Species vs. Race

Abstract

When it comes to biology, all humans are created equal. Not identical, but equal. We are all one species with one shared genome. Beginning with Galton (1909), eugenicists have made the erroneous argument that human races can be understood as human speciation in progress. Two sociological theorists, Emile Durkheim and W. I. Tomas, provide particularly valuable insights into the sociological processes that transform minimal biological diversity into profound social inequities. Te authors argue that it is possible to eradicate racism by using a reverse dominance hierarchy ritual similar to the !Kung’s. Americans create racism by ritually “othering” enemies. Examples include dehumanizing people of color in the Tree-Fifths Compromise and othering wartime enemies. Americans can eradicate racism by formally ceasing hostilities against enemy-Others—which would involve expunging the Tree-Fifths Compromise from the US Constitution.