political correctn

[Dave Wilton]

True, "race" is a social, not a biological, construct. But the arbitrarily
chosen traits upon which the social construct of race is based are genetic.
So Ron's point about the unfairness of criticizing someone for their genetic
heritage, as opposed to chosen beliefs and opinions, holds.

And in medicine and other biological applications race can sometimes serve
as useful, if somewhat inaccurate, proxy for detailed genetic analysis
(e.g., in screening for diseases that are more prevalent within certain
racial/ethnic groups than in the population as a whole).


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Salikoko S. Mufwene
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 4:18 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: political correctn

ronbutters at AOL.COM wrote:
> And for good reason.
>
>  Race is determined by genes.
>
Biologists would not agree with your statement, because they  have found
no correlation between the geographical distribution of genetic
materials and that of races. For them race is a social, not a genetic,
category.

Sali.

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org