The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling today, legalizing institutionalized discrimination against white people. It's called "affirmative action," and it means that anyone who self-identifies as white or Caucasian may now be legally oppressed by universities and employers, and the practice is even protected by the United States government which is, by definition, racist.
The argument in favor of affirmative action is that people of color need a leg up, an extra boost to compete for college admissions against whites. This argument, however, is wildly out of touch with the reality today that Asian students are beating everybody on college entrance exams. So much so, that Asians are now actually being penalized by many universities in what can only be called organized, systemic racial discrimination against Asian people.
All this institutionalized, legalized discrimination against certain groups of people based on their skin color intrigued me, so I began to look into the definition of "white." What I found shocked me, because I came to realize that from an ancestral point of view, there's no such thing as a "white" person.
Seriously. This article is not satire. It's science. Keep reading...
If a black person and a white person have a child, that child is considered African-American, right?
Let's start with some basic genetics. Many of the people who self-identify as "black" in American society today have "whites" as ancestors. Yet they are still considered African-Americans, regardless of how "white" their ancestry is.
Similarly, if a black mom and a white dad (for example), have a child, that child is accepted as "black" by the rest of society. If that child grows up and has another child, then that child is also considered "black," regardless of the skin color of the other parent. In fact, what we might call "blackness" continues through infinite generations. Any person who has just one ancestor who is black may consider themselves to be black, even if it's just a tiny percentage of their ancestry.
This is worth repeating: It is accepted in modern society that if you have just ONE ancestor who was black (or Indian, or Asian, etc.), then you are correct to consider yourself a person of color, and you may identify yourself as Black, or Indian, or Latino, or Asian or whatever is appropriate for you. If anyone challenges this by pointing out that your skin looks white, the correct response is to tell them, "It is inappropriate for you to judge black people by their skin color."
This principle is key to understanding that all people living today are of African descent and are thus "people of color."
There is no such thing as a white person: We're all descendants from Africa
If you look into the scientific record derived from anthropology and archeology, you'll find something intriguing: All our ancestors are from Africa.
The accepted scientific basis for this is called the "Out of Africa" theory, and you can read about it at this National Geographic article which states:
We are solely children of Africa -- with no Neandertals or island-dwelling "hobbits" in our family tree, according to a new study. Scientists who compared the skulls and DNA of human remains from around the world say their results point to modern humans (Homo sapiens) having a single origin in Africa.
That's right: Modern humans are all the offspring of African ancestors who had black skin. It's accepted science.
In fact, white skin was a natural selection adaptation needed by those of African descent who migrated North to European areas, where lighter skin was necessary to absorb more UV sunlight to generate lifesaving vitamin D. It turns out that dark skin is the original human skin, and light skin is the adaptation for survival in more northern climates.
Yet all of us who have lighter appearing skin are, in truth, African descendants on the inside, and we share almost 100% of the same genetic code as those who still live in Africa today.
This is all a wonderful message of unity, because it means we are all brothers and sisters. We are all born with the same human rights, the same dreams, the same hopes and the same potential for achievement. It's time that we as a society stopped segregating ourselves based on skin color and started embracing our common roots as a species. Segregated self-identifications based on outside appearances are petty and shallow. In truth, we are all the same human family, as we all share a common origin from Africa.
The argument in favor of affirmative action is that people of color need a leg up, an extra boost to compete for college admissions against whites. This argument, however, is wildly out of touch with the reality today that Asian students are beating everybody on college entrance exams. So much so, that Asians are now actually being penalized by many universities in what can only be called organized, systemic racial discrimination against Asian people.
All this institutionalized, legalized discrimination against certain groups of people based on their skin color intrigued me, so I began to look into the definition of "white." What I found shocked me, because I came to realize that from an ancestral point of view, there's no such thing as a "white" person.
Seriously. This article is not satire. It's science. Keep reading...
If a black person and a white person have a child, that child is considered African-American, right?
Let's start with some basic genetics. Many of the people who self-identify as "black" in American society today have "whites" as ancestors. Yet they are still considered African-Americans, regardless of how "white" their ancestry is.
Similarly, if a black mom and a white dad (for example), have a child, that child is accepted as "black" by the rest of society. If that child grows up and has another child, then that child is also considered "black," regardless of the skin color of the other parent. In fact, what we might call "blackness" continues through infinite generations. Any person who has just one ancestor who is black may consider themselves to be black, even if it's just a tiny percentage of their ancestry.
This is worth repeating: It is accepted in modern society that if you have just ONE ancestor who was black (or Indian, or Asian, etc.), then you are correct to consider yourself a person of color, and you may identify yourself as Black, or Indian, or Latino, or Asian or whatever is appropriate for you. If anyone challenges this by pointing out that your skin looks white, the correct response is to tell them, "It is inappropriate for you to judge black people by their skin color."
This principle is key to understanding that all people living today are of African descent and are thus "people of color."
There is no such thing as a white person: We're all descendants from Africa
If you look into the scientific record derived from anthropology and archeology, you'll find something intriguing: All our ancestors are from Africa.
The accepted scientific basis for this is called the "Out of Africa" theory, and you can read about it at this National Geographic article which states:
We are solely children of Africa -- with no Neandertals or island-dwelling "hobbits" in our family tree, according to a new study. Scientists who compared the skulls and DNA of human remains from around the world say their results point to modern humans (Homo sapiens) having a single origin in Africa.
That's right: Modern humans are all the offspring of African ancestors who had black skin. It's accepted science.
In fact, white skin was a natural selection adaptation needed by those of African descent who migrated North to European areas, where lighter skin was necessary to absorb more UV sunlight to generate lifesaving vitamin D. It turns out that dark skin is the original human skin, and light skin is the adaptation for survival in more northern climates.
Yet all of us who have lighter appearing skin are, in truth, African descendants on the inside, and we share almost 100% of the same genetic code as those who still live in Africa today.
This is all a wonderful message of unity, because it means we are all brothers and sisters. We are all born with the same human rights, the same dreams, the same hopes and the same potential for achievement. It's time that we as a society stopped segregating ourselves based on skin color and started embracing our common roots as a species. Segregated self-identifications based on outside appearances are petty and shallow. In truth, we are all the same human family, as we all share a common origin from Africa.
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