The Study of Race*

Abstract

'The Study of Race* S. L. WASHBURN University of California, Berkele)' HE address of T race, Executive Board has asked me to give my agreed to on do the subject not and, reluctantly and diffidently, I have so. I am a specialist on this subject. I have never done research on race, but I have taught it for a number of years. Discussion of the races of man seems to generate endless emotion and con­ fusion. I am under no illusion that this paper can do much to dispel the con­ fusion; it may add to the emotion. The latest information available supports the traditional findings of anthropologists and other social scientists-that there is no scientific basis of any kind for racial discrimination. I think that the way this conclusion has been reached needs to be restated. The continua­ tionof antiquated biological notions in anthropology and the oversimplification of facts weakens the anthropological position. We must realize that great changes have taken place in the study of race over the last 20 years and it is up to us to bring our profession into the forefront of the newer understandings, so that our statements will be authoritative and useful. This paper will be concerned with three topics-the modern concept of race, the interpretation of racial differences, and the social significances of race. And, again, I have no illusion that these things can be treated briefly; I shall merely say a few things which are on my mind and which you may amplify by turning to the literature, and especially to Dobzhansky's book, Mankind Evolving. This book states the relations between culture and genetics in a way which is useful to social scientists. In my opinion it is a great book which puts the interrelations of biology and culture in proper perspective and avoids the oversimplifications which come from overemphasis on either one alone. The races of man are the result of human evolution, of the evolution of our species. The races are open parts of the species, and the species is a closed system. If we look, then, upon long-term human evolution, our first problem must be the species and the things which have caused the evolution of all mankind, not the races, which are the results of local forces and which are minor in terms of the evolution of the whole species. (A contrary view has recently been expressed by Coon in The Origin of Races. I think that great antiquity of human races is supported neither by the record nor by evolution­ ary theory.) The evolution of races is due, according to modern genetics, to mutation, selection, migration, and genetic drift. It is easy to shift from this statement of genetic theory to complications of hemoglobin, blood groups or other technical information. But the point I want to stress is that the primary implication • Delivered as the Presidential address at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropo­ logical Association, November 16, 1962, in Chicago.