Re:Why are Europeans White?
by dkarl on Sunday June 24, 2012 @05:02PM
(#4154243)
By the way, the "race" categories that are used in the United States are arbitrary, subject to rewriting from time to time for political considerations, and do not correspond to any scientific view of geographical populations.
We never let science interfere with our prejudices; see for example the Supreme Court's reasoning in [1], in which they rejected a scientific definition of race for the purposes of interpreting a statute. However, we always did and still do assume that our beliefs about race (whatever they are) are grounded in biological reality and will be vindicated by science. In the Supreme Court case I linked, after the justices set aside science in favor of "the understanding of the common man," they still felt compelled to discuss scientific theories and imply that a sufficient examination of the scientific evidence would support the same ruling.
We never let science interfere with our prejudices; see for example the Supreme Court's reasoning in [1], in which they rejected a scientific definition of race for the purposes of interpreting a statute. However, we always did and still do assume that our beliefs about race (whatever they are) are grounded in biological reality and will be vindicated by science. In the Supreme Court case I linked, after the justices set aside science in favor of "the understanding of the common man," they still felt compelled to discuss scientific theories and imply that a sufficient examination of the scientific evidence would support the same ruling.
[1] http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/asian_voices/voices_display...