Party Political

The New York Times recently published a story about how biology and DNA are understood well enough now to be used as tools in the race debate. Originally, the idea was to prove that current prejudices are incorrect. For example, African Americans are believed by some to be not as smart as other races. Some wanted DNA evidence to reveal that African Americans are actually smarter than other races, but that wouldn't solve the problem of judging people by their DNA.

If one race is shown or "proven" to be generally superior, no matter what tests are involved, whether they be DNA or physical trials or aptitude tests, there's always the risk that racism will strengthen from that race against others, and vice versa. There must be a way to separate individual qualities from groups of people, so that sweeping generalizations cannot be made.

Unfortunately, we are apparently entering the dangerous time when DNA evidence does seem to be useful in making sweeping generalizations that are not only damaging, but are also considered by some to be scientifically accurate. Gattacca, here we come.

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