Racial Justice

Biologists and social scientists agree that race is a social category, not a biological or genetic one. Yet the idea that genetic lines can be drawn between racial groups continues to make its way into human genetic research and biotechnologies. Examples can be found in some genetic studies on racialized health disparities, direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry tests, and race-specific drugs. These products and practices are both inaccurate and socially pernicious when they reduce race to a set of biological markers and fail to address racism and the social, political, environmental, and economic inequalities that continue to make race a salient social category.

Not So Black And White - Dorothy Roberts On The Myth Of Race

By Mark Leviton, The Sun Magazine | 04.15.2019

Aggregated News

Law, Africana-studies, and sociology professor Dorothy Roberts describes race as a “political category that has been disguised as a biological one.” It’s a hard concept for many to grasp. Physical features associated with race, such as skin and hair color...

Society

AncestryDNA Markets Genetic “Greatness” During the Olympics

By Leah Lowthorp | 03.16.2018

Biopolitical Times

You may have recently seen an AncestryDNA ad that ran during the 2018 Winter Olympics. The video features a young white female figure skater gliding around the rink. A voice-over narration tells us,

Greatness lives within all of us. And with AncestryDNA on sale for just $69, now is the time to discover yours. You can find out where you get your precision (cue onscreen pie chart graphic: ‘Scandinavia 48%’), your grace (‘27% Central Asia’), your drive (‘21% Great Britain’)...

Biopolitics