This had better not get me banned...

Now to start the topic, by no means am I, whatsoever, a racist. but anyways to discuss...

Why do we call blacks, indians, asians, ect. a different race, could it be that they are a different species of the human than the white?

Why are (most) blacks so damn fast runners? Is it natural selection from chasing an animal in africa a long time ago? I heard somewhere that they have an extra bone in their foot that helps them run faster, so this could be natural selection and adding to the theory that they could be a different species.

Anyways, again im not racist, just curious...

why is this in the Sci & ech forum?

No, they are not a different spiecies. if they were, the different races of the earth would not be able to breed together and produce fertile offspring.

The differences in race is alot more like the differences in breeds of dogs, cats, ect. In otherwords, a german shepherd and a beagle can breed together and produce fertile, normal offspring. Thus, they are the same spiecies.

Humans are the same. Different breeds of human. Each breed has specilizations made for the environment they developed in. Migration has caused breeds to mix up quite a bit or mutate. So there really arent any purebreeds left.

But all of them are Homo Sapiens.

It's in the sci/tech forum because it is a scientific question.

No - any given race is not another "species". We are all the same species.

No - I don't believe black people are faster runners because they chased gazelles in Africa. But then I don't believe a lot of other stuff either, so take that for what it's worth.

Genetics play a lot in all attributes of a person - and a people. For instance, my mother has a beauty mark that appeared in her midlife and then eventually had to be removed because the docs were worried it could become cancerous. My oldest brother, in his midlife, developed the same mark in the exact same location, and had to have it removed eventually for the same concerns. I - just in the past couple of years - have developed the same mark in the exact same location, and will most likely have to have it removed. At the same time, my mother has a condition that has been passed on to both of us.

Genes are strong. They pass skin color, eye color, muscular attributes, mental functions, emotional conditions, all kinds of things.

We're all humans - one species. Each of us has our own genetic attributes. Races have common attritubes - that doesn't make them a different species.

I really think the poster could of chosen better words, but you will find that the endurance thing is related to the air thinness in Africa (think higher red blood cell concentration). White athletes often train there before the Olympics.

Schmidt - i've thought the same thing. Not a different species though, just different 'breeds'.

I honestly don't know how modern science lines up with this idea, but F'it. Just look around you, it's an easy fact to realize.

Wether we're talking about intellect, athletic ability or the size of your johnson, it ain't a sterepotype as far as I see things - it's a fact.

Originally posted by SteveR
I really think the poster could of chosen better words, but you will find that the endurance thing is related to the air thinness in Africa (think higher red blood cell concentration). White athletes often train there before the Olympics.

It wasn't endurance he was posting about, it was speed. Africans have a very long history of living in survival conditions, which causes the body to react by changing to better survive. Any group of people that is required to use their physique every day to hunt for the protien to live will develop a physique adapted to those needs.
Just as us white folk are adapted to gaining a few extra pounds, the fat reservoir is usefull over long cold winters for insulation and energy incase there is no food. Bigger, narrower noses and sinus cavities warm the air before it gets to the lungs more efficiently, bigger wider noses also humidify the air more efficiently as well. Small noses and reduced sinus cavities appear more often in warm humid climates. Black skin is more effective at dealing with ultra violet exposure.
Green skin is the poorest adaptation of all because clorophyll reactant skin can't process energy fast enough for a motive creature, so there.

Hint: In sprints the endurance sustains the initial speed.

I don't mean to be a racist either, because I am not, but what everyone said is correct about species. Just as a beagle is not as fast a dog as a greyhound, they are the same species.

It is obvious that most blacks have a different physique which includes a longer femur and thus a longer muscle group attached which affect running ability. Whether this is an adaptation due to creation or evolution is for the world to debate about.

Originally posted by Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
No, they are not a different spiecies. if they were, the different races of the earth would not be able to breed together and produce fertile offspring.

Not exactly accurate. Zeebras and horses are diffret species...and they do breed. The degree of relation determines how fertile their offspring is. the closest term to mark the boundaries between species that can breed is actually a Biblical term, called a Kind. Supposedly, if you brought 2 Kinds of elephants on the Ark, you'd get what you need with a Wooly Mammoth and an African Elepahnt....or any extinct combination, really.

As for why we don't:

1. The degree of seperation isn't there. Out of the genes that make us human and not monkey, shark, or zeebra, there's only 10% diffrence between the races (general characteristics that are considered "negroid, caucasian, etc.). I.e., there's a 90% overlap that could happen. My father, caucasian, has a huge brow ridge and a bulbous nose (very scottish), this is often considered black characteristics...as well as the Neanderthals. My caucasian mother has no real ridge...which is a more Asiatic trait. I have a moderate to heavy brow ridge, which places me as caucasian to black. You get the point? The races are too widely defined to be a seperate species...maybe at most a subset.

2. If we're announced as seperate species, one's got the be superior...i.e. a superace. Dnagerous territory...and ignorant of the facts.


As for the fast running blacks: A typical black trait is: dense bones, less prone to fat. This is why it's hard to find extremely fast black swimmers (though it does hapen). They're more likely to sink, denser bones and no fat= no bouyancy worth mentioning. Running, they are more compact, and have less useless weight dragging them down=winning more races.

Also, there is a cultural side to there being more black sports players/racers:
Some countries in the Olympics only have black people. For that country to win, a black person must win.
For places like America, for a lot of black children, the only way out of the life they grew up in is to be the best sports player. If you know that your life depends on being noticeably the best at something, you're going to play well past your natural talents. this is true no matter what race, as my white father did the same thing to go to college (and he was, early on, a horrible player with the drive to succed and far surpassed his natal talents int his area). To top it off, many people are looking for the black kid to be better at sports. You assume that your best player is going to black, you might never give the white boy (or the mexican, asian, whatever, you get the point) the benfit of the doubt when they are roughly on the same playing field.

I know it happens in the music field. Some of the best singers I know are black, but they aren't in the opera. I have at least one black friend who is studying to go that direction, ad has the talent. At least she has the body style they are looking for. (And I know of white singers who were turned down for a part, even though they were the better singer because they were flat chested. Had a choral director with that issue. Poor woman had corne's disease~ she was lucky she didn't look like a walking skeleton.)

Presumptions of racial superiority holding back those with real talent always disgust me.

[edit on 14-8-2006 by jlc163]

I don't think so, the biological similarities between the different "races" is very to large. The physical differences between "races" are not significant enough to warrent new species. These slight physical differences can be attributed to the wide variety of enviroments that homo sapien has occupied since it's migration out of Africa (at least if we are to believe the "Out of Africa" theory).

First off, change the name of your thread. If you can't, ask a Moderator too.. its just obsurd to think you'll get banned for being a racist.. just look at the Middle Eastern/Terrorist Forum.

(Yes, that was cross forum jab.)

Anyhow, I'm just jumping in here real quick.. because this does seem to be a rather interesting discussion..

... I heard somewhere that they have an extra bone in their foot that helps them run faster, so this could be natural selection and adding to the theory ...

Here's the deal, when you make a theory, you have to base it on theoretical facts. Theories can't be made, but rather "sold" when they are based on false or misleading facts. So "hearing it somewhere" and "theory" equals "bull#".

I searched google, and I found absolutly nothing on what you "heard somewhere".

I did find a study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that claims African Americans have slightly higher bone mass, which in theory means their bones are stronger.

jcem.endojournals.org...

Read it, it may answer many of your questions.

Also, if you can supply any facts supporting the differences in ethnic skeletal "feet" then by all means, shoot me down.

Not done..

It is obvious that most blacks have a different physique which includes a longer femur and thus a longer muscle group attached which affect running ability.

No, it's not obvious. Just because you say so, doesnt make it obvious.

Again my studies lead me elsewhere while I search for your FACTS. I didn't find an inkling about longer femurs. But I did find a study in the Journal of Forensic Sciences that attempts to debate that femur's can be used to determine ancestry.

The differences in femurs between ancestry (Native Americans, Polynesians, Hispanics, American Whites, and American Blacks) are so minute that a simple change in genetics alters the outcome.

They're the same bud.. maybe a teeny tiny bit different.

www.missouri.edu...

Hey everyone, notice how I included references (facts) to my theories!

I always wondered if black people get sun burned or not, but I heard they have a built in SPF of 500.... I think that's very cool, but I also think it could be an adaptation. No I don't believe in Darwin, but it makes perfect sense to me that someone living in a hot parched climate (of before) could have had that adaptation for pure protection from the sun.

yes blacks sunburn just like everyone else.

Wether we're talking about intellect, athletic ability or the size of your johnson, it ain't a sterepotype as far as I see things - it's a fact.

That one IS a stereotype... one made up by people who are uhm... lacking... in that area. BLAME IT ON THE BLACK MAN! HE STOLD MUH WOMAN!!

And intellect is just stupid. RDR.

Each of the three races have distinct environmental advantages... the most notable is temperature tolerance.

"Race" itself is a word that is subject to debate. Genetic differences in races is at times greater than between "races". Many physical characteristics normally associated with one "race" at times can be seen in other races as well. Another problem arises we try to determine a set number of "races", exactly how many differences must there be for us to describe a culture of people as a seperate race? Even if you do not agree I'm sure that you will agree that the huge number of people living in Asia and Oceania can not be describe as one race.

The Bell Curve is an interesting book about the differences between the races in terms of intelligence. You'll will either love it or hate it.

The Bell Curve
The ability to manipulate information has become the single most important element of success. High intelligence is an increasingly precious raw material. But despite decades of fashionable denial, the overriding and insistent truth about intellectual ability is that it is endowed unequally. In this audio presentation of The Bell Curve, author Charles Murray explores the ways that low intelligence, independent of social, economic, or ethnic background, lies at the root of many of our social problems. He also discusses another taboo subject: that intelligence levels differ among ethnic groups. According to the authors, only by facing up to these differences can we accurately assess the nation's problems and make realistic plans to address them. However, if we accept that there are intelligence differences among groups, we must learn to avoid prejudicial assumptions about any individual of a given group whose intelligence level may be anywhere under the bell curve.

Wikipedia: The Bell Curve
.

Varying IQ scores between races can be explained by a variety of cultural and enviromental differences. Racism and stereotypes could play a role in that blacks and mexicans are often thought of as less intelligent or they think that since they are a minority they will never achieve what a person of the majority(white) with equal intelligence would, so they don't try. Many urban cultures often do not make education and intelligence a priority so some kids growing up in these locations do not think they are important. Nutrition, Parenting methods, culture, and a variety of other things could be the explanation of IQ gap between races. I do not think it is best explained as a genitic phenomenon.

Wow, i wasnt expecting all this information. Its cool though, i learned alot and everything i needed to know. Now i know that there is actually scientific proof behind blacks' speed, and its not just a stereotype. so yeah thank everyone for ze information.

An extra bone lmao unreal what are you like 10 years old?

Originally posted by apc

Wether we're talking about intellect, athletic ability or the size of your johnson, it ain't a sterepotype as far as I see things - it's a fact.

That one IS a stereotype... one made up by people who are uhm... lacking... in that area.

I disagree.



Humans are humans, yes we have some minor
differences in what we look like, but regardless of that,
we are all the same species.

[edit on 8/14/2006 by iori_komei]