in8snotes

An insult to black women?

I've spent the last few days being very uncomfortable with what the mainstream news is considering a major topic of interest. In the run-up to the South Carolina Democratic primary, I've heard non-stop speculation regarding which way black women will vote. Reporters have gone into hair salons, and shopping centers and interviewed black women on the question; Will they vote for a black man, or a white woman and how are they dealing with this dilemma? I believe the question to be seriously insulting to black women - it presumes that they can not vote based on the candidate's position on issues, but will decide solely on race or gender.

For these women, a unique, and most unexpected dilemma, presents itself: Should they vote their race, or should they vote their gender? No other voting bloc in the country faces this choice.

Am I the only one that find this repugnant?

Last saved: 01/26/2008
Links: /journal / blackwomen-politics.txt

The concept of Race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_%28classification_of_human_beings%29

The structure of human populations is relevant in various epidemiological contexts. As a result of variation in frequencies of both genetic and nongenetic risk factors, rates of disease and of such phenotypes as adverse drug response vary across populations. Further, information about a patient’s population of origin might provide health care practitioners with information about risk when direct causes of disease are unknown.[63]
^ Noah A. Rosenberg, Jonathan K. Pritchard, James L. Weber, Howard M. Cann, Kenneth K. Kidd, Lev A. Zhivotovsky, Marcus W. Feldman. Genetic Structure of Human Populations. Science (2002) 298:2381-5

The picture that begins to emerge from this and other analyses of human genetic variation is that variation tends to be geographically structured, such that most individuals from the same geographic region will be more similar to one another than to individuals from a distant region.[57]
^ a b Lynn B Jorde & Stephen P Wooding, 2004, "Genetic variation, classification and 'race'" in Nature Genetics 36, S28 - S33 Genetic variation, classification and 'race'

Last saved: 01/26/2008
Links: /science / race.txt