Black or White

  Black or white, red or brown, the first noticeable difference between people around the world is the color of their skin. And as a consequence, races are classified based on this simple variation. This has led to a lot of controversy, and even physical segregation. The height of this being all out racial discrimination. The notion of racial differences seems absurd and for good reason. My reason would be stated much later.

  First, the word RACE in the context of human existence means what? One definition is, "one of the groups that the world population can be divided into based on physical characteristics such as skin and, or hair color." Another definition, a much broader one, defines race as "humanity as a whole." Examining critically, both definitions cannot be correct, hence the need for expatiating.

  If the general, and obviously correct belief that all humans on earth, come from just one pair of humans, who obviously lived in some part of the middle east, is something to go by, questions such as these arise: Why are we all not of the same skin and hair color; Where did the variation come from; Why did it occur; Does it have any benefit, and if it does, what is it? And to top it all, which of the above definitions are correct?

  To begin, why do we all not have the same skin, hair and eye color? Simply put, we live under different climates around the world. That is putting it mildly though. The human body is made to adapt and protect itself from environmental insult, as long as enough time to adapt is given, and this can be related to. As humans migrated in search of food and all, toward the equator, they were exposed to increased sunlight intensity and for longer hours. This means more exposure to ultra violet radiation. UV-radiation in excess can predispose normal cells to become cancerous. Hence, as a protective measure, the body over time produces more amount of the substance, melanin, which absorbs the UV radiation energy in a way unknown by medical professionals. The effect of absorbing UV radiation is the darkening of the skin. Then, why do the dark skinned people in places away from the equator still maintain their disposition. This is genetic based, some people are predisposed to higher melanin production. And, take note, they are not necessarily domiciled in Africa. The Aboriginal Australians are dark skinned also.

  As an added information, even naturally light skinned people can get a tan, by sunbathing in the open air or using sun lamps. The protective functions of melanin cannot be over emphasized as, sunburns are a visible effect of UV-ray/melanin imbalance i.e. UV-rays is more than can be absorbed by melanin in the skin.

  Thanks for reading all the earlier gibberish, now to the main point.

Which of the above definitions of race is correct? Read the following sentences carefully.
 Genetics scientists and anthropologists have come to the following conclusions:

1 Any two humans randomly picked from any part of the world, are 99.5% genetically alike. The 0.5% difference has been seen to be due the genes that code for characteristics such as susceptibility to certain diseases and response to environmental agents and drugs. Also included are the genes that code for physical traits, those used for racial differentiation. Surprisingly, though, there is an overlapping of traits that bear to relationship to another, thus rendering the clustering of people into discrete racial packages impossible.

2 There are more genetic differences between two people from the same race, than between races. So you have more in common with a person in Finland than with the person in the next state. Funny, right?

3 The history of racial classification is based on social and cultural factors rather than biological. This is seen in colonization, black-white segregations of the United States, the Apartheid in South Africa, and so on.

 In conclusion, as the preceding lines of reasoning have shown, WE HUMANS ARE JUST ONE RACE, WITH VARIETIES, we are all Homo sapiens. Just as the common apple, is just one species with over 7500 varieties.