Obama has a big problem

[Ravi]

btw: Various breeds of dog also came from a single, common, ancestral stock. What makes them all members of the same species is the ability to produce fertile offspring. Breed, like race, has nothing to do with this. It is merely a layer of segmentation within a particular species based on any number of traits.

Maybe you're just getting way over my head. Are you saying blacks and whites can't produce fertile offspring together?

 

[manifold]

Neither should be necessary.

I was pretty clear and to the point.

 

[manifold]

Maybe you're just getting way over my head. Are you saying blacks and whites can't produce fertile offspring together?

Now you're just playing stupid.

 

[Ravi]

Neither should be necessary.

I was pretty clear and to the point.

Manny, sometimes I think we speak different languages. I really have no idea what you are trying to say.

 

[manifold]

Manny, sometimes I think we speak different languages. I really have no idea what you are trying to say.

Fine, I'll recap:

It started with your insistance that Obama is not multiracial. I think now we agree that he is.

Then we got sucked off onto a tangent about how, according to you, there is no such thing as multiracial since we are all part of the same race...human.

I said thats only true if you view race as meaning the same as species. You accepted this, more or less, and said yep, race = species.

I disagreed. No matter how one defines race(s), it is an attempt to subdivide homo sapiens (the species in question).

 

[Ravi]

Not to be nitpicky, but I didn't mean to insist that Obama wasn't multiracial. My point was that he can be and mostly is considered black--and there's nothing wrong with that, the being or the considering.

What I'm not understanding is why you don't think race = species, or perhaps why you don't think it is a valid definition. IMO, what people usually refer to as race really means ethnicity.

I'm not even sure we are disagreeing, lol!

 

[manifold]

Not to be nitpicky, but I didn't mean to insist that Obama wasn't multiracial. My point was that he can be and mostly is considered black--and there's nothing wrong with that, the being or the considering.

What I'm not understanding is why you don't think race = species, or perhaps why you don't think it is a valid definition. IMO, what people usually refer to as race really means ethnicity.

I'm not even sure we are disagreeing, lol!

I don't think race = species because by any definition, race is a subspecies.

It would be like saying for automobiles that model = make.

 

[Ravi]

I see what you're saying. But I disagree. I don't think skin color and a few physical features makes a subspecies anymore than blue eyes and blond hair makes a subspecies.

Motorcyles would be a subspecies of automobiles. Model would be superficial differences, or ethnic groups.

We are all homo sapiens.

Jeez, I gotta get some food.

 

[manifold]

I see what you're saying. But I disagree. I don't think skin color and a few physical features makes a subspecies anymore than blue eyes and blond hair makes a subspecies.

Motorcyles would be a subspecies of automobiles. Model would be superficial differences, or ethnic groups.

We are all homo sapiens.

Jeez, I gotta get some food.

Fine. All that means is that you do not believe in the concept of racial distinctions. However, that doesn't change the concept itself, which is to divide the species into subspecies groupings.

 

[Ravi]

Okay, I did a little reading and your definition is just as correct. It depends on who is defining the term. I remember learning that racial classifications were artificially created by the same guy that came up with plant classifications for the purpose of "proving" that whites were superior.

But I'm willing to agree with your definition of race for the sake of discussion.

The bigger question is what is racism, and what is not.