Emily Henderson
Critical Summary of There is no Scienti c Basis for
Race- It’s a Made-up Label
In the article 'There is no Scientific Basis for Race- It's a Made up Label' that appeared in
National Geographic, Elizabeth Kolbert Argues that no scientific evidence supports the
theory of race. Despite the political value race holds, there is no evidence linking directly
to support the idea; instead, many things influence who we are as people and how we are
related. Elizabeth Kolbert's theory on race is undeniable with the scientific evidence she
uses; it is instead a social construct.
Elizabeth begins her argument by talking about Morton, a scientist who collected
skulls of any background. Morton believed that the size of the skull determined how
intelligent a person was. Due to this assumption, Morton deducted that Caucasians were
superior as they were more intelligent. Morton received praise from medical Journals, and
defenders of slavery used his ideas. Mortons' idea was slowly forgotten by scientists as
new research on genetics and DNA arose. We now know that humans are closely related
and technically originate from Africa. However, as our ancestors spread worldwide,
random mutations occurred in our genetics, and the longer we were separated, the more
changes happened. Due to natural selection and random mutations, changes in our genetics
occurred in whole populations. Elizabeth uses Kamberov's mice to attempt to explain why
some of these changes happen, for example, why some East Asian and Native Americans
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Emily Henderson
have thicker hair and more sweat glands. Keith Cheng uses ancient DNA to decipher that
there were many dark-skinned Europeans who also possessed blue eyes. Cheng's research
shows that no fixed traits belong to specific geographic locations. Skin colour is a matter
of different genes and genetic adaptations, like how our ancestors dealt with sun exposure.
Elizabeth's last point is that some of us do not even know our true ancestry and are often
more of something than we thought. This genetic history leads back to the truth that we all
came from the same place.
Elizabeth Kolbert's theory on race is undeniable with the scientific evidence she
uses; it is rather a social construct. Elizabeth supports her idea well with many uses of
different scientific evidence. While some topics do not directly prove that there is no
scientific basis for race, they still support Kolbert's Idea. Kolbert starts strong with the
mention of Morton. This use of Morton prefaces and further supports Kolbert's main
argument. Kolbert uses many examples, and it is evident in her argument that she has done
the proper research and is well-versed on the topic. Due to the amount of evidence and
examples Kolbert has accumulated and my little prior knowledge, I agree with her
argument.
In 'There is no Scientific Basis for Race- It's a made-up label' by Elizabeth Kolbert,
Colbert argues that no scientific evidence supports the theory of race. Kolbert's argument
is persuasive and convinces the reader that there is no proper scientific evidence for race;
it is a social construct. Kolbert uses her abundance of evidence and examples to help
support her argument.
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Emily Henderson
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Emily Henderson
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