Murderer of Trayvon Martin pulls knife and gun on his in-laws.

[Kagatob]

Originally Posted by Bodeanicus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'd care very much if a black dude had killed a black kid for nothing.

Some HBB level bullshit right there.

Originally Posted by Bodeanicus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

South Americans don't count.

This is accurate.

[Orruar]

Originally Posted by Bodeanicus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The only race is homo sapiens. Race. Every single "race" of humans on this planet can interbreed because they're 99.999999999999999999999999999% identical, genetically. Everything else (religion, culture, ideology, etc.) are social constructs.

You should probably read up on the difference between the terms "race" and "species". And the fact that something is a social construct doesn't mean it is not a real thing.

Also, you have a few too many 9s there. There aren't enough base pairs in our DNA to warrant that level of precision, and you are essentially implying that we're all identical twins.

[Hasbinbad]

Originally Posted by Orruar [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

There aren't enough base pairs in our DNA to warrant that level of precision, and you are essentially implying that we're all identical twins.

Base pairs come in combination strings called genes, which warrant a far higher level of precision than the straw man you built here.

[Hasbinbad]

Also, to anyone who thinks that race is a thing, please answer me this in one sentence:

What defines a race?

[Arclyte]

You might as well be asking the question "When does life begin?"

It's such a politically charged topic that a bullshit-less answer is impossible.

Just as with abortion, when you've cut through the political fat, at the end of the day you are still ending a life. The same is true for race. Thinking it doesn't exist does not alter reality.

[Lune]

Originally Posted by Hasbinbad [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Also, to anyone who thinks that race is a thing, please answer me this in one sentence:

What defines a race?

A collection of phenotypes that we've categorized and named, roughly analogous to extremely similar breeds of dogs, for example black labs and yellow labs. Sorry, but you can't just pretend away factual information that you don't like, or isn't PC enough.

It's true there is greater genetic diversity within races than between them, but this does not influence the aggregate differences in phenotype/traits between our categorized groups. If there were no difference, you wouldn't have only certain groups affected by certain diseases-- for example, sickle-cell disease is almost unheard of in whites, but appears in people with African ancestry. That's a bona fide genetic trait that, for the most part, appears in one 'race' but not the other.

[Peatree]

Originally Posted by Lune [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

A collection of phenotypes that we've categorized and named, roughly analogous to extremely similar breeds of dogs, for example black labs and yellow labs. Sorry, but you can't just pretend away factual information that you don't like, or isn't PC enough.

It's true there is greater genetic diversity within races than between them, but this does not influence the aggregate differences in phenotype/traits between our categorized groups. If there were no difference, you wouldn't have only certain groups affected by certain diseases-- for example, sickle-cell disease is almost unheard of in whites, but appears in people with African ancestry. That's a bona fide genetic trait that, for the most part, appears in one 'race' but not the other.

Good answer. Especially the part about genetic diversity, sickle cell, etc... Not only does it effect disease but it effects other traits as well. For example, it's a well known fact among lifeguards that most black people sink. Their muscle to bone density is higher than other races which makes them less bouyant.

[Orruar]

Originally Posted by Hasbinbad [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Base pairs come in combination strings called genes, which warrant a far higher level of precision than the straw man you built here.

Nice math. Except that there are fewer genes than base pairs and thus a lower level of precision is required if the comparison is done at the gene-level than at the bp-level. I've taken courses on writing algorithms for genetics, but feel free to continue pretending like you know more than you do.

[Hasbinbad]

Originally Posted by Lune [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

A collection of phenotypes that we've categorized and named, roughly analogous to extremely similar breeds of dogs, for example black labs and yellow labs.

I don't wan't to underquote you, but the important bit of what you said is "A collection of phenotypes that we've categorized and named[.]" The rest of what you said is rhetorical.

Having the proper background, I understand what you mean by that. For the lay person, what you're saying is that someone or some group has taken it upon themselves to decide to arbitrarily categorize people into groups based on physical characteristics that have nothing to do with anything about their genetics, heritage, or upbringing.

Right. I can decide to group you into "idiots," and by your logic you can't say that I'm wrong.

GG.

[Hasbinbad]

Originally Posted by Lune [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If there were no difference, you wouldn't have only certain groups affected by certain diseases-- for example, sickle-cell disease is almost unheard of in whites, but appears in people with African ancestry. That's a bona fide genetic trait that, for the most part, appears in one 'race' but not the other.

What you're referring to here, which is quite separate from the other bit I quoted, refers to ethnicity, not "race." All "black people" (a race) do not have a propensity for sickle cell. See: black people from south america, indian subcontinent, australia.

"African ethnicity" is a thing, "black people" is not.