How and why has biological thinking about race changed during the last ten years? How does it compare to the social meaning of race today?
During the past decade, a heated discussion has taken place about whether the ideas associated with race are either accurate or useful. Some argue that humans can be divided into relatively bounded groups with distinctive physical appearances (and, presumably, other biological differences) and that “race” remains a valid way of describing these differences. Others contend that the distribution of genetic variation in humans is too complex to be captured by a term as categorical as “race.” They also argue that the term is hopelessly compromised because it uses both social and biological factors to make racial distinctions, often without distinguishing between the two. Most people in the United States (and in many other countries) see such discussions as beside the point, since they readily identify the groups known as races and sort people into those groups. But attitudes vary widely as to whether the members of those groups share distinctive characteristics (beyond their physical featu
