Genetic Diversity Among Chimps and Humans

They may all be black and hairy and they may all eat and act in much the same way, but chimpanzees from different parts of Africa are genetically more diverse than all of humanity, researchers reported on Friday.

Full article

Chimpanzees and genetics are two of my favorite subjects.

Part of the article was distracting, though. Here's the second paragraph:

Experts have long marveled that older ideas of race are not reflected in human DNA. Genetic diversity is more pronounced within population groups than between them, with only a few gene differences accounting for the wide variations seen in eye, skin and hair color across humanity.

It's slightly awkwardly placed in what was otherwise a coherent article. The second sentence of that paragraph especially caught my attention, because it includes the first part of a non-sequitur that has annoyed me for a long time. (The author of the chimpanzee article doesn't actually make the non-sequitur, but the appearance of its premise reminded me of the whole thing.)

My sociology professor used to make the point in class about there being more genetic diversity within each race than between races. He surmised from this that race had no genetic basis. I've heard this argument made more and more over the years. However, it doesn't really make sense.

The idea seems to be this: The genetic difference between the two most genetically dissimilar members of any one race is greater than the genetic difference between the typical member of that race and the typical member of any other race. That's true, but it's not as significant as it might sound at first. The difference within any one race is huge. Just think of the two most dissimilar white people you know of. Of course the difference between them is greater than the difference between the typical white person and the typical member of any other race. That leaves plenty of room for interracial difference.

I realize that the question of whether race exists is a complex one and it gets some people very upset. I've only barely touched on the subject here. This post is not a thorough examination of the question and I don't want it to be. I just wanted to give my criticism of one of the arguments that I've heard.

I know that the people who claim that race does not exist have good motives. They want to stop racial animosity and mistreatment. (I suspect, though, that a few of them just want to play iconoclast or contrarian.) However, we can like and respect each other and treat each other right without discounting or denying the differences that exist among us.

I don't think that many of us will do that, but we could. Even if race didn't exist, there would still be lots of differences on which we would base our prejudices and our dislikes. That basic moral flaw is what we should be trying to get rid of.