In order to understand race we first need to understand what human variation is. This will help us understand why variation is not the same thing as race.
“I want to know the physical characteristics that define humans and separate us from other hominins.”
This is a brief and imperfect introduction to a multi-part ongoing series on race, racism, and biological anthropology.
Truly our own political systems are much more complex, but the basic underpinnings, the strategizing, the making and breaking of coalitions, the rivalries and alliances, and the eventual reconciliations while very human, also exist in our closest nonhuman primate relatives.
There is a common misconception that modern humans are the pinnacle of evolution and therefore no longer subject to evolutionary forces like natural selection. This is not the case.
Biological anthropology is concerned with the origin, biological evolution, and biocultural diversity of humans. ‘Biocultural’ describes the relationship between what humans have inherited genetically (biology) and culture. This is important because humans are both cultural beings and biological organisms.