Human Races

Human races are distinguished by anthropologists on the basis of anthropometric traits. Geneticists delineate the races on the basis of gene frequenciesshared within the group and as different from other “racial” populations. The classification of “races” is compounded by social and cultural factors. The main human races are Caucasoid, Mongoloids (including Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and American Indians, etc.), and Negroid. Khoisanoids or Capoids (Bushmen and Hottentots) and Pacific races (Australian aborigines, Polynesians, Melanesians, and Indonesians) may also be distinguished. Many other subgroups within the larger ethnic groups may be classified. There is no genetic incompatibility among the various human races and there is no well-founded scientific evidence that interracial marriage would lead to the disruption of co-adapted gene blocks resulting in biological or mental deterioration in the offspring. The three major human races are genetically closely related as indicated...