a recent video that cites Dr. Reich’s book.
I have a problem with that. You can’t just pick and choose WHICH science you believe in. You cannot believe in the “power” of DNA, but not believe in evolution or climate change.
These people are so backwards...
51
@Laura My first thought as well -- wait, these people believe in science???
4
Really? Ask a liberal about GMOs or carbon-free nuclear power and you’ll likely find they’re as anti-science as any climate-denier.
5
@Laura You can’t just pick and choose WHICH science you believe in.
Well, according to our current administration you can. You can have alternative facts and therefore alternative science.
2
Once when I was describing a very bad date to a dear friend - we laughed that my date had bragged that he was 'going to Europe on a business trip' at least seven or eight times in the extremely long hour and a half outing-my friend said with her trademark gimlet wisecrack- "you should have told him 'you know, Europe is a big place.'"
The milk-chugging white nationalists are not just attempting to assert false superiority over people of color from Africa (the birthplace of ALL humanity!), many Jewish people from Eastern Europe cannot digest milk either.
Europe is a very big place - and these neo-Nazis who don't deserve any name with the word 'supremacist' or 'nation' to describe themselves- have a hatred for humanity that's even bigger.
38
@common sense advocate
Yeah, Ashkenazi Jew’s have that problem because of the Deuteronomic Mitzvah that milk meals, milchig, must be separated in time and place from flesh meals, fleischig.
Which makes desire for the tasty corned beef on rye with Swiss a lashon hara, or bad thought. In our Baltimore delis you buy the sandwhich and slice of cheese separately. You can then walk out of the shop and put the cheese in the sandwhich.
1
let's face it, it's not really so much racism but colorism- the range of visible skin color determines the range of prejudice.
14
@JA In this country one is allowed to be what one looks like.
3
@Dwight.in.DC,
tell that to those being harassed, bullied, assaulted and killed everyday.
1
This is why the Elizabeth Warren debacle means so much: she is blindly replicating the same scientific-racist logic that animates the far right and which underlied Jim Crow laws (blood quantum). My undergrads—mostly freshmen, at 830 in the morning yesterday—were able to understand this clearly. They also know that the world is racist, none more so than my students of color.
White racial fantasies are still the problem and have only been boosted by the commercial chromosomal testing industry. How you “identify” is now considered the purview of Science (capital S), to the horror of actual scientists. The fact that the technology of the future is being used to bolster anachronistic and debunked views on race is not surprising, because racism still exists.
12
I think you and your students are engaging in another risky oversimplification: insisting that any interest in ancestry must relate to racial identity. Obviously, it does for some people. At least as often, it comes from an interest in testing family lore, sometimes with the hope that it will be confirmed, sometimes with the hope that it will be demolished. The way this relates to a person's identity of any kind isn't going to be simple.
6
@Mike
You cannot look all the material--the tweet (in which she claims the test is an answer to racism), the video (in which she discusses her white relative's racism against her partially-nonwhite relative), and the statement from the Cherokee nation--and think this is not about race. If you don't, you are looking for reasons to deny it. That's fine, but it certainly isn't oversimplifying things to have a long discussion about all the ways in which this failed, and why.
The best idea from this article is the convening that Dr. Di Rienzo is organizing with social scientists, geneticists, and journalists. During these times, scientists need help communicating their work in general, knowing that it will inevitably become politicized. I would add artists should be part of that convening, as well. We can no longer work in silos, shut off in our own little fields, and expect facts alone to prevail in the public consciousness. As for the video clip of those white supremacists drinking milk? I glanced at those guys and thought, "THAT'S the master race??"
38
Should we not be curious about the differences and the variations of humankind because some may misuse the results?
24
@Ken
the way this is phrased suggests that the reason to be curious is because some may misuse the results, but I'll assume you mean that we should not lose interest because...etc. No, but scientists are frustrated for good reason. They don't want their research to be used by the next Mengele.
6
@Ken. What do you mean by “differences” and “variations”? For most people that means identifiable phenotypes which are genetically superficial and fairly inconsequential.
1
@Ken Your question was completely clear to me. There is no ambiguity in your phrasing. You simply compose your sentences in a more formal and traditional (and yes, more educated) manner, and many are no longer used to hearing or reading language structured in this way.
2
With the new tools developed in the past 10-15 years, genetic analysis has become incredibly complex - to the point where it can be confusing even to scientists! A lay person does not stand a chance of understanding the nuances of GWAS, Lod scores, heritability, SNPs, epigenetics, etc. And given the general ignorance of science (and wilful ignorance in the US), these misinterpretations will only get more frequent and worse. And many scientists are too busy doing their research to stop and communicate with the public. And here we are.
18
@Srini a lay person stands a very good chance of understanding the nuances and current state-of-the-art, if they're really interested in the truth and understanding it. They have only to try and apply themselves to what's out there. It's the ignorance combined with lack of application and interest that dooms us all.
6
I have blonde hair and green eyes. My forebears are from the Ukraine, France and Western Russia. I am lactose intolerant and drinking milk makes me ill. 'Nuff said.
55
@Frenchy
Many people from various areas and within the same group have various issues with milk and milk products. By the way, Africans are not the only people who carry the sickle cell anemia traits. There are no traits (clines) that are strictly found in one group of people.
3
The terms "white" and " black" are themselves a reflection of the racism embedded in the culture of the U.S. and should avoided and the terms European American and African American used. The terms “white “and black “ are derived from the historic power structure of the U.S. rather than any natural condition. Skin complexion is not binomial but a spectrum. Where does "white" end and "black" begin? A dark complexion is identified as "black" and historically considered socially inferior in the U.S. due purely to history not ancestry, while "white” is understood to be someone with purely white/pink skin. If the U.S. had been conquered by African nations as opposed to European, the use of "white " would include anyone with a light complexion and be considered socially inferior , while "black" would include only individuals with very dark complexions. When racism is embedded in the language we use it is difficult to objectively discuss racism.
27
@Charles
The terms "black" and "white" are also opposites. Use of such language reinforces the false notion of extreme difference and distance between two groups. This hurts rather than helps efforts to unite people into common causes for the common good.
13
What the milk thing shows is the amazing work of evolution over thousands of generations. And of course there are thousands of little examples like this one, thousands about which we know and thousands yet to be discovered.
"Race" will figure less and less prominently as these variations become better understood. The lactose digesting gene in East Africans is but one example. Correlations will endure because the "races" invented and promoted by racists will inevitably correlate with some things.
None of those correlations will really provide racists the scientific seal of approval they crave.
The hypothesis "my color is smarter than your color" is, scientifically, a ridiculous starting point for research. Our whole history of scientific exploration of our species has provided ample proof of that.
13
Perhaps studies should be undertaken to explain why outcasts choose to blame others rather than address their own (perceived or real) inadequacies.
"They also worry about how new tools that are allowing them to home in on the genetic basis of hot-button traits like intelligence will be misconstrued to fit racist ideologies."
Don't you mean "hone" in on the genetic basis?
25
@nom de guerre People are outcasts because they have been cast out by the larger society. The question is whether the reasons for giving someone the boot actually are valid. (I'm pretty tolerant but a habit of recreational murder, say, might raise a red flag for me.) I would like to see your list of '(perceived or inadequacies)' that you use to determine who should be an outcast.
And by the way, the use of the word 'home' in the article. Hone is what you do to sharpen a blade. Home is to proceed directly to the desired location or target. For example: a homing pigeon or a homing torpedo.
That's a pretty big mistake. Maybe you're not drinking enough milk.
@newsmaned
Perhaps "outcast" was a poor choice, as I meant those who see themselves as outsiders (again, whether perceived or real).
You should consult your dictionary, hone has several definitions. As for the milk, you could be right...I don't drink any.
And we have proof yet again that the more we learn as a species, the more some want to run from that knowledge and retreat to an ignorance of equal magnitude.
42
Drinking milk is not an indication of anything other than being lactose tolerant. It obviously does not make a race superior. Any race that has white supremicists cannot claim either moral or intellectual superiority.
58
@MLE53,
people from the entire Indian subcontinent eat and cook with dairy products- invented it even. I swear, not only are these creatures vile racists but are so ignorant, they are running on a single neuron.
7
If one denies these supremacists their collective crutch of ludicrously attaching themselves to the accomplishments of far better individuals than they, and, instead, take a critical look at what each of them individually has contributed to the species, one concludes, invariably, that they are a so very not superior lot of losers, indeed.
71
This is how I know we have gone totally into crazyland: drinking milk is now a test of racial purity???
PS. You can't find anybody whiter than me (English, Irish, Swedish, German) and milk makes me throw up.
67
the Irish were not always white. they weren't considered white people in America.
1
I am writing my families' stories. These families are all northern European and many British - most in America prior to the Revolution. My fear is for the "Milk people" - but even more for people like me who "unknowingly" - behave as though my liberty can be at the expense of the liberty of others.
Suggested reading another article in today's NYT - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/opinion/england-ireland-border-brexit... and then Nancy Isenberg's book - White Trash. I am embarrassed for my years of ignorance of my own values - as a white male - I fear it goes well beyond the #MeToo - it goes to everyday encounters at the grocery store. My fear is that even that will be unnecessary in the near future - Uber will simply deliver my Kroger order.
5
The more dairy fat these deplorables consume, the better off America will be. Faster, men, faster, gulp it all down.
48
So many idiots out there, with white supremacists leading the way.
40
One look at an NBA team could suggest that African Americans are better at Basketball yet if I was a team owner I would pick the best players regardless of race and certainly not pick a random Black man presuming a trait (basketball prowess) more common in his genetic group must exist in that individual.
Racists call themselves ‘racialists’ because they want to use genetics to justify their racism and desire to discriminate yet their entire argument is negated by the obvious and simple logic expressed above.
7
@Mark Marks Sports for some have been perceived as a ticket out of poverty or dead end existence when other avenues have been almost impossible to follow. A particular sport then becomes an obsession among certain groups or areas and very competitive as a result. The phenomena is not limited to certain ethnic groups either.
3
Racist arguments are as full of holes as Swiss cheese, which is made from milk. Chugalug, white boys.
28
It makes sense to eat right for your blood type. Racists need to hang on to something to limp along through life with any sense of personal value.
6
It's usually most enlightening in these sort of debates to consider what both sides of the argument take as a given. In this case, it's the unspoken assumption that if there were real genetic differences that placed one group above another, some sort of action or policy recommendation would naturally have to follow.
The danger behind genetic theories of racial superiority is that it inevitably follows that this "scientifically proven" inequality should somehow lead to action of one sort or another. "Inferior" people should be discriminated against for the good of the State or the Corporation, take your pick. I would argue that even if certain racial groups are "proven" to be inferior in some objectively measured way, we are not allowed to actually do anything about it. The concept of equality as described in the Declaration of independence means that we are all equal, come hell or high water. It's made our country great.
161
@Chris Protopapas
Amen! Rights are a quality of individuals, not groups. Ones own genetic fortunes are ones own blessing or burden to live with and it is their right to be treated as an individual.
5
@Chris Protopapas: I can't speak to what racists might want as action.
However, if some groups have genetic advantages that are more prevalent than other groups then statistics showing group outcome differences cannot be considered ipso facto proof of systemic racism.
This is the more devastating conclusion that undermines current planned trajectories for SJWs.
7
@Chris Protopapas
These people are already convinced that they should take action, violent action. They are just looking for excuses.
3
That snippet of video is the most ridiculous thing I have seen in the past 2 years and that is saying something. What is wrong with these men? Do they not have enough to do in their lives? Do they not have jobs? Families? Interests other than their supposed Victimization?
It's like the worst of high school, frat boys, etc. Grow up.
228
@LS Deadenders...
3
Well, they don't have girlfriends......
3
I LOVE that video -- it is so embarrassingly the opposite of the macho posturing that they imagined they were conveying. No spoof could better illustrate their ridiculous infantility.
5
I’m sorry but this is just hilarious. My mother was the whitest woman you could imagine, Irish to the core but she was lactose intolerant. Meanwhile in east Africa nomadic herders like the Masai pretty much live on dairy. Last time I ckecked they looked pretty dark to me.
These white supremacists need to be exposed and ridiculed mercilessly.
250
exposed yes. then given a one way ticket to their ancestral homeland.
3
Since there is no dispute by Paleoanthropologists that Homo sapiens came out of Africa, there is no doubt that any differences in IQ and or intelligence are solely a product of superb cultural upbringing and early exposures to bright people. You take a healthy black baby and a healthy white baby , raise them under the same circumstances and parents and I believe there will be no difference in IQ or very little.
12
They are chugging milk because they think it makes them whiter. Notice, no chocolate milk on the menu.
10
The video of white supremacists drinking milk in the street and dancing bare chested makes it clear that the lactose intolerant are not the inferior race.
216
If these people are our future then humans are doomed.
46
There is a lot more to being a successful member of the human race than correctly answering questions on an IQ test or digesting lactose. All of us are a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. The real measure of our worth is how we deploy our talents for the good of all.
103
@Pete Indeed; “IQ” tests are notoriously classist and culturalist and measure understanding of information to which one has been exposed. If one hasn’t been exposed to the information the test creators deem relevant, the test taker does poorly. They’re a sham, much like the expensive and ubiquitous standardized tests that primarily measure a student’s zip code/school address rather than their actual capability.
3
@Peter, yes, I'm sure these people have never heard of multiple intelligences. All people have strengths and weaknesses in our abilities. The key is to discover our strengths and bolster our weaknesses. Nuance is not something these white supremacists understand. That is why they can't (or won't) understand that the genetic studies are not the final answer. I am pretty good with words, not so good at math, and I would never attempt to work on a car. I know my limits but apparently the white supremacists don't.
3
@Nancy Educational tests are designed to measure what has been learned, not what one is capable of learning. IQ tests claims to measure what one is capable of learning, but rely on what one has learned.
Educational tests may correlate by zip codes or school address, but that is actually really important information to know because it reveals where the schools are failing or succeeding.
My definition of “original sin” is the apparent need in the human species to have someone or something to feel superior to. What this emerges from, I don’t know, maybe fear or defense against danger, real or imagined. We all have it and have devised a wide variety of means with which to camouflage it.
20
@Henry Saltzman this is the real issue that most humans have a need to feel superior to others. Most social animals have a hierarchy and so do we. If one is confident and secure about their own abilities and future, they usually don't feel the need to find a place in a social hierarchy.
I think the confident and secure among us are genetically superior and we need to breed more of them.
4
Brings to mind humanist-scientist Jacob Bronowski's gripping 1973 "Ascent on Man" tv series, and the episode on certainty vs knowledge, when he stands outside Auschwitz and decries the horrific folly of acting on claims of human superiority based on group genetics. Yes, today's genetic science is vastly more complicated and nuanced, and, as the article states, requires a suitable lay interpretation, but the human truth Bronowski proclaimed remains.
12
@JVHS And the just released PBS show on eugenics. It’s chilling.
1
Let them drink milk! With all of the hormones in it, they’ll have prostate cancer in no time and will self-select themselves right out of existence. The sooner the better.
68
For those that take the 15 mile, Metro North train ride from Scarsdale to Harlem, a multi-million dollar study to is not needed to illustrate a significant difference in DNA makeup. Our nation should focus on why that is.
6
@Anton; And why it is true the world over.
1
@Anton Poverty?
Oh and you forgot about the train ride through Appalachia and other dirt poor regions of the rural white America.
6
The question here, is not "What are White Supremacists thinking?" but instead,"ARE they thinking?"
According to the old slogan, "Milk....it does a body good" doesn't extend to genetics. Never did; never will.
14
I'm reminded of the opening scene in "A Clockwork Orange" where Alex is drinking milk laced with violence inducing drugs. Those guys in the video may not be as stylish as Alex but they are every bit as vicious.
56
Science cannot counter racism because the racist is not interested in science, anymore than an anti-vaxxer is interested in research which demonstrates that a vaccine is safe. Racists are looking for confirmation and will cherry pick research and apply their own conclusions.
Post-modernism at its best - my facts are my facts; your facts are wrong.
We combat racism morally, with education and political force. We can't make a person a nicer, better, more fair person, but we can outlaw overt discrimination and hate crimes.
My mother used to say, when people were being especially stupid, "My mind is made up; don't confuse me with the facts."
340
@Cathy Doesn't Don Quixote say "facts are the enemy of truth!"?
2
@Cathy The rise of the Nazis in the 1920s-30s was solidly a modernist phenomenon. Going back further, chattel slavery and European colonialism began pre-Enlightenment. Blaming postmodernism for constructing narratives that allow lies to flourish is intellectually lazy and—the ironic shocker—factually incorrect.
6
@Cathy
Or we can legally sanction overt racism and call it “affirmative action”.
3
According to an expert Peruvian pediatric gastroenterologist, in the same societies where lactose tolerance is common, related to the ancient practice of milking cows, other diseases are more prevalent such as Crohn’s disease. Lactose intolerance has a simple and low-cost solution which is to not drink milk, while Crohn’s disease is a lot more expensive to treat and has no cure in most cases.
28
In mammals (including humans), milk is intended as food for young before teeth come in and during bone growth. Most humans stop producing much of the enzyme to digest lactose by puberty. Perhaps white supremacists are permanently infantile. That would explain a lot.
431
@Working Mama
Lol they are also proud of being descendents of Neanderthals.
3
@Working Mama - brilliant!
1
Is there an elephant in the room? Results that show genetic components of intelligence, higher education etc. that are not what we wish they were? and that could be used to justify racism? Let's talk about how we handle the results square on ,instead of pussyfooting around it. The milk drinkers are a distraction.
3
This article's message jumps off the page and hits a reader right between the eyes. . . . .and the issue here leads me to suggest that it is an excellent example of a troubling trend in American society that has been examined fully in Tom Nichols' new book, "The Death of Expertise"'.
32
Agreed. If you live in North America and you can digest milk as an adult “you have to go back."
The main issue isn't the genetic (or if some prefer "racial") variety; the issue is the ignorant interpretation of the significance and meaning of that variety. Whether a genetic trait signals inclusion into a "racial" category or not, it does not follow--scientifically or otherwise--that possessors of said trait should or must do anything. That is simply nonsense.
7
You are attempting to apply reason to the irrational. Let’s not waste time addressing the ignorant. Let them drink their milk. Based on that photo, most will be preoccupied with heart disease at a very young age.
79
@Billy Bob
You are ignoring the fact that Trump speaks directly to these people using their language and talking points.
Trump called a column of white supremacists carrying torches and yelling Nazi slogans "fine people."
On the day that Trump's personal fixer and campaign manager were both being convicted for crimes, he repeated a white supremacist conspiracy theory that black South Americans were murdering white farmers for their land.
The Metropolitan Republican Club homepage says, "... our clubhouse was built in 1930 and has been a meeting place and campaign headquarters for virtually every Manhattan Republican elected to office since that time."
Last week this club invited Gavin McInnes, proud racist and the leader of the Proud Boys, a white Supremacist Group that promotes "white chauvinism" and has a documented history of political violence to speak at their club. He brought over a dozen Proud Boys with him, and right after the speech they were kicking and punching an anti-fascist protestor curled up on the sidewalk around the corner.
These milk chuggers are not just isolated wierdos. They are the tools of the global mega rich who finance hate groups and hate propaganda to undermine democracy and the Constitution, because democracy cuts into profits.
Germany was a Constitutional democracy until Hitler rose to power while most people thought he was a joke. Trump is against the Bill of Rights and declares people guilty or innocent based on their loyalty to him.
4
This article seems like something The Onion would publish. That said I am a white woman who is allergic to milk and other dairy products. One of my siblings is also allergic. Lactose intolerance runs in my family.
36
Carl - My allergist, who tested me for many allergies, defines lactose intolerance as an allergy. What is your medical background?
14
Your allergist is incompetent. @susan
1
Either you or your allergist are confusing milk allergy with lactose intolerance. The absence of the digestive enzyme is not the same thing as the presence of the immune response to milk. The latter is much rarer and is triggered by the presence of milk proteins. It’s symptoms are rather different.
5
When "Democrats" say "Democrats need to stop the identity politics", show them this and say, "...those are Democrats?"
14
Ah, the human race! How can it possibly survive? Well, with over 7 billion of us now, there's likely to be survivors for a long time. But surely, the human race will be many fewer--and not that far away in the future. Will my 1 year old granddaughter be one of them? I'll never know.
6
@Gary Pippenger
The academic study of statistics extrapolates current data to a reasonable degree of probability.
Given the data on such items like global warming and probabilities of mass disease and famine, race will probably be inconsequential.
6
Science is complicated. The interaction between genes and identity is probably the most intractable isssue in human biology. The notion that there is a direct line from DNA to behavior is wrong. But it does not mean that there is no connection whatsoever. Intelligence is genetically determined to a significant degree. Correlation between population groups and genetic clusters does exist, whether we like it or not. Racists misuse science for ideological gains but muzzling science in the service of a liberal ideology is just as wrong. If it can be proven that population groups differ in their inherent behavioral traits, so be it. The world is as it is, not as we would like it to be. As a Jew, I am disgusted beyond words by the vile antisemitic and racist rhetoric of these hate groups. But as an intellectual, I must follow the truth wherever it leads. If cultural differences can be attributed, at least partially, to genetic traits, then we have to revise our understanding of culture, and such an expansion of human knowledge is to be welcomed, not feared.
97
@Mor great point. It should be added that dignity and equality should extend to all humans, regardless of their genetically acquired behavior traits. The fundamental problem is that some of us want to discriminate others based on those traits. Similar issue exists in the study of gender differences. Honest science is not possible when we allow some to use that as a basis for discrimination. The publishers of such studies are put in uncomfortable situations of having to defend their study or misappropriated by bigots.
2
@Mor
Geneticists have a saying that we are shaped by 100% genetics and 100% environment.
I agree that we should follow science where ever it goes, in an effort to understand reality. The desire of many to suppress science that does not agree with their beliefs is very dangerous.
However I also agree that it is important that white supremacists, who seem to twist science to fit their hateful beliefs, should not be accidentally given help by geneticists.
Too many scientists in all fields think that their research is politically neutral, while they create extremely dangerous facts without considering the real life implications of their work, or how the worst effects can be mitigated during the scientific process. The nuclear bomb, modern chemicals sold to the public without evidence that they are safe, genetic experiments in outdoor farm fields where test subjects can blow into nearby farms etc. are examples of science that are obviously or potentially dangerous. But many of the scientists working on them think only of their immediate goals, but not the implications.
Human genetics is an extremely dangerous subject. White supremacists are looking to twist scientific findings into excuses for mass violence. They will latch on to any hint that they are scientifically "superior" and user it for propaganda purposes to grow their numbers, while Trump speaks to them in their code, and encourages political violence at his rallies, torture, police brutally, etc.
THINK
74
@Mor
Something I find fairly amusing is that these people think that their genes make them smarter than nonwhites. Even if we make a LOT of assumptions, their argument still doesn't make sense.
IF there were differences in genetic traits that select for intelligence, and IF certain nonwhite races had lower occurrences of them than whites, that doesn't mean that EVERY white person is smarter than EVERY nonwhite person. That's not how variance works.
Even IF average intelligence is higher for whites, these supremacists are the dregs of society - they're not exactly on the high end of the bell curve. They're probably still less smart than the people they think they're so superior to.
3
Imagine where the group doing the milk dance falls out on the educability and intelligence spectrum. More seriously, having read previously somewhere that if anything is socially constructed it is ‘race’, and that from the standpoint of genetics makes little sense. I think pumping up the volume on that message would help geneticists move past this problem.
10
@skyfiber "pumping up the volume" is not a metaphor I would use when discussing how to improve race relations.
This is why proper education is so important, genetics research makes no judgement on which is ‘better’ when it comes to human traits. It is simple a statement, as in the milk case, that some people have this trait at a much higher frequency than others.
The issue is that than people seize on the results but add their own personal biases. For white-supremecists that means claiming they are better because of their ability to digest dairy, simply because that is how they differ from others. A study showing anything (even things perceived negatively by the general public) could be used as fodder, so long as the finding is our group is different than theirs.
95
@Jayme Good point. This reminds me of the controversy and uproar whenever anyone points out differences between the sexes - even well established ones like that men tend to be physically stronger and bigger than women (on average! over large populations!).
Men have sperm and women have eggs; we are surely different in other ways too (on average! over large populations!), but we all help make the world go round. Deeming certain traits better than others is the mistake - not admitting that there just might be some differences between us.
2
@Jayme Actually this error you describe exists strongly on the left. The assumption is that if firm evidence emerged that racial differences in IQ are genetic, it would mean some races are better than others. Therefore, leftists argue strenuously against any such evidence. Funny that no one seems to make this argument about other differences, like superior fast-twitch muscle development. Does the fact that almost all top sprinters are of West African ancestry mean that West Africans are the superior race? If not, why would we infer that from IQ differences? People can be different without being superior or inferior, or giving up any of their basic human rights and dignity.
5
Aka The Sneeches
1
Any anthropologist will tell us that race is an artificial construct, created by groups to identify one from another. Race does not exist at a genetic level. As the author of this piece notes, race is a social construct. We are all human beings. Some evolved from people originating in Africa, and some from people originating in the far east, and some from the northern latitudes around the North Sea. From there, people migrated, intermingled, and set about creating their homes, enclaves, and families in every corner of the earth. I wish that I could wave a magic wand and have people understand the fundamental connectedness and universal roots of us all.
78
@Cheryl
An anthropologist may well tell you that but a Doctor never will - there are proven racial components to the human physiological systems. These support the presence of race-related variations in disease risk, disease progression, treatment response, and treatment-related side effects.
Like most things in life there is truth to both sides of the argument - but we do a disservice to science by claiming that there are no racial differences beyond the social.
20
The first thing I read this morning...what a happy dream. A much more complicated reality. I'll try to stick with the happy dream until I finish my coffee, but it's going to be tough once I start reading the paper. (yes, I still call the NYT, et al, newspapers.)
8
@Cheryl I see what you are saying but your interpretation of the migrations is not quite what the current data show. We all originated in Africa and a portion then left on a migration. In today's Europe, they mated with Neanderthals and some in East Asia mated with Denisovans. There were later other migrations including "back to Africa." There was a single origin of Homo sapiens as far as we know today.
12