You might think academic social scientists would understand the difference between culture and race, and the subsequent difference between classifying behavior as cultural and classifying behavior as racial. Lets take issues of behavior as our example... Cultural classification means that one sees a behavior as rising from a culture or an array of cultural forms; all behavior is so oriented (though of course to varying degrees). Racial classification sees a behavior as rising from ones biological identity as expressed in their outward appearance; as has been very well demonstrated, this sort of thinking has no basis in reality as many people of different races share more genetic similarity than people who are classified under the same racial category (which also highlights the inherent issues involved in the process of categorization) and as no substantive evidence has (to my knowledge) ever demonstrated that peoples biological identities are different enough to produce anything but instinct shared across humanity (survival instincts, etc.) (genetic memory may dissolve the validity of this second claim, but most of the major divergences therein could be attributed to culture and thus do not find their origin in biology). Culture is the source of our behavioral norms, race is not and has never been (other than when racial categorization gives rise to a divergence in cultures which then manifest different behavioral norms). As a result, racial classification with regard to behavioral norms is ignorant, obfuscating and oppressive, where Cultural classification is derived from the fact that culture produces behavioral norms (making it a means for brining order to the world). Cultural classification is not racism, radicalized, or anything of the sort... Such subtlety ought not to be lost as it is in the malaise of liberal nihilism wherein all ethics, thoughts, perspectives, etc. (i.e. cultures) are painted (falsely) as equal.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:40:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015