A recent blog post by anthropologist Jennifer Raff reports on a statement signed by 139 leading scientists "with expertise in genetics, human biology, biological anthropology, and evolution" who have weighed in to critique the "hereditarian" flavored book - A Troublesome Inheriance- by Nicholas Wade. These are heavy duty scholars, some of whom such as Rosenberg, are believers in race. A Science article on the letter states:

The letter was spearheaded by five population geneticists who had informally discussed the book at conferences, says co-organizer Rasmus Nielsen of the University of California, Berkeley. “There was a feeling that our research had been hijacked by Wade to promote his ideological agenda,” Nielsen says. “The outrage … was palpable.”

Wade juxtaposes an incomplete and inaccurate account of our research on human genetic differences with speculation that recent natural selection has led to worldwide differences in I.Q. test results, political institutions and economic development. We reject Wade’s implication that our findings substantiate his guesswork. They do not.
We are in full agreement that there is no support from the field of population genetics for Wade’s conjectures.

This letter is highly inconvenient for Mr. Wade, making it clear that the senior researchers in the fields from which he’s trying to marshal support categorically reject his storytelling and bad science. Nor can he continue to make the (untrue) argument that critiques of his book are largely politically based, and conducted mainly by social scientists. A strong blow has been dealt to scientific racism today."

Yet another blogger says:

• Noah Rosenberg, the lead author of a 2002 paper that Wade leans on especially heavily, ”Genetic Structure of Human Populations,“ as well as at least two other authors of the paper.

• Yale’s Kenneth Kidd, who is one of the world’s most respected population geneticists, a central figure in establishing the field, and another co-author on the 2002 Rosenberg paper.

• Stanford’s Jonathan Pritchard, another co-author on that paper and the researcher whose lab designed the ”Structure“ genetic analysis software that created the ”clustering“ data Wade says supports his argument.

• Sarah Tishkoff, lead author of a 2009 paper on ”The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African-Americans“ that Wade cited extensively as crucial support.

• Jun Li and Richard Myers, the lead and senior authors of a 2008 paper, ”Worldwide Human Relationships Inferred from Genome-Wide Patterns of Variation,” that, as I noted in my review, Wade misrepresented as supporting his argument.

Dr. Raff continues:
"Disturbingly, Mr. Wade appears to be adopting the methodology of his “HBD” followers in claiming that evolution requires  acceptance of his view of race. The data do not support that position, and saying so doesn’t make any of us anti-evolution, no matter how loudly he says it."

Full blog post here:





LINKS TO OTHER POSTS:

Other Links

Leading Scientists criticize hereditarian claims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/leading-scientists-criticize.html

Thai me down - Thais fall behind genetically related southern Chinese, Tibetans below genetically related East Asians like Koreans and other Chinese
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/thai-me-up-thai-me-down.html

Time for liberals to respect "the south" ... in a way of speaking.. the south of Egypt that is..
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/time-for-liberals-to-respect-south-in.html

Irony 2: touted High IQ "G-men" cannot reproduce themselves 
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/irony-2-higher-iqs-correlated-with_25.html


Unz and Sowell: Unz debunking Lynn's IQ and Wealth of Nations. Sowell debunking the Bell Curve
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/unz-and-sowell-unz-debunking-lynns-iq.html

Irony 1: touted High IQ types are more homosexual, more atheist, and more liberal (HAL)
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/irony-high-iqs-produce-more-atheists.html


Elite white universities discriminate against Asians using reverse "affirmative action"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/elite-white-universities-discriminate.html

Deteriorating state of white America
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/deteriorating-state-of-white-america.html


Racial Cartels (The Affirmative Action Propaganda machine- part 2
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-affirmative-action-propaganda.html

Hereditarian's/HBD's "Great Black Hope"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/04/blog-post.html


Exploding nonsense: the 10,000 Year Explosion
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/03/exploding-nonsense-review-of-cochran_8.html


We need "rational racism"? Proponent Dinesh D;Souza becomes his own test case
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-need-rational-racism-proponent.html

The Affirmative Action Propaganda Machine- part 1
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-affirmatve-action-propaganda.html

Two rules for being "really" black- no white wimmen, no Republican
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/to-be-really-black-you-cant-have-white.html

The Axial age reconsidered
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-axial-age-reconsidered.html

Cannibal seasonings: dark meat on white
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/12/i.html

"Affirmative Action" in the form of court remedies has been around a long time- since the 1930s- benefiting white union workers against discrimination by employers
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/09/affirmative-action-as-term-appears-in.html

Mugged by reality 1: White quotas, special preferences and government jobs
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/mugged-by-reality-1-white-quotas.html

Lightweight enforcement of EEO laws contradicts claims of "flood" of minorities "taking jobs"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html

Railroaded 3: white violence and intimidation imposed quotas
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-3-white-violence-and.html

Railroaded 2: how white quotas and special preferences blockade black progress...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-2-thow-white-quotas-and.html

Railroaded 1: How white affirmative action and white special preferences destroyed black railroad employment...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-how-white-affirmative-action.html

Affirmative action: primary beneficiaries are white women...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/04/quick-regime-kill-hopes-in-libya.html

7 reasons certain libertarians and right-wingers are wrong about the Civil Right Act
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2012/05/7-reasons-libertarians-may-be-wrong.html

Social philosophy of Thomas Sowell
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/07/social-philosophy-of-thomas-sowell.html








`

Excerpt from an article by Professor of Biological Sciences Joseph Graves:
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Graves/

What We Know and What We Don’t Know: Human Genetic Variation and the Social Construction of RaceBy Joseph L. Graves, Jr.Published on: Jun 07, 2006

Even the devil can quote scripture: genetics for the human race

“A Family Tree in Every Gene” by Professor Armand Leroi makes much of the Nature Genetics supplement entitled: “Genetics for the Human Race.” This volume originated in a symposium entitled Human Genome Variation and Race, held at Howard University in the spring of 2003. The conference was the brain child of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University, a historically African American institution, led by scientists who hail from different parts of the African Diaspora. At this time I was a member of its external advisory board and a participant at the conference. Leroi describes its results as signaling the end of race as a social construct: “In the supplement . . . [b]eneath the jargon, cautious phrases, and academic courtesies, one thing was clear: the consensus about social constructs was unraveling. Some even argued that, looked at the right way, genetic data clearly shows that races exist.” As an attendee of the conference, I can state that his characterization of both the conference and the supplement is not accurate. The Howard conference was anything but “courteous” or politically correct. Scientists presented state-of-the-art papers on genetic variation and the concept of race. The discussion of the papers was intellectually rigorous, many times heated and contentious, and in no way governed by attempts to avoid controversy.

“Genetics for the Human Race” began with a commentary imploring researchers to change from socially constructed race-based to genetic population-based thinking. In fact, every one of the papers published in this volume discussed the limitations of present genetic data to reconstruct 19th century typological racial schemes. All recognized that geographic variation exists, and that this variation may play a role in specific diseases, but none expressed that “race” as classically defined was an appropriate way to classify individuals.
The baby with the bathwater

Leroi relies on a 2003 paper published in Bioessays by Cambridge statistician A.W.F. Edwards.1 Edwards shows that a single genetic locus is insufficient to classify the ancestry of individuals. If one looks at many loci it is possible to unambiguously identify an individual’s geographic ancestry. This result is hardly new. So, why should anyone choose this time to marshal this fact as an assault on social construction theory? The impact of social construction theory in anthropology or sociology did not begin or end with Richard Lewontin in 1972. Charles Darwin raised similar issues in The Descent of Man (1871).2 He pointed out the difficulty inherent in human racial classification, showing that naturalists had failed to agree upon the most important taxonomic characters. Thus, the racial schemes of his time varied from 2-63 named races. The morphological theories of race employed in the Western world by pre-Darwinian naturalists were deeply influenced by their social views.3

Social construction theory is certainly evident in the thinking of Franz Boas and his student Ruth Benedict in the late 1930’s. However, the first full and clear articulation of this was by Boas’s student Ashley Montagu. He was a physical anthropologist and wrote Mankind’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race (1942). Montagu pointed out that the physical features found in populations were not consistently correlated with each other (the principle of discordance.) For example, sub-Saharan Africans, East Indians, and Australian aborigines have dark skin, but differ in other anatomical traits, such as body proportions, skull proportions, hair type, or ear wax consistency. Indeed if one attempts to take multiple physical characters to define racial groups, you arrive at categorizations that are not indicative of their evolutionary history. Montagu wrote a series of articles for both scientific and popular journals between 1939 and 1942 outlining this concept.4 In fact, Edwards himself published a paper showing that using 63 physical traits you would classify Eskimos closer to Swedes and French populations than Eskimos are to North American Indians, with North American Indians closer to Swedes, French, and Eskimos than they are to South American Indians.



Similar errors were observed with other populations, such as linking Australian aborigines with sub-Saharan Africans. In the same paper published in 1964, he and Cavalli-Sforza showed a tree based on 20 genes did not match the tree based on physical featutres!5 Neither is the discordance between physical features and genetic variation a phenomenon only found in humans.6 C. Loring Brace, Curator of Biological Anthropology at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Anthropology, has shown that while physical features can be used to demonstrate the likely origin of an individual skeleton, these features do not allow unambiguous classification of races. Geneticist Sewall Wright made the same point concerning discordance in his discussion of the genetic differentiation of the races of mankind.7 Thus Leroi is mistaken when he claims that human physical characteristics are correlated with each other in ways that reflect genetic relatedness.

The 1950 UNESCO statement on race was clearly influenced by the thinking of Ashley Montagu and embodies social construction theory. The UNESCO conference was reported on by The New York Times, on July 17, 1950. The article stated that a world panel of experts had concluded that “race was less a biological fact, than a social myth.”8 The panel included a number of pre-eminent geneticists and anthropologists. The 1951 UNESCO statement clarified and refined the definition of race, pointing out that race was a classificatory device that allowed various groups of mankind to be arranged and evolutionary processes studied. It also stated that there were various populations that could not be easily fitted into a racial classification.9

Lewontin in context

Population and human genetics had already begun to cast doubt on the validity of prior racial classification schemes well before the 1970’s. In fact, Edwards’ 1964 co-author, the eminent biological anthropologist Luca Cavalli-Sforza, wrote a section in History and Geography of Human Genes (1994) entitled: “Scientific Failure of the Concept of Human Races” (section 1.6). It stated that individual genetic variation accumulated over long periods of time, that most polymorphisms antedate the separation of humans into continents, that the same polymorphisms are found in all populations within the species, and that the difference between groups is small when compared with that within major groups. It also stated that no single gene was sufficient for classifying humans into systematic categories. Yet, using the very same cluster analysis Edwards claims is required to discriminate humans into racial groups, they rejected the notion of their existence.

In addition Edwards and Leroi unfairly single out Richard Lewontin as the architect of the statistical fallacy at the center of “the dominance of social construction.” In the same year that Lewontin published his paper, Masatoshi Nei and Arun Roychoudhury published similar results.10 the general measurement of natural genetic variation, specifically to test classical theories of natural selection. For this reason, a series of papers were published all returning the same results and with similar analysis. It therefore seems problematic to focus a discussion of the fallacy of dismissing racial classification solely on Lewontin’s work. Nei and Roychoudhury were not considered radical scientists, thus it seems the singling out of Lewontin is more associated with a criticism of his political ideas, as opposed to any statistical fallacy he might have committed.

Finally, and most importantly, the legitimacy of social construction theory is entirely unrelated to the mathematical issues that Leroi raises in his discussion. Saying that legitimate ways to structure human populations exist does not say that the history of racial thinking applied to humans in biology and anthropology applied those same methods. Most galling was his claim of the ubiquity of the “social awareness” displayed by scientists studying human variation. Scientists differ in motive and ability just like people in any profession. Historically, scientists studying human racial variation have varied in political motivation from outright fascists to socialist revolutionaries. No scientist at any part of the spectrum was immune from socialized racial ideology. In the main, these scientists were from the socially dominant populations in their respective countries. The role that racism has played in American systems of social dominance need not be documented here. However, to think that social agendas and individual’s socialized racial ideologies have not and are not presently influencing research on human racial variation is at best hopelessly naïve, at worst dishonest. Ample past examples of this exist, such as the activities of the scientists associated with the Eugenics Record Office in the 1920’s and 30’s. To understand how social dominance is impacting modern research requires more sophistication and will be discussed below.

The president who as "too black"..


Population subdivision and biological races

One way to ask if there are significant genetic divisions within the human species is to ask whether our total genetic variation has substructure.11 Sewall Wright developed his hierarchical population statistics to measure genetic variation within a species (called F statistics.) These can examine variation at the level of breeding populations (demes), within regions (DR), regions within primary subdivisions (RS), and primary subdivisions within the total species (ST). Wright felt the latter, measured by Fst was equivalent to the subspecies used by taxonomists (also called biological or geographical race.) Population subdivision can be calculated at individual genetic loci or for numerous genetic loci simultaneously. Wright’s statistic can range between 0 and 1.00. He arbitrarily suggested that the minimal threshold for the existence of great variation was Fst = 0.250 and moderate variation Fst = 0.15 to 0.250. He examined individual loci derived from protein electrophoresis from a variety of species, finding a range of differentiation from 0.023 to 0.501 (average Fst = 0.168).

Subsequent studies of multiple loci, including whole genome analyses, have generally shown human Fst at much less than Wright’s critical value. They also show that variation within regions is smaller than variation between regions.12 Given this fact, it is hard to understand how anyone would claim that no genetic structure exists in the human species, yet at the same time, these data don’t say that there are natural divisions in our species, equivalent to biological races, or corresponding to our socially defined notions of race. Neither is quantification of the amount of genetic difference alone indicative of populations acting in ways associated with the evolutionary meaning of race. For example, if assortative mating is strong enough, populations with very little genetic difference can act as biological races, even within the same geographical region. This has appeared to happen in some insects. Corn borers have adapted over the last 500 years with the introduction of corn in Europe to form populations that feed on different plants and predominantly mate with members of their same ecological race. Fst values within races were 0.004 and between them was 0.132. The latter values are less than Wright's threshold. In this case, population subdivision is less because of less genetic polymorphism in insects, and the mating preferences result from strong selection on a few genes of major multiple effects related to host plant preference.13 Thus one can argue that a wide range of genetic differentiation is consistent with identifying biological races, depending upon the action of the specific loci involved, in the context of a given species biology. The task, of course, is showing that the genetic variation associated with human geographical distributions fits the bill.

Theoretical studies have further examined the limitations of Wright’s Fst as a measure of population divergence. One study showed the statistic is biased toward smaller values due to a failure of certain core assumptions utilized in its formulation, such as its assumption that the effective population sizes of all the subpopulations analyzed are equivalent and that subpopulations are evolving independently of each other (significant gene flow between regions violates this assumption.) Relaxing those assumptions allows Fst values to become larger. Yet, this doesn’t alter the fact that all human populations derive from a common ancestral group, have great genetic diversity, with a complex pattern of variation and no major discontinuities.14

It is instructive to compare human substructure to that of other closely related species. Other large bodied mammals show much higher population subdivision: white tailed deer (0.600), Grant’s gazelle (0.650) and North American gray wolves (0.750). Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas have more subdivision between their populations.15 It would be more legitimate to identify geographically based races in these species. These species have large differences between their subpopulations because human activity reduced their population sizes and fractionated their habitats. Conversely, anatomically modern humans have always maintained relatively large amounts of gene flow and are contiguous in habit.

Finally, the sampling schemes used in studies of human genetic variation limit their interpretation. To accurately represent the genetic diversity of the world’s people would require a systematic collection along geographic distance between world regions. In addition, within each region, suitable numbers of individuals would have to be examined, particularly to discover genetic variants that are present in low frequency. For example, studies by American drug companies often recruit people with ancestry from three regions, African Americans (representing sub-Saharan Africa), European Americans (representing various parts of Europe), and various Asian American groups. Sampling in this way ensures that individuals from these specific regions will cluster into three groups, simply because individuals from other portions of the spectrum of human genetic variation have been excluded from the study.



The meaning of social construction, biological variation, and their relevance to health disparity

The new drug BiDil has been hailed as a racial pill.16 It reduced the death rate from congestive heart failure in African Americans 43% compared to those given a placebo. BiDil is a combination of a nitric oxide donor isosorbide dinitrate and the anti-oxidant hydrazaline, which also acts as a vasodilator. Nitric oxide is a gas that plays a role in a variety of neurally mediated events including regulating heart processes, programmed cell death, as an anti-microbial agent, and even assisting penile erection in men. Anti-oxidants protect cells against oxidative damage that result from normal cellular respiration and poisons that accumulate over time. In addition, it has been recently shown that oxidative damage to human cells can be heightened by periods of prolonged stress.17 The African American Heart Failure Trial (A-HeFT) trial was motivated by studies showing that people self-identified as “black” had lower levels of available nitric oxide and greater amounts of oxidative stress than those self-identified as “white.”18

Actually, these results do not indicate that BiDil is a “racial” pill. What we know about the mechanism supports that assertion. Nitric oxide is synthesized by individual cells and this is catalyzed by an enzyme known as endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Genetic variation at position G894T in this enzyme influences arterial stiffness (after controlling for sex, age, body mass index, insulin, heart rate, and mean arterial pressure).19 African Americans that had the T allele had less elasticity than those with the G allele. European Americans showed no significant difference between T and G, but the trend was similar. However, they also found that the frequency of T was 0.131 in African Americans v. 0.321 in European Americans, respectively. This of course means, if all other factors were equal, that more “whites” should have less elastic arterioles than “blacks.” If so, BiDil should help whites more than blacks, yet present data do not support this, meaning that other factors must be at play.

Social dominance creates different environmental conditions for the socially constructed races in America. A number of studies exist documenting the relationship of stress to lowered health outcomes. A recent study experimentally demonstrated a mechanism by which emotional stress could actually cause cellular damage.20 It found psychological stress was significantly associated with oxidative stress, lower activity of the enzyme telomerase, and shorter telomere length. Telomere lengths of women giving care to chronically ill children were significantly shorter than women who gave care to healthy children. Finally, telomere length in chronically stressed groups was proportional to the years of care giving and to the perceived amount of psychological stress.

This result could revolutionize research into chronic illness. Individuals experiencing chronic racialized stress should also show shorter telomere lengths. Racialized stress increases the probability of pre-term and low birth weight deliveries and negatively affects the mental health of pre-school children.21 BiDil may work for African American patients because they have greater oxidative damage in their cells, due to chronic stress. This would mean that the drug is acting on an environmentally induced difference, not a genetically based one. If the drug were used in Western Africa, where Africans face less racialized stress and a variety of environmental factors differ, we may not observe any “race-specific” effect.
Conclusion

Human genetic variation is real. It is best described by isolation by distance, meaning that individuals who have ancestry in particular geographic regions are more likely to share genes than those from disparate regions. The overall amount of measured human genetic variation, however, is very small, yet this does not mean that it cannot be categorized. This is facilitated for individuals by using multiple loci particularly when they are examined at the level of DNA sequence variation. This greater “signal,” while allowing the ancestry of individuals to be readily determined, may be discordant with any particular phenotypic trait (physical features) of interest, especially since much of the classification salience originates from DNA that does not influence the phenotype.


Endnotes

1 Edwards, A.W.F., “Human Genetic Diversity: Lewontin’s Fallacy,” Bioessays 25: 798-801.

2 Graves, J.L., The Emperor’s New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001), pp. 64 – 71.

3 Ibid., pp. 37 – 51.

4 Montagu, A., Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race, 3rd Edition, (New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1952), p. xvi.

5 Cavalli-Sforza, L.L. and Edwards, A.W.F., “Analysis of human evolution,” Proc. 11th International Congress of Genet. 2: 923-933, 1964. The two figures I refer to in the text are reprinted in Cavalli-Sforza, Menozzi, and Piazza, The History and Geography of Human Genes (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994) on pp. 68 and 71.

6 Podolsky, R.H. and Holtsford, T.P., “Population structure of morphological traits in Clarkia dudleyana I. Comparison of Fst between allozymes and morphological traits,” Genetics 140: 733 – 744, 1995.

7 Brace, C. Loring, “Region does not mean ‘race’--reality versus convention in forensic anthropology,” J Forensic Sciences 40(2): 171-5, 1995. Wright, S., Evolution and the Genetics of Populations, Volume 4: Variability within and among natural populations (Chicago: U. Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 449-50.

8 UNESCO, Race and Science: The Race Question in Modern Science (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961) and “No scientific basis for race bias found by world panel of experts,” The New York Times, July 17, 1950. The list of notable geneticists who reviewed the 1950 UNESCO statement before its publication included E.G. Conklin, Th. Dobzhansky, L.C. Dunn, Julian S. Huxley, and Hermann J. Muller.

9 See discussion of this in Graves 2001, pp. 149 – 51.

10 Nei, M. and Roychoudhury, A., “Gene differences between Caucasian, Negro, and Japanese Populations,” Science 177: 434-435, 1972; with a follow up paper, “Genic variation within and between three major races of man, Caucasoids, Negroids, and Mongoloids,” Am. J. Human Genetics, 26:421-443, 1974.

11 Wright, S., Evolution and the Genetics of Populations, Volume 4: Variability within and among natural populations, (Chicago: U. Chicago Press, 1978).

12 Many studies have returned this result, including: Bowcock, A.M., Kidd, J.R., Mountain, J.L., Hebert, J.M., Carotenuto, L., Kidd, K.K., and Cavalli-Sforza, L.L., “Drift, admixture, and selection in human evolution: A study with DNA polymorphisms,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 88: 839–843, 1991; Tishkoff, S.A., Pakstis, A.J., Stoneking, M., Kidd, J.R., Destro-Bisol, G., Sanjantila, A., Lu, R.B., Deinard, A.S., Sirugo, G., Jenkins, T., et al., “Short tandem-repeat polymorphism/alu haplotype variation at the PLAT locus: Implications for modern human origins,” Am. J. Hum. Genet. 67: 901–925, 2000; Akey, J.M., Zhang, G., Zhang K., Jin L., and Shriver, M., “Interrogating a High-Density SNP Map for Signatures of Natural Selection,” Genome Research 12:1805 – 1814, 2002; Tishkoff, S. and Kidd, K., “Implications of biogeography of human populations for ‘race’ and medicine,” Nature Genetics Supplement, No. 11, November 2004, pp. S21-S27.

13 Malausa, T. et al., “Assortative mating in sympatric host races of the European corn borer,” Science vol. 308, 8 April 2005: 258-260.

14 Long, J.C. and Kittles, R., “Human genetic diversity and the non-existence of biological races,” Human Biology 74(4): 449 – 471, 2003.

15 Kaessman, H., Wiebe, V., and Paabo, S., “Extensive nuclear DNA sequence diversity amongst chimpanzees,” Science 5 November 1999, Vol. 286: 1159-62.

16 Marchione, M., “Heart failure drug for blacks expected to become first pill sold for a specific race,” Associated Press, November 9th, 2004.

17 Taylor, A. et al., “Combination of isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine in Blacks with heart failure,” The New England Journal of Medicine 351 (20): 2049-57.

18 Ibid.

19 “Nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphism (G894T) influences arterial stiffness in adults: The Bogalusa Heart Study,” American Journal Hypertension 2004 17(7): 553-9.

20 Epel, E.S. et al., “Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(49): 17312-15, 2004.

21 Caughy, M.O., O’Campo, P.J., and Muntaner, C., “Experiences of racism among African American parents and the mental health of their pre-school aged children,” American Journal of Public Health, 94(12): 2118-24, 2004; Mustillo, S. et al., “Self-reported experiences of racial discrimination and Black-White differences in preterm and low-birthweight deliveries: The CARDIA Study,” American Journal of Public Health,; 94(12): 2125-31, 2004; Collins, J.W. et al., “Very low birthweight in African American infants: The role of maternal exposure to interpersonal racial discrimination,” American Journal of Public Health 94(12): 2139-48, 2004.


Other articles in series:

Race and Reification in Science
By Troy Duster
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Duster/

What We Know and What We Don’t Know: Human Genetic Variation and the Social Construction of Race
By Joseph L. Graves, Jr.
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Graves/

Straw Men and Their Followers: The return of biological race
By Evelynn M. Hammonds
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Hammonds/

Race & Genes
By Ruth Hubbard
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Hubbard/

The Anatomy of a Medical Myth
By Jay Kaufman
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Kaufman/

If “race” is the answer, what is the question?—on “race,” racism, and health: a social epidemiologist’s perspective
By Nancy Krieger
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Krieger/

Sex and Race in the Long Shadow of the Human Genome Project
By Roger N. Lancaster
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Lancaster/

Confusions About Human Races
By R.C. Lewontin
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Lewontin/

The Realities of Races
By Jonathan Marks
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Marks/

On Distinction
By Ann Morning
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Morning/

Race and Crisis
By Brady Dunklee; Jenny Reardon; Kara Wentworth
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Reardon/

Eve is from Adam's Rib, the Earth is Flat, and Races Come from Genes
By Jacqueline Stevens
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Stevens/

Also . . . an issue of the journal Psychology, Public Policy and Law dedicated to the subject of race and IQ
http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/ppl/

On some websites assorted partisans of the "ISIS" group in Iraq/Syria argue that Christianity has contributed nothing, compared to Islam. They are totally wrong of course. Below is a roundup compiled from various sources on the beneficial societal effects of Christianity. Now note, none of this means churches or practitioners are perfect, that they did not make mistakes etc. Nor are the items below endorsed as a comprehensive, detailed record of the facts. But over time, overall, as adjusted, corrected and refined with new knowledge and insights, much data shows that the impact has been positive, contrary to the dubious claims of the pro-"ISIS" crowd.


Before the roundup, let's add some things:

Environmental stewardship in the Bible

While primarily concerned with man's moral and spiritual state, the Bible is on several counts very conscious of environmental stewardship. Hence the laws of Moses mandated that fields were to be left fallow for certain periods (translating into prudent land conservation- Exodus 23), forbid the cutting down of productive trees in combat zones (lest there be no renewable resource afterwards- Deut 20), forbid the killing of fertile females if their young were harvested for food (birds in Deut-22 another indicator of concern with renewable resources), forbid the torture of animals or causing them unnecessary pain when killed for food (Acts 15 mentions strangulation being forbidden- and Judaic law forbid such cruelties as tearing meat from a live animal).

In some cases, animals have the same rights as humans do- they were to rest on the sabbath same as humans (Exodus 20), and mean-spirited action was forbidden in preventing the animals from eating as a field was being harvested- same as humans- Deu 25). Lastly numerous scriptures testify to the wonder and glory of nature (Psalm 104, the last chapters of Job etc). Men were to respect the creation, for it was brought into being by a Creator. All of these laws today have a primary moral and spiritual teaching, and while man is given dominion over creation, that dominion is to be carefully and judiciously exercised- a clear call for stewardship.

Slavery
The usual childish claim is how Christianity "supported" or "endorsed" slavery. This is ludicrously misleading, Actually one of the key forces in calling for the end of slavery was precisely the "Western Christian tradition." Slavery is an institution in existence long before Christianity, and was indulged in by adherents of all major religions. It continues today in the Muslim world, and by the way, atheists indulged in slavery via the "labor" camps of communism. Only in Christianity however was there a systematic, widespread movement for abolition. Note- we are not talking here individual manumission of individuals but a systematic, culture-wide campaign for eradication. It did not happen overnight, and there were ugly compromises, missteps, and reverses, even civil wars over the issue - but over time, that campaign succeeded in shutting down what was a profitable industry for the mass production of certain industrial style crops- cotton, sugar, etc (Sowell 1981, 1983, Fogel 1989). The British were once the largest slave traders in th world- by the end- it was Britain;s military muscle that spiked the trade (Hochschild 2006, Bury the Chains).

Furthermore slavery was an accepted fact on the ground for millennia on every continent It was not going anywhere with a wave of the hand as some fantasists would have us believe. Christian abolitionists took almost a century to see victory, and other factors were in the mix, including the rebellions and revolutions by the African slaves themselves- Haiti being the prime example. The Bible does not "endorse" slavery per se but accepts it as a fact on the ground- ye another example of human wickedness and folly-  and gradually moves to alleviate suffering and laid the groundwork for its eventual abolition, as is well documented. True some churches simply went along with slavery since it was legal and could do little about it. It was a fact on the ground they had to live with, but some churches tried to change that forming the core of the Abolitionist Movement. And yes, some churchmen did defend slavery as a Biblical "tradition"- forgetting
(a) Biblical prohibitions against man-stealing- which is how a substantial number of slaves were acquired- in fact Europeans supplied arms specifically to encourage slave raiding and were themselves repulsed on a number of occassions when they tried to directly snatch slaves. See the defeated John Hawkins slave hunting expedition for example.

(b) The Biblical release mechanisms- such as a 7 year limit for bondage re Hebrews, or the "Day of Jubilee" when slaves were to be set free.

In contrast, European slave systems in the Americans not only held blacks in bondage forever but their descendants were also to become slaves in perpetuity, and (c) common Biblical prohibitions against murder, rape, unfair dealing and other such things. The slave-loving Bible thumpers conveniently skipped over THESE Biblical "traditions." Thankfully, some Christians refused to accept this disortion of the faith and pushed to restore these safeguards, going even further to eventually fight for removal of the entire institution.


QUICK SUMMARY

Good things pioneered by the Church and committed Christians in modern society:
• The Church is the largest single provider of healthcare in the world
• also the largest single provider of education in the world
• Church fathers successfully campaigned against infanticide in society
• and stood up for the rights of women by codifying marriage as a sacrament
• The first orphanages were churches
• Barnardos is the world's largest orphanage system
• Churches pioneered the first homes for the elderly
• and the first homes for the disabled in society
• Leading society to abolish the slave trade (Wilberforce and the church)
• Pioneers of modern social workers (Jane Adams)
• Fathers of modern Foster Care (Charles L. Brace)
• The Mothers Union - strengthening family life. Founded in 1876
• Free health care for the terminally ill (Douglas Macmillan)
• Pioneers of modern nursing (F.Nightingale)
• Almost all schools were church founded before the state took over
• 100 out of 110 US universities were church founded (inc. Yale, Princeton and Harvard)
• Pioneers of free schooling for poor young people (John Pounds)
• School for children in slums (R.Raikes)
• World Literacy pioneers (SIL and Frank Lauback)
• Pioneers of education for the deaf (Rev. Gallaudet)
• Braille system for the blind developed by Louis Braille.
• First laws to protect children from abuse (Soc. PCC - Rev B Waugh)
• Fighting for the rights of children working in factories (Richard Oastler)
• as well as campaigning for Poor Law reform
• Josephine Butler campaigned for the age of consent to be set to 16 so children could not be abused.
• YMCA - caring for young people in society
• Salvation Army - pioneering radical care for the poor and disadvantaged in society
• Education for orphans (George Mueller)
• Campaigning for prison reform (Quakers)
• Temperance Movement to address alcohol abuse in society
• Alcoholics (and Narcotics) Anonymous (Dr. B.Smith)
• Leading society to adopt "fair trade" (Tearfund)
• Pioneers of Microfinance for poor countries (D.Bussau)
• Pioneers of international child sponsorship (World Vision, Dr. R. Price)
• Save The Children, huge worldwide mission (Eglantyne Jebb)
• Fathers of modern famine relief (Oxfam Quakers)
• International Housing for the poor - Habitat for Humanity (Millard Fuller)
• Justice for people worldwide who are oppressed (Amnesty International - P.Beneson, E.Baker)
• Leprosy Mission - caring for those no-one else wants (Dr. P.Wilson)
• King James Bible - profound impact on the English language and culture

This is a partial list. For more examples and further reading visit:
http://christiangoodinsociety.blogspot.com


Beneficial aspects of Christianity 

• The Church is the largest single provider of healthcare and education in the world, working especially in some of the poorest countries where there is no other care available. (Catholic church that is. Adding Evangelical church schools/hospitals means there is no close second provider.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_Catholic_Church_in_Western_civilization#Education
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic_hospitals_represent_26_percent_of_worlds_health_facilities_reports_pontifical_council/



• The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
In 1948 the UN put forward the declaration of human rights. These rights were so clearly based on Christian principles that some Muslim states objected and refused to sign on that basis because it conflicted with Sharia law. Karl Marx also acknowledged, and rejected, human rights as a product of Christianity. (See further down this page for Christian influence over the Magna Carta.)
Well-known atheist Jurgen Habermas stated that, " the individual morality of conscience, human rights and democracy, is the direct legacy of the Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian ethic of love."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights#Praise
http://www.phc.edu/gj_schirrmacherv3n2.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas#Dialogue_with_Joseph_Ratzinger


• The greatest scientist who ever lived - Sir Isaac Newton
Its almost universally accepted that Sir Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist who ever lived. This amazing polymath who contributed so much to many areas of science was a devout Christian who expressed that his faith played a major role in his work.
Read more about his life here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton
Read more about other devout Christian who made world-changing contributions to science:
http://christiangoodinsociety.blogspot.com/p/christian-thinkers.html



• The Church pioneered modern Social Work. Eg: Jane Addams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_social_work
Jane Addams was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Also co-founded the first settlement house in the US. The Settlement Movement sought to bridge the gap between rich and poor in society: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlement_house
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams


• London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (London SPCC)
After campaigning from SPCC and the wider Church, the UK’s first ever law to protect children from abuse and neglect came into being. See Lord Shaftsbury , Rev B. Waugh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Children#History


• Save the Children. This large relief agency was founded by Eglantyne Jebb who also campaigned for social reform in this area. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child was adopted by the League of Nations. She also pioneered the Child Sponsorship program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglantyne_Jebb





• Camillus de Lellis - founder of the original "Red Cross"
Thus De Lellis established the Order of Clerks Regular, Ministers to the Sick (abbreviated as M.I.), better known as the Camillians. His experience in wars led him to establish a group of health care workers who would assist soldiers on the battlefield. This was the original Red Cross, hundreds of years before the International Red Cross Organization was formed.
Members of the Order also devoted themselves to victims of Bubonic plague. A perilous work that no-one else seemed to want to do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camillus_de_Lellis#Founder






• Clara Barton - founder and first president of the American Red Cross
She was a pioneer American teacher, patent clerk, nurse, and humanitarian. At a time when relatively few women worked outside the home, Barton built a career helping others. One of her greatest accomplishments was founding the American Red Cross. This organization helps victims of war and disasters. She hoped to be a pioneer for women in service to her country. She was probably the first woman to hold a government job.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Barton



• Action for Children. Pioneered the first "Children's Homes". (top 20 biggest charities in the UK)
Its mission statement asserts that it is committed to helping the most vulnerable and neglected children and young people break through injustice, deprivation and inequality. The charity works with over 50,000 children and young people whose families need support, who are in care, who are disabled or who experience severe difficulties in their lives through 480 projects, services and schools. It also promotes social justice through research and by lobbying and campaigning for change. Founded by Methodist minister Thomas Bowman Stephenson (1839-1912) who was "moved by the fate of street children in London."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_for_Children


• Barnardo’s homes – world’s largest orphanage system. Founded by Thomas John Barnardo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_John_Barnardo


• Churches were the first orphanages
In the High Middle Ages, abandoning unwanted children finally eclipsed infanticide. Unwanted children were left at the door of church or abbey, and the clergy was assumed to take care of their upbringing. This practice also saw the birth of the first orphanages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infanticide



• From Roman times, advocacy against infanticide and polygamy etc.
Early Church Fathers advocated against polygamy, abortion, infanticide, child abuse...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_Catholic_Church_in_Western_civilization#Roman_Empire





• Strengthening of marriage from Roman times
Church teaching heavily influenced the legal concept of marriage. During the Gregorian Reform, the Church developed and codified a view of marriage as a sacrament.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_Catholic_Church_in_Western_civilization#Roman_Empire


• Protection of young people in our society: English Factory reform bill and anti-poor movement,- Richard Oastler
http://www.christianhistorytimeline.com/DAILYF/2002/09/daily-09-29-2002.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Oastler


• Campaign for the protection of children from abuse. Passionate Christian Josephine Butler campaigned for the age of consent to be set and was a key figure in other social reforms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Butler



• Care for the elderly and disabled in society. Christians birthed Almshouse institutions as early as the 10th century. Conditions in these Almshouses were not always good and there was a social stigma attached to them, however, Almshouses did their best to serve the local community with the little resources they had and cared for those who were abandoned by society. They were the forerunner of nursing homes and hospitals. They sought to provide care for those who were no longer able to work. Almshouses are still active today with some 2,600 in the UK alone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almshouse


• Impact on language, literature and culture
The Authorized Version of the Bible has been called "the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language", "the most important book in English religion and culture", and "the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorized_King_James_Version#Influence


• Impact on civil liberties
The Magna Carta is considered one of the most important documents in human history; vitally important as an early foundation of law in Western society. It is considered the founding document of English liberties and hence American liberties. The influence of Magna Carta can be seen in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Lord Denning described it as "the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot". At the Federalist Society's 2014 National Lawyers Convention held last November, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave a history lesson on the Magna Carta and its influence on American jurisprudence. "Many of the ideals held most sacred in the American imagination originated or at least were first committed to writing 800 years ago," noted Scalia.The man responsible for drafting it's content was Stephen Langton (Archbishop of Canterbury). Various "Barons" were also implicated in the construction of the Magna Carta, but Stephen Langton is believed to be the central architect. For individuals' rights and Biblical influence over the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, click here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Langton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta




• Impact on civil liberties
Rev.Martin Luther King Jr., a man of great courage and faith who was at the centre of the civil rights movement. He continued despite attempts on his life including a fire bomb attack on his family home. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. His father and grandfather were both ordained ministers. The U.S. have declared the 3rd Monday in January to be an annual public holiday in his honour. Written on his memorial are the concluding words from his "I have a dream speech": ""Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.




• Prison reform. The Quakers pioneered prison reform during the Victorian age. Suggested basic human rights for prisoners and teaching prisoners a trade etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_reform#United_Kingdom
Today, Prison Fellowship International (amongst other Christian ministries) works around the globe in prisons to help reform and rehabilitate prisoners:
http://www.pfi.org/media-and-news/news/copy16_of_index_html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Fellowship_International

• Prison reform+ - Elizabeth Fry. At the age of 18, young Elizabeth was deeply moved by the preaching of William Savery, an American Quaker. Motivated by his words, she took an interest in the poor, the sick, and the prisoners. She collected old clothes for the poor, visited those who were sick in her neighbourhood, and started a Sunday school in the summer house to teach children to read.
Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to make the treatment of prisoners more humane, and she was supported in her efforts by the reigning monarch. Since 2001, she has been depicted on the Bank of England £5 note.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Fry



• The 7th Earl of Shaftsbury was inspired by his faith to do many things.
He became a Tory MP (Member of Parliament) in 1826, and almost immediately became a leader of the movement for factory reform. He was responsible for promoting a plethora of reform causes, including the Factory Acts of 1847 and 1853, the Ten Hour Bill, as well as the Mines and Collieries Act 1842 and the Lunacy Act 1845. One of his chief interests was the welfare of children, and he was chairman of the Ragged Schools Union and a keen supporter of Florence Nightingale. He was also involved as patron and president in the field of model dwellings companies, which sought to improve the housing of working classes in England.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Ashley-Cooper,_7th_Earl_of_Shaftesbury




• Braille worldwide system used by blind and visually impaired people.
Louis Braille was an innovator. Lying on his deathbed he said, “God was pleased to hold before my eyes the dazzling splendors of eternal hope…” His system is now used on a worldwide basis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Braille
http://74.84.206.112/ChurchHistory/11630360/



• Pioneering free or low cost health care for the terminally ill in our society dying of cancer.
Macmillan nurses. Douglas Macmillan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Macmillan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macmillan_Cancer_Support#History
Rose Hawthorne Lathrop created the first homes/treatment centers for cancer patients in the US. St. Rose's Free Home for Incurable Cancer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Hawthorne_Lathrop



• Promotion of International fair trade for the poorest societies in the world. Tearfund.
Trade justice movement, Make Poverty History. Richard Adams OBE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Adams_%28Traidcraft%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tearfund



• Habitat for Humanity, one of the largest charities in the US which internationally provides housing for the poor. Founder Millard Fuller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millard_Fuller



• Shelter - one of the UK's biggest charities dedicated to ministry amongst the homeless.
Shelter is a registered charity that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing in England and Scotland. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people in need, and tackles the root causes of bad housing by lobbying government and local authorities for new laws and policies to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelter_%28charity%29


• Salvation Army,- disaster relief, homeless missions, charity shops, caring for poor and downtrodden in many different countries. In 1994, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, an industry publication, released the results of the largest study of charitable and non-profit organization popularity and credibility. The study showed that The Salvation Army was ranked as the 4th "most popular charity/non-profit in America" of over 100 charities researched with 47% of Americans over the age of 12 choosing Love and Like A Lot for The Salvation Army. Charity Watch rates the Salvation Army an "A-" to an "A".Founder William Booth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Booth




• Leprosy Missions. Dr. Paul Wilson Brand was a pioneer in developing tendon transfer techniques for use in the hands of those with leprosy. He spent 19 years serving in India. During his career, Dr. Brand received many awards and honors. He was awarded the Hunterian professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1952 etc…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wilson_Brand
Leprosy Mission International has over 130 years experience working with people that are considered “untouchable” in some societies. Founded by Wellesley Bailey in the 1860s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellesley_Bailey
http://www.leprosymission.org/




• Kenneth L. Pike - World renowned linguist
Working for Wycliffe Bible translators, K.L. Pike became one of the worlds leading linguists with significant contributions to the field. His book "Phonetics", "revolutionized the thinking in the field" according to Prof. Eric Hamp. Hamp continues," It is fair to say that something like one half of all the raw data from exotic languages that has been placed at the disposal of theoretical linguists in the past quarter century can be attributed to the influence, and efforts of Kenneth Pike." He originated the Tagmemics theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Lee_Pike


• Public Libraries in Western Society
Christians have been responsible for developing libraries in Western society from the earliest times. This has had a great impact on learning and cultural development.
Check out some of the history:
History of Public Libraries. Here.
History of Bodleian Library. Here.
History of oldest English Speaking Library in world. Here.



• Dr. Carl Becker - Missionary Doctor and Leprosy expert
News of Dr. Beckers compassion spread and literally thousands of lepers sought out his help. By the early 1950s he was treating some four thousand resident patients on an eleven hundred acre property. Leprosy specialists worldwide also visited to learn from him, even the world's leading expert Dr. Robert Cochrane of Cambridge University was impressed with his findings. He lived in hostile conditions in the Congo, Africa where other people might not care to go.
http://www.dacb.org/stories/congo/becker_carl.html





• Sight to the blind. Dr. Victor C Rambo was a passionate Christian who could have made a lot of money as a doctor in the US. Instead he lived in India where he “worked from dawn ‘til dusk” operating on cataracts where little or no other help was available. Literally thousands of patients were helped through his ministry who would have otherwise been left seriously visually impaired or gone blind.
http://www.philadelphia-reflections.com/blog/695.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Apostle-Sight-Victor-Surgeon-Indias/dp/0915684543




• Ministry to young people in our society – YMCA founded in 1844. Nobel Peace Prize winners. John Mott: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mott
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YMCA
Founded by George Williams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Williams_%28YMCA%29



• World Vision, 1950 – child sponsorship, one of largest relief and development agencies in the US. Founded by Dr. Robert Pierce
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pierce




• Samaritans Purse. Humanitarian organisation reaching those suffering in war, poverty, famine, disease and disaster. Franklin Graham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan%27s_Purse



• Education UK. An overwhelming number of early education establishments were Christian before the State took over.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1050784
•In the UK, faith schools (Christian and Jewish) dominate the league table of performance. Two thirds of the 50 best performing institutions were Church of England, Roman Catholic or Jewish. This comes despite the fact that faith schools account for only one in every three schools.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338725/Faith-schools-leading-way-dominate-league-tables.html


• Lech Wałęsa. Devout Christian and charismatic president of Poland 1990-95. World renowned human rights activist. Winner of numerous international awards including the Nobel Peace prize 1983 and awarded over 30 honorary doctorates from universities worldwide. Co-founder of Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa



• Dr. Ida Scudder - Missionary Doctor to India
Dedicated her life to womens health in India. Her reputation was so high that women and girls used to seek her out just to touch her. Doctors all over India sent their most difficult gynecological cases to her. She became so well known that a letter simply addressed "To: Dr. Ida, India" reached her in a country of over three hundred million people. In 1918, she started one of Asia's foremost teaching hospitals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_S._Scudder




• David Bussau AM (born November 10, 1940) is a pioneer of microfinance, having founded Opportunity International Australia and co-founded the Opportunity International Network. He has been hailed for his innovative approach to solving world poverty by challenging the conventional wealth distribution model of development, addressing the root causes of poverty through responsible wealth creation. According to the World Bank, micro-enterprise has proven to be one of the most effective and sustainable ways to solve poverty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bussau


• Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, LL.D., (December 10, 1787 – September 10, 1851) was a renowned American pioneer in the education of the deaf. He co-founded and raised funds for the first institution for the education of the deaf in North America. For many years he was principal of that institution. His son Edward Miner Gallaudet (1837–1917) founded in 1864 the first college for the deaf which in 1986 became Gallaudet University.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hopkins_Gallaudet


• Charles Loring Brace (June 19, 1826 in Litchfield, Connecticut - August 11, 1890) was a contributing philanthropist in the field of social reform. He is considered a father of the modern foster care movement and was most renowned for starting the Orphan Train movement of the mid-19th century, and for founding The Children's Aid Society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Loring_Brace


• Despite being crippled himself, John Pounds (1766-1839) was the man most responsible for the creation of the concept of “Ragged Schools” (charitable schools dedicated to the free education of destitute children). Working in the poorest districts, teachers initially utilised stables, lofts, and railway arches for their classes. The success of the Ragged Schools definitively demonstrated that there was a demand for education among the poor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pounds


• Robert Raikes ("the Younger") (14 September 1736 – 5 April 1811) was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. Pre-dating state schooling and by 1831 schooling 1,250,000 children, they are seen as the first schools of the English state school system.
The movement started with a school for boys in the slums.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Raikes


• Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel (or Froebel) (April 21, 1782 – June 21, 1852) laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities. He developed the concept of the “kindergarten”, and also coined the word now used in German and English.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Fr%C3%B6bel


• Supporting mothers and families worldwide - The Mothers' Union (founded 1876)
Mothers’ Union is an international Christian charity that seeks to support families worldwide. It main aim is to support marriage and family life, especially through times of adversity.
Particularly concerned with the plight of women in the world, its projects include literacy and development, parenting, micro finance and campaigning against violence against women and the trafficking of women. The Mothers' Union is part of Make Poverty History and the Jubilee Debt Coalition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers%27_Union


• Pioneering education for women. Mary Lyon 1797-1849.
She valued socioeconomic diversity and endeavored to make the seminary affordable for students of modest means.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Lyon


• Thomas Cogan. Humane Society. A humane society is a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons, although in many countries, it is now used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCAs). In the United Kingdom, it may also be a society that provides a waterways rescue, prevention, and recovery service, or that gives awards for the saving of human life (see: Royal Humane Society).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cogan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Humane_Society


• Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to Animals founded by Christians (William Wilberforce). It is the oldest and largest animal welfare organisation in the world and is one of the largest charities in the UK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals



• One of the largest international literacy organisations in the world, SIL International, brings literacy to thousands of the world's poorest language communities. No other organisation has had anywhere near the impact SIL has on world literacy in minority groups. “Without doubt, SIL is the world’s leading agency doing literacy work among minority peoples.” Dr. H. S. Bhola, Professor of Education Indiana University.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIL_International


• Frank Laubach. Committed Christian and pioneer of world literacy. Known as the “Apostle to the Illiterates” the programs he developed have been used to teach about 60 million people to read their own language. He was deeply concerned about poverty, injustice and illiteracy, and considered them barriers to peace in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Laubach


• Food for the Poor. Since 1982, Food for the Poor has distributed more than $8.2 billion worth of food, medicine, housing materials,water and other aid to the poor of the Caribbean and Latin America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_for_the_Poor


• Meeting the needs of children in poverty-stricken areas. Mission Of Mercy
http://missionofmercy.org/home/index.cfm?flash=1

• George Mueller - orphanages and education
Mueller took no salary for himself. By 1870 his orphanages had multiplied and they were caring for two thousand children. He was well-known for providing an education to the children under his care, to the point where he was accused by some of “raising the poor above their natural station in life.”
http://74.84.206.112/ChurchHistory/11630420/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_M%C3%BCller

Pioneering International orphan care. Amy Wilson Carmichael
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Carmichael


• Dr. Helen Rosevere - missionary doctor to the Congo
Dr. Rosevere, a single missionary woman started a medical mission in the Nebobongo area of the Congo. She trained national workers and invested a lot of time and energy into caring for local people. She stayed on in Congo through politically unsettling times and suffered much abuse at the hands of rebels (beatings and rape). Incredibly, despite this she endured and courageously returned to Congo to continue her mission work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Roseveare



• Jackie Pullinger MBE (born 1944) is a British Protestant Christian charismatic missionary to Hong Kong and founder of the St Stephen's Society. She has been ministering in Hong Kong since 1966. Her work has resulted in at least 500 drug addicts being saved from their drug addictions. The early years of her Hong Kong ministry are chronicled in the book Chasing the Dragon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Pullinger




• Christian Aid. Christian Aid is one of the biggest international development agencies in the world. It was formed and is still supported by the major Christian churches in the British Isles. Its headquarters are in London. It works with local partner organizations in over 70 countries around the world to help the world's poorest communities. Christian Aid states it works where the need is greatest, regardless of religion, nationality or race.
Trade Justice
Development projects
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Aid



• Education US. Out of the initial 110 universities started in the US, 100 had Christian foundations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_education_in_the_United_States


• Temperance Movement to address the abuse of alcohol in society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_movement#Temperance_movement_by_country


• Pioneering surgery on infants. Dr. C. Everett Koop. Koop performed groundbreaking surgical procedures on conjoined twins, invented techniques which today are commonly used for infant surgery, and saved the lives of countless children who otherwise might have been allowed to die.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Everett_Koop#Career

• Michael Faraday. Contributed extensively to the fields of Electromagnetism and Electrochemistry.
Known as “one of the most influential scientists in history. Historians of science refer to him as the best experimentalist in the history of science.” Discovered Benzene, invented early form of Bunsen Burner.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday



• Alcoholics Anonymous helps 2 million people. It's emergence was inspired by the Christian "Oxford Group".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholics_Anonymous#Oxford_Group_beginnings
Co-founder Bill claimed a dramatic spiritual experience of God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_W.#A_spiritual_program_for_recovery
Co-founder Dr. Bob Smith said that AA's basic ideas came from their study of the Bible; the Steps, in essence meant "love and service."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Smith_%28doctor%29
Narcotics Anonymous is also based on the above mentioned 12-step program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcotics_Anonymous


• Pioneers of professional nursing and caring. The first official nurses’ training program, the Nightingale School for Nurses, opened in 1860. The mission of the school was to train nurses to work in hospitals, work with the poor, and to teach. Florence Nightingale "the mother of modern nursing". She said that God had called her just before her 17th birthday. Although later in life it is said that she wrote a document questioning the divinity of Christ, so it it unsure if she held to an orthodox Christian theology at that time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale



• Amnesty International. Justice and liberty for oppressed people all over the world.
Started in 1961 by two Christians Peter Beneson and Eric Baker.
Nobel Peace prize 1977 for campaign against torture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International#History




• (UK) Recent research showed that 81% of evangelical Christians do some kind of voluntary work at least once a month. This compares with a much lower figure of 26% for the population at large, obtained in citizenship surveys by the Department for Communities and Local Government, and is consistent with comparable differences identified by researchers in North America.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/mar/17/christians-big-society-voluntary-work
Similar results were confirmed through a five-year study by the political scientists David Campbell and Robert Putman.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-11-15-column15_ST_N.htm





• Oxfam was a pioneer of modern famine relief. It works to address famine and injustice on a worldwide scale. Founded by Quaker Christians in Oxford: in May 1942, Quaker Edith Pye established a national Famine Relief Committee and encouraged the setting up of a network of local famine relief committees, among the most energetic of which was the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, set up by Canon Richard Milford. At little while after setup non-Christians such as Prof. Gilbert Murray got involved too. As Canon Milford had always insisted, its work would be underpinned by the principle first established for Quaker relief work during the Franco-Prussian War – that relief should be given on the basis of need, without regard for religion, nationality or ‘side’ in a conflict.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam
http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/313




Debra Green OBE - founder of Redeeming Our Communities
Since 2003 Debra has been National Director of Redeeming Our Communities or ROC: this charity aims to bring about community transformation by creating strategic partnerships which open up opportunities for crime and disorder reduction and improved community cohesion.
Over the following years, stories of community transformation emerged across the nation, some of which were collected together for Debra's 2008 book 'Redeeming Our Communities: 21st Century Miracles of Social Transformation'.
In recognition of her work towards community cohesion, she was awarded an OBE in June 2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Green



The good works still continue. Here is a more recent sampling:

• People who "do God, do good" - admits British Politician.
Churches alone are providing almost 100 million hours of unpaid volunteer work on social projects a year, up by more than a third in two years, while donations for such work are up by a fifth, it found. Despite the economic situation, church members alone have increased their donations to social action projects by 19 per cent in two years to £342 million.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9868851/People-who-do-God-do-good-says-Baroness-Warsi.html
Churches step into void in recession-hit Britain.
The scale of Britain’s reliance on churches to meet social needs is set out in a report showing more than half of Anglican parishes run services such as food banks, homework clubs and even street patrols.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9851254/Churches-stepping-into-void-in-recession-Britain.html


• Street Pastors is an initiative of Ascension Trust. Individual street pastors are Christian adults with a concern for their community, who undergo 12 days of training in order to voluntarily patrol the streets of towns and cities at night, helping and caring for people in practical ways. The initiative began in the United Kingdom and is now being operated in other countries. Many police services, in areas such as London and Scotland, have praised the scheme. Ascension Trust reports that reduction in crime figures have been recorded in areas where the Street Pastors initiatives have been operating, which have been confirmed by official police figures.
Politicians who have expressed admiration or support for the scheme include UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Frank Soodeen of the pressure group Alcohol Concern has also praised the work of Street Pastors, for their work assisting drunken young people to get home safely. A number of local Street Pastor groups have won community awards.
Whilst some individuals have reacted negatively, the general public response to Street Pastors has been markedly positive, even among those who have been observed being abusive to the emergency services.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Pastors



• Kindernothilfe (KNH) is a charity organization and was founded in 1959 by a group of Christians in Duisburg, Germany, in order to help needy children in India. Over time, it has become one of the largest Christian organizations in Europe for children's aid.
Today it supports more than 580,000 children and young people in 28 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. KNH aims to give needy children in the poorest countries of the world a chance to a good start in life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindernothilfe


• Caritas Internationalis is a confederate of 164 Roman Catholic relief, development and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Collectively and individually their mission is to work to build a better world, especially for the poor and oppressed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caritas_(charity)


• Children of the Nations (COTN) was founded in 1995 and exists to partner with nationals in poverty-stricken areas of the world to provide care for orphaned and destitute children. Operating in Malawi, Sierra Leone, the Dominican Republic, and Uganda, COTN helps nearly 7,000 children on a daily basis. COTN's stated goal is to "Raise children who transform nations."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Nations


• Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) is a nonprofit sponsorship organization headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas. CFCA was founded by lay Catholic workers acting on the Gospel call to serve the poor. Its Hope for a Family sponsorship program provides basic necessities like food, education, clothing and access to medical care to children and elderly in some of the world's poorest communities. Today, CFCA sponsors support more than 300,000 children, youth and aging persons in 22 countries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Foundation_for_Children_and_Aging_(CFCA)


• CORD (Christian Outreach Relief and Development) - New life after conflict CORD is a humanitarian organisation working with displaced people and communities affected by violent conflicts around the world. Established in 1967 and rooted in Christian faith. Located in the UK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Outreach_for_Relief_%26_Development


• Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a Christian charitable company in the United Kingdom founded in Bradford, West Yorkshire by John Kirkby in 1996. It is a national organisation specialising in debt counselling for individuals in financial difficulty, including those in need ofbankruptcy or insolvency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christians_Against_Poverty


• Compassion International is a Christian child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world. Compassion International, headquartered in Colorado Springs, functions in 26 countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, Kenya, and India. They also currently help more than 1,200,000 children.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion_International


• Cross International Alliance (Cross) is an inter-denominational Christian relief and development organization based in South Florida that provides food, shelter, education, medical care and emergency aid to the poor in over 30 countries across the globe. Cross was recently recognized for its work in Haiti, receiving a $4.8 million grant from the U.S. government for a new program seeking to care for children and families impacted by AIDSin the country. From its headquarters in Pompano Beach, Cross raises millions of dollars through donations each year to fund development programs that target the “poorest of the poor” in developing countries, and it ships millions of dollars worth of humanitarian goods to high-need areas such as Kenya and Nicaragua.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_International


• Hope UK is a national Christian charity located at 25(f) Copperfield Street, London, England which educates children and young people about drug and alcohol abuse. It began as the Band of Hope in 1847 in Leeds, to teach children the importance and principles of sobriety andteetotalism. In 1855, a national organisation was formed amidst an explosion of Band of Hope work. Meetings were held in churches throughout the UK and included Christian teaching.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_UK


• Medair is an international non-governmental organization NGO of humanitarian aid with a stated mission, "to seek out and serve the most vulnerable people affected by crises." Medair’s core competencies are emergency relief and rehabilitation. Medair lists its values as: hope, compassion, dignity, accountability, integrity, and faith.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medair


• Medical Teams International (formerly Northwest Medical Teams) is a non-profit humanitarian aid and global health organization. Medical Teams International has mobilized 2,000 teams since 1979, shipped $1.3 billion in medical aid since 1986, provided care to 4.5 million people in 53 nations in 2008, sent more than 2,600 volunteers serving annually in its various programs all over the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Teams_International


• Mercy Ministries is an international, Evangelical, charismatic, Christian, charitable organization that offers a long-term residential program for young women aged 13–28 who struggle with various "life controlling" issues. In 2008, the top issues that Mercy Ministries reported themselves to be dealing with were: eating disorders (69%), self-harm (60%), sexual abuse (55%), emotional/verbal abuse (55%), depression (55%), chemical dependency (49%), physical abuse (37%) and pregnancy (6%)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Ministries


• The Message Trust is an award-winning Christian charity working to improve the lives of young people in Greater Manchester, UK and beyond through the Eden Network.
Working in schools, in local communities and in prisons, The Message is in contact with around 100,000 young people across Greater Manchester each year. The Message was founded by well-known speaker, author and current chief executive, Andy Hawthorne OBE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Message_Trust


• Prospects is a Christian charity in the United Kingdom whose aim is to support learning disabled adults, and to enable them to reach their full potential. It was founded in the mid-1970s by David Potter, a Christian minister, who was drawn to the needs of these adults because he and his wife had a daughter with Down's syndrome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospects_(charity)


• Tiny Hands International (THI) is a Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to helping orphaned and abandoned children and fighting sex trafficking in South Asia. Tiny Hands operates through national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Hands_International


• VisionTrust is an international, non-denominational non-profit organization that assists orphanedand impoverished children around the world. The organization works alongside Christian Nationals to help children gain education, nutritional support, medical assistance and spiritual discipleship. VisionTrust works in schools, orphanages, learning centers and medical clinics. They offer child sponsorships, short-term mission trips, and assist churches with educational materials to promote participation in this effort
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VisionTrust


• World Concern is a Christian humanitarian organization that operates relief and development programs in 13 countries, and funds partnership programs in nine other countries. The organization’s mission statement is, “World Concern provides life, opportunity and hope to suffering people around the world, through disaster response and development programs. Motivated by our love of Christ, we bring hope and reconciliation to those we serve, so they may in turn share with others.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Concern






LINKS TO OTHER POSTS:

The social construction of race, compared to biology- Graves
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-social-construction-of-race_8.html

 Why HBD or hereditarianism lacks credibility
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/10/why-hbd-or-hereditarianism-lacks.html

Leading Scientists criticize hereditarian claims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/leading-scientists-criticize.html

Thai me down - Thais fall behind genetically related southern Chinese, Tibetans below genetically related East Asians like Koreans and other Chinese
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/thai-me-up-thai-me-down.html

Time for liberals to respect "the south" ... in a way of speaking.. the south of Egypt that is..
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/time-for-liberals-to-respect-south-in.html

Irony 2: touted High IQ "G-men" cannot reproduce themselves 
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/irony-2-higher-iqs-correlated-with_25.html


Unz and Sowell: Unz debunking Lynn's IQ and Wealth of Nations. Sowell debunking the Bell Curve
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/unz-and-sowell-unz-debunking-lynns-iq.html

Irony 1: touted High IQ types are more homosexual, more atheist, and more liberal (HAL)
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/irony-high-iqs-produce-more-atheists.html


Elite white universities discriminate against Asians using reverse "affirmative action"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/elite-white-universities-discriminate.html

Deteriorating state of white America
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/deteriorating-state-of-white-america.html


Racial Cartels (The Affirmative Action Propaganda machine- part 2
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-affirmative-action-propaganda.html

Hereditarian's/HBD's "Great Black Hope"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/04/blog-post.html


Exploding nonsense: the 10,000 Year Explosion
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/03/exploding-nonsense-review-of-cochran_8.html


We need "rational racism"? Proponent Dinesh D;Souza becomes his own test case
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-need-rational-racism-proponent.html

The Affirmative Action Propaganda Machine- part 1
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-affirmatve-action-propaganda.html

Two rules for being "really" black- no white wimmen, no Republican
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/to-be-really-black-you-cant-have-white.html

The Axial age reconsidered - or latitude not attitide
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-axial-age-reconsidered.html

Cannibal seasonings: dark meat on white
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/12/i.html

"Affirmative Action" in the form of court remedies has been around a long time- since the 1930s- benefiting white union workers against discrimination by employers
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/09/affirmative-action-as-term-appears-in.html

Mugged by reality 1: White quotas, special preferences and government jobs
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/mugged-by-reality-1-white-quotas.html

Lightweight enforcement of EEO laws contradicts claims of "flood" of minorities "taking jobs"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html

Railroaded 3: white violence and intimidation imposed quotas
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-3-white-violence-and.html

Railroaded 2: how white quotas and special preferences blockade black progress...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-2-thow-white-quotas-and.html

Railroaded 1: How white affirmative action and white special preferences destroyed black railroad employment...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-how-white-affirmative-action.html

Affirmative action: primary beneficiaries are white women...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/04/quick-regime-kill-hopes-in-libya.html

7 reasons certain libertarians and right-wingers are wrong about the Civil Right Act
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2012/05/7-reasons-libertarians-may-be-wrong.html

Social philosophy of Thomas Sowell
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/07/social-philosophy-of-thomas-sowell.html

Buzz from the lame MTV "White people" documentary still continues to inflame an assortment of blogs and social media, with the folks at Limbaugh who weighed in to denounce the show even before it aired in boilerplate outrage: "MTV Documentary Shames White Youth." But this is just a typical propaganda blast by confirmed suspects. If anything, the documentary hardly begins to scratch the deep layers of hypocrisy, distortion and propaganda surrounding "white guilt" and "affirmative action" as already shown in detail on this blog, with much of said hypocrisy and distortion a stock in trade of Limbaugh and his ilk. Several of the young white participants in the series for example trot out a number of bogus propaganda tropes- that of "innocent" white people being "swamped" by the culluds, who ae "undeserving" compared to "good, hard-working white people" and so on.  One for example talks about their good grades in high school and lament that they have to go to a community college- because- wait for it - yes- "minorities" denied her a "rightful" spot due to "affirmative action quotas" or preferences. Really? So its all due to the culluds?

What about all the OTHER things black people are lectured on by whites- about the need to "move beyond" race and look at "objective factors"? Such things were curiously missing from the white student's lament. Did you even meet the admission deadline for example? Is your complaint about not getting into the fancy upscale college you desired? If so why is it minorities who "blocked" you when there were numerous OTHER white candidates who had much better grades and extracurricular stats than you? Maybe your claimed good grades are not all they are made out to be, and your background and stats ain't that hot to begin with. Aren't these the "other factors" black folk are lectured that they should consider before "playing the race card"? But when are white people going to stop playing their own  "race card" and follow their own advice on such matters? Not soon, if today's young white generation as shown on MTV is any example. They have learned well from their parents. Which makes it all the more laughable when the folks at right wing Breitbart news make pronouncement in apocalyptic terms: "You are Paying for an Illegal Alien's MTV White-Shaming Film." Great combination- white guilt, illegal aliens, hell, what else we missing- the standard bogeyman "black gangstas"?





The white innocence- victim card game: But let's move on. Now who could be a better poster child for the propaganda narrative above than innocent white female, unjustly "denied" her "rightful" place by "special treatment" for "the culluds"? And she plays her role to perfection - the innocent girl who played by the rules, who worked hard etc etc, but was cruelly cheated out of her dreams by the culluds and the liberals? Powerful stuff that mobilized the white faithful and garnered sympathy from even people apathetic or uninformed about the case. But is this narrative of white innocence all it seems? NO. In fact turns out that the white poster girl, Abigail Fisher, would not even have been admitted to the University of Texas on her own merits, with or without any alleged culluds "getting in the way." Her stats simply didn't make the cut, on their own merit. But she gets a new lease on life by adeptly playing the race card, white people using the old cullud scapeboats, as they have done ever since the days of the rancorous post-Civil War segregationist "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, whose key final strategy that trumped all others was to "holla ni$#a.. ."

Even unqualified whites are playing race and "white victim" cards in the affirmative action propaganda game. There were more qualified minorities than Fisher frozen but they didn't get any sympathy from the guardians of "merit."Much has been writter about the symbolism of the case, and massive emotional firestorms have churned both paper and digital domains, but few indepth analyses have been done on this aspect. One of the best is by ProPublica. It is worth quoting in full to demonstrate how the "white victim card" works..

"In 2013, ProPublica published what became one of the most provocative analyses of the Fisher case. It highlighted an overlooked, deeply ironic fact about the case: when one actually looked at Fisher’s arguments, she actually had not been denied admission because of her race, but rather because of her inadequate academic achievements.,,

The claim that race cost Fisher her spot at the University of Texas isn't really true. In the hundreds of pages of legal filings, Fisher's lawyers spend almost no time arguing that Fisher would have gotten into the university but for her race. ..

In 2008, the year Fisher sent in her application, competition to get into the crown jewel of the Texas university system was stiff. Students entering through the university's Top 10 program — a mechanism that granted automatic admission to any teen who graduated in the upper 10 percent of his or her high school class — claimed 92 percent of the in-state spots.

Fisher said in news reports that she hoped for the day  universities selected students "solely based on their merit and if they work hard for it." But Fisher failed to graduate in the top 10 percent of her class, meaning she had to compete for the limited number of spaces up for grabs.

She and other applicants who did not make the cut were evaluated based on two scores. One allotted points for grades and test scores. The other, called a personal achievement index, awarded points for two required essays, leadership, activities, service and "special circumstances." Those included socioeconomic status of the student or the student's school, coming from a home with a single parent or one where English wasn't spoken. And race. Those two scores, combined, determine admission.

Even among those students, Fisher did not particularly stand out. Court records show her grade point average (3.59) and SAT scores (1180 out of 1600) were good but not great for the highly selective flagship university. The school's rejection rate that year for the remaining 841 openings was higher than the turn-down rate for students trying to get into Harvard.

As a result, university officials claim in court filings that even if Fisher received points for her race and every other personal achievement factor, the letter she received in the mail still would have said no.

It's true that the university, for whatever reason, offered provisional admission to some students with lower test scores and grades than Fisher. Five of those students were black or Latino.Forty-two were white.

Neither Fisher nor Blum mentioned those 42 applicants in interviews. Nor did they acknowledge the 168 black and Latino students with grades as good as or better than Fisher's who were also denied entry into the university that year. Also left unsaid is the fact that Fisher turned down a standard UT offer under which she could have gone to the university her sophomore year if she earned a 3.2 GPA at another Texas university school in her freshman year.

In an interview last month, Blum agreed Fisher's credentials and circumstances make it difficult to argue — as he and his supporters have so ardently in public — that but for her race Fisher would have been a Longhorn."

Get the picture? Let's recap:

1) The white poster girl would not even have made it to the university under her own merit, yet plays the "white victim" card. She failed to meet HER own "merit" standard.

2) Even more interesting, she COULD STILL have got in via the standard alternative pathway- as a sophomore after one year at another campus and satisfactory performance

3) There were 47 students with lower stats who made it in ahead of Fisher. Five out of the 42 were minority- mostly Hispanic. Forty-two (42) ahead of Fisher were white, or 90% of the total. But the media and the conservative propaganda machine primarily spotlighted the "minorities."

4)  168 black and Latino students with grades as good as or better than Fisher's  were ALSO DENIED entry into the university that year. In short, many more "culluds" had HIGHER grades than the white poster girl but they were DENIED admission, a fact hardly getting much white press, relatively speaking, compared to the white victim narrative.


Asian exclusions... ?


The young whites in MTV's documentary seem to have bought into a number of propaganda themes, even as things are manipulated for their benefit, For example, so-called "quotas for blacks" are a smokescreen whites may be using to LIMIT ASIAN NUMBERS, via admission formulas that allow whites to gain slots on things other than strict test scores.

For example, lets say you get extra points for "community service"or "civic engagement." While all those Asian kids are grinding away and going to cram schools solely for the best test score number, the extra points given for "civic engagement" will favor whites, who typically, on the average, can show more of such extracurricular activity. These extra point can tip an admission slot towards a more "well rounded" white candidate, beating out the Asian with a higher number. "Community service" might be only one such "tipping" factor. There are other factors that weigh in college admissions- including Essay writing, Teacher recommendation, Counselor recommendation, Class rank, Portfolio, Extracurricular activities, Work and so on. These factors have helped SOME black candidates build up enough points for admission, but they ALSO work in favor of whites to cut back on Asian slots.

Think about it. Why would white people be so incredibly generous as to hurt their own via the reputed wave of "black quotas" alleged by assorted right wingers? They aren't- for 3 reasons:

1) The number of black students admitted under quotas is small and AA quotas have been carefully controlled and limited since the 1970s eg. Bakke.As noted in earlier posts, there is no vast horde of blacks on campus due to "quotas" and quotas are primarily operative on high-end campuses with very few minorities. (Gurin et al 2003. How does Racial/Ethnic Diversity Promote Education? WJBS. 27:1) found that affirmative action exists primarily in highly selective colleges that barely have more than 8-10% black students. Such campuses are not where the vast majority, the OTHER 90-92% of black students attend. The famous Hopwood decision of the late 1990s showed that in 1996-97- right before the AA ban by the court, Black enrollments weighed in at an allegedly "massive" 4.7%, of the total enrollment at the elite Texas Law school- hardly the huge wave "swamping white people" assorted propagandists would have us to believe.  And keep in mind that not all blacks admitted to these schools needed quotas. In short, as far as college educations, affirmative action is a minor player for blacks. As far as teachers, affirmative action has been a rather small player there too:

"The catastrophic scenarios conjured by the neo-conservatives and the [Jewish] agencies never came to pass. In fact between 1968 and 1973, blacks' share of total university faculty jobs grew from 2.2 to 2.9 percent; with historically black colleges and universities removed from the calculations, blacks made up only 0.9 percent of the professoriate. Over the next twenty years, black representation among full-time faculty members grew only .05 percent."
-- Mark Major (2010) "Where Do We Go From here,"

2) Admission "point" systems allegedly "helping only" blacks are MORE helping whites, by enabling them to bypass and squeeze ahead of Asians who may post better raw numbers. Unz's analysis suggests that certain elite institutions can manipulate a variety of factors, not because of "guilt" or "self-hate" but to help whites edge out the Asian competition- you know- via that prototypical "well rounded" candidate. Translation: less "narrow" Asian grinders on campus. A similar pattern operated to screen out Jews in years past.

3) Blacks can be used as front-men and scapegoats for the above- taking the heat from assorted bigots, bashers and baiters. In the meantime, behind the scenes, the admission structures are manipulated to hinder or slow down the real competition- Asians.


4) Metrics of statistical representation have been recognized as a valid tool by courts in assessing levels of discrimination, along with other things. This has been denounced by right wingers as well as "color-blind" liberals. But prominent Jewish detractors, whether of neocon or liberal ilk, conveniently skip over the fact that Jews frequently used the same statistical underpresentation arguments in their fight against bias. Per one history:

"Since it is almost impossible to prove discriminatory INTENT on the part of employers, proof of discrimination turns on numbers indicating a gross under-representation of minorities relative to their numbers in the labor pool. Indeed this was precisely the strategy that Jewish defense organizations used in the 1950s to demonstrate their exclusion from hospitals and corporate boardrooms. Thus it was ludicrous when these same organizations portrayed affirmative action as a system of group representation."
--Mark Major 2010. Where Do We Go From here pg 172


Nor was the heated outcry from SOME Jews even remotely as bad as they claimed in various AA battles, both on campus or workplace. As another history notes:

"The catastrophic scenarios conjured by the neo-conservatives and the [Jewish] agencies never came to pass. In fact between 1968 and 1973, blacks' share of total university faculty jobs grew from 2.2 to 2.9 percent; with historically black colleges and universities removed from the calculations, blacks made up only 0.9 percent of the professoriate. Over the next twenty years, black representation among full-time faculty members grew only .05 percent...

The federal government has barked but never bitten in academe as in construction: by 1980, not a single college or university in the country had lost federal monies for failure to comply with anti-discrimination law. A few leaders later acknowledged that affirmative action had caused no discernible loss of jobs for Jews, and that, quite to the contrary, Jewish women had benefited. Surveying 'the impact of affirmative action on Jews' in 1976, an AJC leader concluded that it 'has not had catastrophic impact,' though particular individuals might have 'suffered mightily.' How many though, 'nobody seems to know,' and no one had bothered to collect data beyond the anecdotal. Nor had anyone adduced figures proving that Jewish students had lost out across the board in admission to law or medical school."
--Nancy MacLean 2008. Freedom Is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace. p. 218


Finally the young whites exhibited a degree of denial of racial discrimination, and its continuing effects, except for a brief nod to the past, and also fail to notice that the same civil rights measures supposedly "helping only" blacks, have worked quite well for white women. QUOTE from One history:

"As recently as 1970, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) then the nation's largest employer, was an Orwellian patchwork of occupational caste. White men occupied virtually all managerial positions throughout the company. Women filled the ranks of operators and clerical workers, and even the managers of women's departments were male. Unionized craft jobs were exclusively white male. The only jobs open to blacks were as janitors or maintenance workers. As other avenues of employment began to open up for white women during the 1960s, more black women were hired as operators. All of this changed dramatically with the landmatk AT&T Consent Decree in 1973, in which the Bell System agreed to change its employment practices and meet employment targets for women and minorities."
--Mark Major 2010. Where Do We Go From here, pg 178


So-called "quotas" not substantial in black progress, and AA was originally a creation of whites. And given the web of deceptive propaganda deployed by some whites on this issue, it is worth noting that as conservative Thomas Sowell has pointed out, not only does black progress NOT depend on "affirmative action" but said "affirmative action" was itself a creation of whites, generally in the "whites only" advantages locked in for decades, or more specifically the legal remedies given white union members discriminated against due to union membership. Court's realized that merely saying "please stop" to discriminators did little to deter them or help the white unionists.

 Sowell opposes headcount race quotas but candidly holds that affirmative outreach steps in recruitment, promotion etc are reasonable. A company that has long denied its qualified black employees promotion can take such steps as steadily moving up said employees over time without imposing mandatory race quotas where the unqualified move up simply because of their race. He also candidly notes that court remedies to protect or compensate those directly  damaged are something long enjoyed by white workers. There nothing new, but have been around since the 1930s for whites.


"The general principle behind "affirmative action" is that a court order to "cease and desist" from some discriminatory practice may not be sufficient to undo the harm already done, or even to prevent additional harm as the result of a pattern of events set in motion by the prior illegal activity. This general principle goes back much further than the civil-rights legislation of the 1960's, and extends well beyond questions involving ethnic minorities or women. In 1935, the Wagner Act prescribed "affirmative action" as well as "cease and desist" remedies against employers whose anti-union activities had violated the law. Thus, in the landmark Jones and Laughlin Steel case which established the constitutionality of the Act, the National Labor Relations Board ordered the company not only to stop discriminating against those of its employees who were union members, but also to post notices to that effect in conspicuous places and to reinstate unlawfully discharged workers, with back pay. Had the company merely been ordered to "cease and desist" from economic (and physical) retaliation against union members,the future effect of its past intimidation would have continued to inhibit the free-choice elections guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act.

Racial discrimination is another obvious area where merely to "cease and desist" is not enough. If a firm has engaged in racial discrimination for years, and has an all-white work force as a result, then simply to stop explicit discrimination will mean little as long as the firm continues to hire by word-of-mouth referrals to its current employees' friends and relatives. (Many firms hire in just this way, regardless of their racial policies.) Clearly, the area of racial discrimination is one in which positive or affirmative steps of some kind seem reasonable-which is not to say that the particular policies actually followed make sense."
--Sowell, Thomas (1975) Affirmative Action Reconsidered. The Public Interest 3, pg 48-65





Summary
Note this post is not meant as any brief for flawed "AA quotas" but rather tackles the dubious white guilt/white victim narrative that has such a strong foothold among many whites, and not merely those on the right, as can be seen in the MTV documentary. Contrary to the narrative however, whites are heavily involved in (a) playing the white victim card, (b) manipulating the same "affirmative action" for the benefit of whites, such as white women, (c) dismissing or denying numerous aspects of the history (such as Jews'  use of statistical representation, or "make whole" remedies given to white union members, even as they themselves benefit from and manipulate what they dismiss, or condemn.

Assorted hereditarians continually express amazement and puzzlement at why whites are allegedly "hurting themselves" with so-called "giveways to blacks." It makes for a great propaganda narrative- an enemy "Other "to focus anger on- red meat for "the faithful" to fulminate against "the liberals" and "self-hate." But that narrative is for the gullible. Behind the head fakes and propaganda, the game is still being rigged. It is like the massive amounts of new government spending that went to schools during the desegregation era. Most of it was pocketed by white school regimes who quickly fired hundreds of black teachers and tore down numerous once thriving black schools - end result: more cash, more facilities and more jobs for mostly white people as the federal largesse flowed.  When the full picture is examined, and the easy propaganda narratives broken down, are white people really "hurting" themselves or rather HELPING themselves to the benefits of a rigged game?





How Obama plays on white guilt- Hilary capitalizes
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-obama-plays-upon-white-guilt-hilary.html

Hands off the Confederate flag
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/06/hands-off-confederate-flag.html

Despite much more wealth than blacks, whites collect about the same rate of welfare and are treated more generously
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/06/despite-much-more-wealth-than-blacks.html

African "boat people" ushering in European demographic decline
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/05/african-boat-people-ushering-in.html


The forgotten Holocaust- King Leopold's "Congo Free State" - 10 million victims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-forgotten-holocaust-10-million-in.html

Are violent minorities taking over California and the West?
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/04/are-violent-minorities-taking-over.html

Presidential hopeful Ben Carson meets and Greeks
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/03/presidential-hopeful-ben-carson-meet.html

Contra "ISIS" partisans, there have been some beneficial effects of Christianity
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/03/contra-isis-partisans-there-are-some.html

The social construction of race, compared to biology- Graves
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-social-construction-of-race_8.html

 Why HBD or hereditarianism lacks credibility
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/10/why-hbd-or-hereditarianism-lacks.html

Leading Scientists criticize hereditarian claims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/leading-scientists-criticize.html

Thai me down - Thais fall behind genetically related southern Chinese, Tibetans below genetically related East Asians like Koreans and other Chinese
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/thai-me-up-thai-me-down.html

Time for liberals to respect "the south" ... in a way of speaking.. the south of Egypt that is..
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/time-for-liberals-to-respect-south-in.html

Irony 2: touted High IQ "G-men" cannot reproduce themselves 
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/irony-2-higher-iqs-correlated-with_25.html


Unz and Sowell: Unz debunking Lynn's IQ and Wealth of Nations. Sowell debunking the Bell Curve
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/unz-and-sowell-unz-debunking-lynns-iq.html

Irony 1: touted High IQ types are more homosexual, more atheist, and more liberal (HAL)
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/irony-high-iqs-produce-more-atheists.html


Elite white universities discriminate against Asians using reverse "affirmative action"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/elite-white-universities-discriminate.html

Deteriorating state of white America
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/deteriorating-state-of-white-america.html


Racial Cartels (The Affirmative Action Propaganda machine- part 2
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-affirmative-action-propaganda.html

Hereditarian's/HBD's "Great Black Hope"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/04/blog-post.html


Exploding nonsense: the 10,000 Year Explosion
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/03/exploding-nonsense-review-of-cochran_8.html


We need "rational racism"? Proponent Dinesh D;Souza becomes his own test case
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-need-rational-racism-proponent.html

The Affirmative Action Propaganda Machine- part 1
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-affirmatve-action-propaganda.html

Two rules for being "really" black- no white wimmen, no Republican
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/to-be-really-black-you-cant-have-white.html

The Axial age reconsidered - or latitude not attitide
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-axial-age-reconsidered.html

Cannibal seasonings: dark meat on white
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/12/i.html

"Affirmative Action" in the form of court remedies has been around a long time- since the 1930s- benefiting white union workers against discrimination by employers
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/09/affirmative-action-as-term-appears-in.html

Mugged by reality 1: White quotas, special preferences and government jobs
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/mugged-by-reality-1-white-quotas.html

Lightweight enforcement of EEO laws contradicts claims of "flood" of minorities "taking jobs"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html

Railroaded 3: white violence and intimidation imposed quotas
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-3-white-violence-and.html

Railroaded 2: how white quotas and special preferences blockade black progress...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-2-thow-white-quotas-and.html

Railroaded 1: How white affirmative action and white special preferences destroyed black railroad employment...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-how-white-affirmative-action.html

Affirmative action: primary beneficiaries are white women...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/04/quick-regime-kill-hopes-in-libya.html

7 reasons certain libertarians and right-wingers are wrong about the Civil Right Act
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2012/05/7-reasons-libertarians-may-be-wrong.html

Social philosophy of Thomas Sowell
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/07/social-philosophy-of-thomas-sowell.html

Rounding off our trilogy on "white guilt", this post looks at some of the difficulties in anti-racist education and asks what practical benefits it is producing for the victims or those disadvantaged by white favoritism and/or racism.  To be sure a massive number of books and articles, and workshops and conferences have been done in the field, but how does all this help the average Black kid or guy on the street, or Native american on reservation, or Hispanic guy in barrio? Or to Hispanics, Blacks or Native Americans NOT in such venues?

One thing that comes through in the vast literature on the subject is stubborn white resistance to some aspects of the anti-racist project, a resistance going back to the 1970s. This resistance confirms my points in earlier posts, about the mythical claims made in many right-wing quarters about alleged "white guilt." Such laughable claptrap as Obama being elected due to "white guilt" and other such pablum advanced by right-wing pundits like Ann Coulter and others are merely the tip of the iceberg of a relentless propaganda operation. But if anything, the academic literature (see debunking of Shelby Steele on some counts) shows very little operational guilt, and plenty of white resistance.

Gillespie et al discuss this central problem in an article on teaching prospective white female teachers. Plenty of resistance was encountered, and matters were not helped by head-fake methods such as a misleading general course title "Individuals and Society" during which a heavy diet of "white privilege" readings was served. Based on what Gillespie writes, many students eventually came to distrust her, and indeed things got so bad that in some classes, students did not take part in any discussions- they just sat silent. Eventually this was alleviated when some students from her PREVIOUS classes began to open up and encourage other students, but this was due to such students taking the initiative, not the teacher.

Reading Gillespie, equally problematic is her definition or framing of the notion of "unearned privilege" - which was usually interpreted as some sort of personal  attack on their own personal efforts, and/or hard work and accomplishments or that of their parents. Not exactly a way to win the hearts and minds of the white natives. Another problem is insistence that white student make some sort of personal confession of complicity in racism etc. This might have some well-meaning therapeutic aspects, but usually meets resistance based on a personal history allegedly free of racism. Most students for example disavowed racism, making confessionals seem forced or irrelevant.

Gillespie rightly points out several contradictions in the reasoning (and behavior) of the students (some made racist comments while denying they were racist), and their naiveté about white deception manipulation and hypocrisy as regards race, but the resistance and lack of trust makes the pedagogical project a long term one filled with tension. Gillespie mentions others on the problem- quote:

"So the question that loomed large for Howard (1999) as a white educator came to loom large for us: ‘How do [we] be anti-racist without appearing anti-White?’

The students’ inferences and conclusions reminded us that anti-racist pedagogy has multiple dangers, including the very formulation of race itself. In her study of the outcomes of an anti-racist curriculum in teacher education, for example, Schick (2000) found that exposure to anti-racist pedagogy produced a liberal discourse, the aim of which seemed to be to maintain a ‘positive self-presentation’ (p. 88). The students that she interviewed in her study had learned that anti-racist language was part of the quali. cations for the education profession, so they ‘af. rmed[ed] their subject positions as quali. ed teachers whose liberal goodness includes being non prejudiced’ (p. 95). Such . ndings show how language can serve as a veneer, covering over complicity, apathy and fear. In Levine-Rasky’s (2000) criticism of white privilege, she finds that students may avoid owning their own complicity in systems of oppression and injustice by simply admitting their privilege; the ‘confession’ of their privilege ‘ful. ls [a] redemptive function’ (p. 276). Such outcomes remind us that many white students will attempt to reinterpret any pedagogical strategy that disrupts their sense of entitlement and comfort.

Levine-Rasky levels strong cautions about white privilege pedagogy, the study of unearned advantages and entitlements enjoyed by whites as members of the dominant racial group. Citing its reductionistic emphasis, Levine-Rasky argues, ‘Framing whiteness … essentially involves a people rather than a set of social relations. The project becomes one that is about whites rather than the process of white racialization and domination’ (p. 285). She warns that student resistance is a well-known outcome of this pedagogy and that it produces defensiveness on the part of white students who are then prevented from understanding ‘how whiteness is elaborated in the social order’ (p. 274). In making her case, we find that Levine-Rasky oversimplies white privilege pedagogy and misses the dialectical intent of authors such as McIntosh (1988), whose work responded historically to the limited focus of multiculturalism in US education on the rami. cations of racial oppression for people of color. Levine-Rasky rightly points out, however, as do other critics (Giroux, 1997), that white privilege is not an end but a means to an integrated, holistic analysis of social, political, and economic relationships that continue to reproduce racial oppression. And she concludes that her argument for ‘a collective dimension’ (p. 287) to the study of whiteness still means there will be tensions in the classroom."

(EXCERPT FROM: DIANE GILLESPIE, LESLIE ASHBAUGH, & JOANN DEFIORE. 2002. White Women Teaching White Women about White Privilege, Race Cognizance and Social Action: toward a pedagogical pragmatics. Race Ethnicity and Education, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2002


Some of the above is worthwhile, but how does urging young upper and middle class whites to confess their privilege help the aforementioned "man on the street"? And what practical processes and programs at the street level does it propose to improve race relations? College classrooms are to some extent artificial places, divorced from reality. Making the matter more difficult is the gesturalism and surface genuflection Gillespie notes. Students learn the language of anti-racism and proffer boilerplate, unmoved by any deeper reflection or learning. Another issue is the tendency to "redirect" or "divert" conservations on to white's own concerns and agendas, even personal issues, essentially sidetracking said conservations as noted previously - a re-centering on whiteness if you will.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answers are not easy to come by and the weaknesses noted above have been seized on by critics and detractors to distort an attack what is worthwhile. Below are some musings to consider- more to come in later posts:

(1) Accept a tension filled package. Antiracist education will always involve tension and white resistance, because it cuts to the core of and exposes much savory white behavior and thinking.


(2) Better define and frame initial definitions before throwing around such terms as "unearned."Yes it could legitimately be said that some  white gains in the past were unearned- white unions for example brutally denied blacks access to the playing field well into the 1970s, and some of this treatment literally involved murdering black working people (see US President Harry Truman's comments above). Things such as this locked in advantages for their white descendants. But this does not cancel out the substantial personal struggle or work some individual whites have had to do to get where they are. The perception by students of personal attacks demonstrates that assorted antiracist educators have not  properly laid out the boundaries and parameters of their approach.


(3) White people developing "more race consciousness" may not necessarily have the desired outcome. Beware the law of unintended consequences. It is a virtual article of faith among some anti-racist educators that if only white people would become "more conscious" of race, things would get better. Not necessarily say I. Just as the resentment against perceived personal attacks has materialized, what is to stop greater racial antagonism by whites against blacks and other minorities as whites become more "conscious"? Recall that the regions of the US with the greatest racial antagonism or strife have been usually where race "consciousness" was the greatest.

And do black folk really want their white colleagues in the workplace to be calculating every interaction in race "conscious" terms and angles? How is a tense "pins and needles" or racial "eggshells" atmosphere a positive thing for minorities, OR whites? If anything it night tire people and make them want to interact LESS with others- presto- you have just made the day of neo-segregationists. The law on unintended consequences can apply very perversely when race is a factor. So again, I ask, is more "race consciousness" necessarily a good thing? On no it can't happens some say, but why then such books as "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race." If anything, today's always-on digital world where an offhand or stupid Twitter comment is fodder for worldwide public scrutiny and outrage is a bonanza for trolls, idiots, jerks and other assorted denizens based on race. Feed tis toxic brew a "racial incident", no matter how trivial, and the alleged benefits of "consciousness" are far less than touted.


(4) There is a vast right-wing movement that will distort everything and exploit every weakness. The problems mentioned above play into their hands if not fixed. Anti-racism perhaps has its greatest role to play in confronting and debunking such right-wing forces, which too often, trade on falsehood, misrepresentation, outright deception and propaganda.  Anti-racism can play a valuable role in checking such.


5) Develop PRACTICAL operational steps to improve race relations at ground level without the need for politics of "racial consciousness" every waking moment. One way to do this is to push expansion of "third spaces" venues or locales, or spaces where people of diverse racial backgrounds can interact in view of common purposes, goals and tasks. These "third spaces" can be many- from city league sports teams, to clubs to churches. The key point is that common goals and tasks in these areas, or shared faiths and philosophies or experiences will go much further in bringing races together than another round of "race conscious" workshops and seminars.

Such "third spaces" do not have to be perfect, nor do they need to have some sort of utopian multicultural aura where all the people join hands and sing 'We shall Overcome." What will also bring people together across lines of "race" are common goals and tasks anchored to a moral framework. A renewed civic culture is one such possibility, as is religion like Christianity which has strong roots across all races. Such an anchored framework offers an even deeper cross-cutting moral framework. This does not require some sort of "percentage" representation or "diversity." Churches for example ensconced in their own neighborhoods and social circles will not look "like the UN" anytime soon- and they don't have to be. As a practical example, in some cities churches hold revivals, rallies, exchange speakers, and sponsor loal programs like summer camps with other churches. Note that none of these activities involves any of the much touted "conversations about race." If you are holding a joint summer camp, or music festival, or sports tourney witht he black church acorss town there are a lot of things to work on together. Contrast the positive energy in such activity with yet another boilerplate campus seminar on "racism, homophobism, ableism, genderism,  speciesism, sexism, and other 'isms.'" What? We ain't got enough of those to go around?

Various doctrinal diffeences will not be mysteriously bridged and they don't have to be at such level. If the Catholics want to preach their thing, and the Baptists  theirs- fine. Just collaborate on the "third spaces" and these will promote, relatively speaking, greater understanding between races than another tense "white privilege" harangue. Some might criticize this as haying too much Burkean "little platoon" flavor or too much "communitarian" style emphasis. Where are the chanting bands of activists protesting globalism, climate change,  etc etc.. They need not be absent, IF they provide the aforementioned common goals or tasks in the third spaces. And none of the above precludes a continuing and vigorous program of racial justice advocacy. Why would a summer camp collaboration hinder the fight against say poor policing? In fact the third spaces model would seek to forge new collaborations between citizens and such bureaucracies, since both need each other. In many cities this is already happening with religious leaders criticizing misconduct but the same leaders and police bureaucrats reaching across the aisle to implement programs to improve overall community safety- from neighborhood watch to police sponsorship of sports teams.


(6) Put cash on the ground to make the above happen, especially in multipl initiatives in minority communities. Why blow 50K on another gabfest "race workshop"when the same 50K can be spent to support a year's worth of sending 100 black kids to an afterschool tutoring program or summer camp, or musical/math/tech training, or environmental/community cleanups etc etc.. Too often however, anti-racists commit the same error they decry- centering on white venues and whiteness. Poor black kids needing access to a wider world and its skills would be much better served by such things than there need be no state of perfection in any of this. The particular linkages can be forged a case at a time, a city or town at a time, using religion, civic engagement, sports, advocacy or whatever works at a particular moment o place. Why does it have to match some sort of slogan-spouting activist nirvana? The above are only examples- there are other formats- such as youth advcacy etc.

A key question for antiracists: If you claims to be so concerned about the distorting effects of whiteness, why are you spending so much cash in white venues? Aren't you STILL making white people the center? Here is what one author has to say about how even supposedly "progressive" whites like to center things on themselves, even while claiming to be addressing race:

Wildman and Grillo show how analogies between one's own subordinate status, whatever it may be, and the position of people of color work to marginalize issues of race, recentering the claims on white people. For example, at one Association of American Law Schools (AALS) meeting, the plenary session was to focus on issues of racism, sexism and homophobia. The authors recount how during the question and answer period, a white woman rose to the microphone and said she did not want to change the subject, but she wanted to discuss another form of oppression- law professors in less elite law schools... the result of such a comment is to turn the focus of of the meeting from the issues of racism, sexism and homophobia, to the concerns of many of the whites in the audience... Once one is successful in refocusing attention on one's own problem, neither the actor nor the others in the group are required to pay any further attention to the problem of race. Grillo recounts her experience in a woman's group in law school in which all the (white) women argued that sexism was "worse" that racism. 'The women thought they understood racism by virtue of their experiences with sexism..' Again, the process of analogizing, the absence of any intent to injure on the part of the actors, and the lack of an adequate vocabulary, work together to make it difficult to focus attention on whites' racist conduct."


(--Judith Greenberg and Robert Ward, [Professors Of Law- New England School of Law], Book Review: Review of Privilege Revealed, by Stephanie M. Wildman with Contributions by Margalynne Armstrong, Adrienne D. Davis and Trina Grillo, 45 Clev. St. L. Rev. 251 (1997))







Guilt2- Media collaborates with guilt mongers - or how to play the white victim card
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/09/guilt2-media-collaborates-with-guilt.html


How Obama plays on white guilt- Hilary capitalizes
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-obama-plays-upon-white-guilt-hilary.html

Hands off the Confederate flag
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/06/hands-off-confederate-flag.html

Despite much more wealth than blacks, whites collect about the same rate of welfare and are treated more generously
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/06/despite-much-more-wealth-than-blacks.html

African "boat people" ushering in European demographic decline
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/05/african-boat-people-ushering-in.html


The forgotten Holocaust- King Leopold's "Congo Free State" - 10 million victims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-forgotten-holocaust-10-million-in.html

Are violent minorities taking over California and the West?
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/04/are-violent-minorities-taking-over.html

Presidential hopeful Ben Carson meets and Greeks
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/03/presidential-hopeful-ben-carson-meet.html

Contra "ISIS" partisans, there have been some beneficial effects of Christianity
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/03/contra-isis-partisans-there-are-some.html

The social construction of race, compared to biology- Graves
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-social-construction-of-race_8.html

 Why HBD or hereditarianism lacks credibility
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/10/why-hbd-or-hereditarianism-lacks.html

Leading Scientists criticize hereditarian claims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/leading-scientists-criticize.html

Thai me down - Thais fall behind genetically related southern Chinese, Tibetans below genetically related East Asians like Koreans and other Chinese
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/thai-me-up-thai-me-down.html

Time for liberals to respect "the south" ... in a way of speaking.. the south of Egypt that is..
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/time-for-liberals-to-respect-south-in.html

Irony 2: touted High IQ "G-men" cannot reproduce themselves 
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/irony-2-higher-iqs-correlated-with_25.html


Unz and Sowell: Unz debunking Lynn's IQ and Wealth of Nations. Sowell debunking the Bell Curve
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/unz-and-sowell-unz-debunking-lynns-iq.html

Irony 1: touted High IQ types are more homosexual, more atheist, and more liberal (HAL)
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/irony-high-iqs-produce-more-atheists.html


Elite white universities discriminate against Asians using reverse "affirmative action"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/elite-white-universities-discriminate.html

Deteriorating state of white America
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/deteriorating-state-of-white-america.html


Racial Cartels (The Affirmative Action Propaganda machine- part 2
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-affirmative-action-propaganda.html

Hereditarian's/HBD's "Great Black Hope"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/04/blog-post.html


Exploding nonsense: the 10,000 Year Explosion
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/03/exploding-nonsense-review-of-cochran_8.html


We need "rational racism"? Proponent Dinesh D;Souza becomes his own test case
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-need-rational-racism-proponent.html

The Affirmative Action Propaganda Machine- part 1
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-affirmatve-action-propaganda.html

Two rules for being "really" black- no white wimmen, no Republican
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/to-be-really-black-you-cant-have-white.html

The Axial age reconsidered - or latitude not attitide
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-axial-age-reconsidered.html

Cannibal seasonings: dark meat on white
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/12/i.html

"Affirmative Action" in the form of court remedies has been around a long time- since the 1930s- benefiting white union workers against discrimination by employers
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/09/affirmative-action-as-term-appears-in.html

Mugged by reality 1: White quotas, special preferences and government jobs
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/mugged-by-reality-1-white-quotas.html

Lightweight enforcement of EEO laws contradicts claims of "flood" of minorities "taking jobs"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html

Railroaded 3: white violence and intimidation imposed quotas
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-3-white-violence-and.html

Railroaded 2: how white quotas and special preferences blockade black progress...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-2-thow-white-quotas-and.html

Railroaded 1: How white affirmative action and white special preferences destroyed black railroad employment...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-how-white-affirmative-action.html

Affirmative action: primary beneficiaries are white women...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/04/quick-regime-kill-hopes-in-libya.html

7 reasons certain libertarians and right-wingers are wrong about the Civil Right Act
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2012/05/7-reasons-libertarians-may-be-wrong.html

Social philosophy of Thomas Sowell
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/07/social-philosophy-of-thomas-sowell.html

A quick roundup of recent DNA studies here and there on ancient African movement into Europe..

 Ancient West African Neolithic in Europe

"Due to their geographic locations, Spain and Portugal seem to be ideal places for  searching for These lineages... The L3f variant found in Asturias seems to constitute an Iberian-specific haplogroup, distantly related to lineages in Northern Africa and with a deep ancestry in Western Africa. Coalescent algorithms estimate the minimum arrival time as 8,000 years ago, and a possible route through the Gibraltar Strait... Results are concordant with a previously proposed Neolithic connection between Southern Europe and Western Africa, which might be key to the proper understanding of the ancient links between these two continents." 
--Pardinas et al 2014. Over the sands and far away: Interpreting an Iberian mitochondrial
lineage with ancient Western African origins. Am Jr Hum Bio, v26, i6, 777-783



Long-standing ancient migration from Africa to Europe
"Mitochondrial DNA sequences and restriction fragment polymorphisms were retrieved from three Islamic 12th-13th century samples of 71 bones and teeth (with >85% efficiency) from Madinat Baguh (today called Priego de Cordoba, Spain). Compared with 108 saliva samples from the present population of the same area, the medieval samples show a higher proportion of sub-Saharan African lineages that can only partially be attributed to the historic Muslim occupation. In fact, the unique sharing of transition 16175, in L1b lineages, with Europeans, instead of Africans, suggests a more ancient arrival to Europe from Africa. The present day Priego sample is more similar to the current south Iberian population than to the medieval sample from the same area. The increased gene flow in modern times could be the main cause of this difference."
--Casas et al 2006. Human mitochondrial DNA diversity in an archaeological site in al-Andalus.. Am J Phy Anthro. 2006 131(4):539-51.


African migrations via Gibraltar

“ These early Neolithic populations of Andalusia appear to have consisted of a number of distinct groups (12), one of which is suggested to have African origin due to finds of characteristic red ochre ceramics (13, 14). Similarities have also been noted between the predynastic Badarian Egyptian culture dated to the 5th millennium B.C. and the Late Atlantic Neolithic culture in western Andalusia (14). Previously, the appearance of the Late Atlantic Neolithic culture had been placed at a significantly later date than the Egyptian culture, and this chronology and the cultural similarity were interpreted as implying that Egypt was the original source (14). However, more accurate radiocarbon dates obtained from Late Atlantic Neolithic culture sites subsequently redated the origin of this culture to being approximately the same as that of the predynastic Badarian Egyptian culture (15), leading to the hypothesis that these two cultures might derive from a common area, perhaps through pastoral groups living in the Sahara. The culture linked to the Late Atlantic Neolithic period is known to have been dedicated almost exclusively to cattle breeding, secondarily complemented by sheep and goat breeding (14), suggesting that an investigation of the origin of Iberian cattle may offer further insight into early Iberian–African cultural contacts. "

--C. Anderung, et al. 2005. Prehistoric contacts over the Straits of Gibraltar.. PNAS June 14, 2005 vol. 102 no. 24 8431-8435



[b]The skin color front: DNA studies show that light skin in Europe only occurred recently[/b]

"SLC24A5 was shown to play a pivotal role in skin pigmentation lightening in Europeans 10. Interestingly, the haplotype profile of SLC24A5 in CEU revealed a high affinity to aFM ( D aFM, MHG = 2) and a substantial distance to aHG ( D aHG, MHG = 28), as suggests that skin lightening associated with SLC24A5 originated from Near East, and likely was introduced into ancient Europeans via farming transition. This was strongly supported by a recent study based on 83 ancient DNA specimens 53."
--Zhou et al 2015 (A Chronological Atlas of Natural Selection in the Human Genome during the Past Half-million Years. BioRxiv (quoted in Cochran).


"We also found evidence of selection at two loci that affect skin pigmentation. The derived alleles 63 of rs1426654 at SLC24A5 and rs16891982 at SLC45A2 are, respectively, fixed and almost fixed in present -64 day Europeans 23,24. As previously reported 7,11,12, both derived alleles are absent or very rare in western 65 hunter -gatherers. suggesting that mainland European hunter -gatherers may have had dark skin 66 pigmentation. SLC45A2 first appears in our data at low frequency in the Early Neolithic, and increases 67 steadily in frequency until the present... In contrast, the derived allele of 69 SLC24A5 increases rapidly in frequency to around 0.9 in the Early Neolithic, suggesting that most of the 70 increase in frequency of this allele is due to its high frequency in the early farmers who migrated from the southeast at this time, although there is still strong evidence of ongoing selection after the arrival 72 of farming .."
--Mathieson et al 2015. Eight thousand years of natural selection in Europe. bioRxiv 2015.




The cranial/skeletal front - a recap:





Ancient entanglements redux? :)

LINKS TO OTHER POSTS:

DNA studies show African movement to Europe from very ancient times
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/09/dna-studies-show-african-movement-to.html

Guilt3- Why the "white privilege industry" is not all there
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/09/guilt3-why-white-privilege-industry-is.html

Guilt2- Media collaborates with guilt mongers - or how to play the white victim card
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/09/guilt2-media-collaborates-with-guilt.html

How Obama plays on white guilt- Hilary capitalizes
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-obama-plays-upon-white-guilt-hilary.html

Hands off the Confederate flag
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/06/hands-off-confederate-flag.html

Despite much more wealth than blacks, whites collect about the same rate of welfare and are treated more generously
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/06/despite-much-more-wealth-than-blacks.html

African "boat people" ushering in European demographic decline
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/05/african-boat-people-ushering-in.html


The forgotten Holocaust- King Leopold's "Congo Free State" - 10 million victims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-forgotten-holocaust-10-million-in.html

Are violent minorities taking over California and the West?
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/04/are-violent-minorities-taking-over.html

Presidential hopeful Ben Carson meets and Greeks
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/03/presidential-hopeful-ben-carson-meet.html

Contra "ISIS" partisans, there have been some beneficial effects of Christianity
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/03/contra-isis-partisans-there-are-some.html

The social construction of race, compared to biology- Graves
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-social-construction-of-race_8.html

 Why HBD or hereditarianism lacks credibility
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/10/why-hbd-or-hereditarianism-lacks.html

Leading Scientists criticize hereditarian claims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/leading-scientists-criticize.html

Thai me down - Thais fall behind genetically related southern Chinese, Tibetans below genetically related East Asians like Koreans and other Chinese
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/thai-me-up-thai-me-down.html

Time for liberals to respect "the south" ... in a way of speaking.. the south of Egypt that is..
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/time-for-liberals-to-respect-south-in.html

Irony 2: touted High IQ "G-men" cannot reproduce themselves 
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/irony-2-higher-iqs-correlated-with_25.html


Unz and Sowell: Unz debunking Lynn's IQ and Wealth of Nations. Sowell debunking the Bell Curve
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/unz-and-sowell-unz-debunking-lynns-iq.html

Irony 1: touted High IQ types are more homosexual, more atheist, and more liberal (HAL)
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/irony-high-iqs-produce-more-atheists.html


Elite white universities discriminate against Asians using reverse "affirmative action"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/elite-white-universities-discriminate.html

Deteriorating state of white America
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/deteriorating-state-of-white-america.html


Racial Cartels (The Affirmative Action Propaganda machine- part 2
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-affirmative-action-propaganda.html

Hereditarian's/HBD's "Great Black Hope"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/04/blog-post.html


Exploding nonsense: the 10,000 Year Explosion
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/03/exploding-nonsense-review-of-cochran_8.html


We need "rational racism"? Proponent Dinesh D;Souza becomes his own test case
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-need-rational-racism-proponent.html

The Affirmative Action Propaganda Machine- part 1
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-affirmatve-action-propaganda.html

Two rules for being "really" black- no white wimmen, no Republican
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/to-be-really-black-you-cant-have-white.html

The Axial age reconsidered - or latitude not attitide
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-axial-age-reconsidered.html

Cannibal seasonings: dark meat on white
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/12/i.html

"Affirmative Action" in the form of court remedies has been around a long time- since the 1930s- benefiting white union workers against discrimination by employers
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/09/affirmative-action-as-term-appears-in.html

Mugged by reality 1: White quotas, special preferences and government jobs
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/mugged-by-reality-1-white-quotas.html

Lightweight enforcement of EEO laws contradicts claims of "flood" of minorities "taking jobs"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html

Railroaded 3: white violence and intimidation imposed quotas
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-3-white-violence-and.html

Railroaded 2: how white quotas and special preferences blockade black progress...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-2-thow-white-quotas-and.html

Railroaded 1: How white affirmative action and white special preferences destroyed black railroad employment...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-how-white-affirmative-action.html

Affirmative action: primary beneficiaries are white women...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/04/quick-regime-kill-hopes-in-libya.html

7 reasons certain libertarians and right-wingers are wrong about the Civil Right Act
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2012/05/7-reasons-libertarians-may-be-wrong.html

Social philosophy of Thomas Sowell
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/07/social-philosophy-of-thomas-sowell.html










(c) Enrique Cardova, 2015.

As part of our trilogy on African movement into Europe, this post looks at some recent findings from DNA studies. Note to fake strawmen creators- it does NOT claim Greeks, Italians, Sardinians or other of today's Europeans are wholly "Africans," or that they cease being "European" -  but that in various measures, in some eras, distinctive African gene flow into Europe can be detected well before the modern slave trade/colonial era. Some DNA studies are brought to bear on the question below. Now that the fake strawmen are out of the way- let's get down to business.


--Kalevi Wiik (2008) Where Did European Men Come From? Jrnl Gen Genealogy, 4:35-83

QUOTE:
--T. Frudakis. 2008. Molecular photofitting: predicting ancestry and phenotype using DNA
FROM: Fig 2 --Martinez et al. (2007). Paleolithic Y-haplogroup heritage predominates in a Cretan highland plateau. Eu Jrl Hu Gen. 15, 485-493
"Sardinia appears to be a particularly appropriate test case to evaluate the extent to which surnames are informative in identifying the history of Y-chromosome haplogroups. As the other European populations, almost all the Sardinian Y chromosomes belong to haplogroups E-M35, I-M170, G-M201, J-12f2 and R-M269. Haplogroups E, G and J, which are believed to have an African (E) or Middle Eastern (G and J) origin and entered Europe through different migrations,30,34,35 show frequencies in the same range as other Mediterranean populations."
--Zei et al 2003. From surnames to the history of Y chromosomes: the Sardinian population as a paradigm. European Journal of Human Genetics (2003) 11, 802-807


















EXCERPT:
Uniparental Markers of Contemporary Italian Population: Reveals Details on Its Pre-Roman HeritageBrisighelli1, et al 2012. PLoS ONE 7(12)
------------------------------------------------------------------

Brisighelli F, Álvarez-Iglesias V, Fondevila M, Blanco-Verea A, Carracedo Á, et al. (2012) Uniparental Markers of Contemporary Italian Population Reveals Details on Its Pre-Roman Heritage. PLoS ONE 7(12)

-------------------------------------------------

Italy has historically been a convenient destination for human populations migrating from Africa, the Middle East and European locations, in part due to the geomorphological characteristics of the Italian Peninsula [1].

Sardinia, Sicily and Tuscany were among the first Italian territories to be occupied by humans due to their strategic location and the presence in their territories of important metal resources [5].

The record of all the populations that inhabited the Italian territory during (pre)-history is incomplete; many records were of uncertain location and/or ambiguous denomination [6].

At the time of the Roman Empire, at least two non-Indo- European populations still inhabited Italy, namely, the Ligures, in the northwestern area, and the Etruscans with settlements located in areas far from the Etruria (Tuscany and High Latium), such as the Po Plain and the coast of Campania. At the same time, Sardinia experienced the flourishing of a non-Indo-European Nuragic civilization and, then, the Phoenician colonization.

Materials and Methods

Samples
A total of individuals were sampled from along the Italian Peninsulapresenting 12 different populations (Figure 1), of them (Ladin and Grecani Salentini) being linguistic isolatesd the Lucera being a historical enclave of Arabs/Berbers coming from North Africa. A brief description of these latter three populations is given .

Phylogeography
The mtDNA haplogroup make-up of Italy as observed in our samples fits well with expectations in a typical European population. Thus, most of the Italian mtDNAs (,89%) could be attributed to European/African groups H (,40%), I (Ethiopian)(,3%), J (near East)(,9%), T(European) (,11%), U (European/African)(,20%; U minus U6), V(European) (,3%), X (African)(,2%) and W(Asian) (,1%); Figure 1. There are however important differences in haplogroup frequencies when examining them by main geographical

Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of other African origin are mainly represented by haplogroups M1 (0.3%), U6 (0.8%) and L (1.2%); from here onwards, L will be used to refer to all mtDNA lineages, excluding the non-African branches N and M [60,61].

A total of 282 Y-chromosomes were analyzed for a set of Y-SNPs and were classified into 22 different haplogroups (Figure 3). Two haplogroups were not found, even though markers defining these clades were tested: N3 and R1a1. Five haplogroups represented 76.71% of the total chromosomes: R1b3, J2(near East), I(xI1b2), E3b1 and G. The frequencies averaged across populations were 26%, 21.2%, 10.2%, 9.9% and 9.2%, respectively. The remaining haplogroups sum to 23.2% in the total sample, and never above 4% in single population samples. 21.2%, 9.9% and 9.2%.(so `42% is either near East or African)



Autosomal ancestry in Italy

A panel of 52 AIMs was genotyped in 435 Italian individuals in order to estimate the proportion of ancestry from a three-way differentiation: sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Asia. Structure analyses allowed us to infer membership proportions in population samples, and these proportions can be graphically displayed, as in Figure 2. This analysis indicated that Italians have a basal proportion of sub-Saharan ancestry that is higher (9.2%, on average) than other central or northern European populations (1.5%, on average). The amount of African ancestry in Italians is however more comparable to (but slightly higher than) the average in other Mediterranean countries (7.1%). Figure 2 shows in a triangle plot the relationships of Italians compared to other European, African and Asian populations

The North African historical legacy in South Italy
There are two mtDNA haplogroups, namely U6 and M1 that can be considered to be of North African origin and could therefore be used to signal the documented historical input of this African region into Lucera. In our full set of samples, we observed five U6 haplotypes belonging to sub-haplogroups U6a, U6a2, and U6a4. Only one of these haplotypes was observed in Lucera. However, the other three U6 haplotypes were observed in the vicinity of the population of South Apulia, and another at the tip of the Peninsula (Calabria). Regarding M1 haplotypes, we observed only two carriers in our samples sharing the same HVS-I haplotype; both were found in Trapani (West Sicily). Therefore, while South Italy shows evidence of having female introgression from North Africa, this African influence seems not to be particularly centered in the Lucera.

The sub-clade E3b1 (originating in eastern Africa) has a wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and Europe. This haplogroup reaches a frequency of 8% in the North and Center and slightly higher in the South of Italy, 11% (Figure 1). It has also been argued that the European distribution of E3b1 is compatible with the Neolithic demic diffusion of agriculture [15]; thus, two sub-clades, E3b1a- M78 and E3b1c- M123 present a higher occurrence in Anatolia, the Balkans and the Italian peninsula. Another sub-clade, E3b1b-M81 is associated ith the Berber populations and is commonly found in regions that have had historical gene flow FROM Northern Africa, such as the Iberian peninsula[74,75]–[76–78], including the Canary Islands [75], and Sicily [70,79]; the absence of microsatellite variation suggests a very recent arrival from North Africa [80]. If we assume that all E3b1 represents the only Y-chromosome continental African contribution to Italy and L and U6 lineages the continental African mtDNA component, the African component in Italy is higher for the Y-chromosome (8–11%) than for mtDNA (1–2%).

The origin of sub-Saharan African mtDNAs in Europe (including Italian samples) has been recently investigated by Cerezo et al. [81]; the results indicate that a significant proportion of these lineages could have arrived in Italy more than 10,000 years ago;therefore, their presence in Europe does not necessarily date to the time of the Roman Empire, the Atlantic slave trade or to modern migration. In addition, the Northern African influence in the Italian Peninsula is evidenced by the presence of Northern African Y chromosome haplogroups (E1-M78) in three geographically close samples across the southern Apennine mountains: East Campania

Finally, in agreement with uniparental markers, analysis of AIMs/SNPs as carried out in the present study indicated that Italy shows a very minor sub-Saharan African component that is, however, slightly higher than non-Mediterranean Europe. This agrees with the recent findings of Cerezo et al. [82] based on the analysis of entire mtDNA genomes pointing to the arrival in ancient and historical times of sub-Saharan African people to the Mediterranean Europe, followed by admixture. THE PRESENT STUDY REPRESENTS THE LARGEST META-ANALYSIS CARRIED OUT TO DATE FOR THE ITALIAN PENINSULA.(DEC2012)




Ancient Europe- African DNA elements detected in Mesolithic "La Brana" sample- Quote:

"The La Braña individual carries ancestral alleles in several skin pigmentation genes, suggesting that the light skin of modern Europeans was not yet ubiquitous in Mesolithic times... With respect to two recent well-studied adaptations to changes in diet, we found the ancient genome to carry the ancestral allele for lactose intolerance.. These results suggest the La Brana hunter-gatherer was poor at digesting milk and starch, supporting the hypotheses that these abilities were selected for during the later transition to agriculture."
--Olalde, Inigo, et al. "Derived immune and ancestral pigmentation alleles in a 7,000-year-old Mesolithic European." Nature 507.7491 (2014)

-------------------------------------------------------

Internal African movement of gene variants developed in Africa. -Study shows that Haplogroup R1b1 in central Africa not due to 'back migration' from Asia but movement from the south.
Quote:
"Human Y chromosomes belonging to the haplogroup R1b1-P25, although very common in Europe, are usually rare in Africa. However, recently published studies have reported high frequencies of this haplogroup in the central-western region of the African continent and proposed that this represents a 'back-to-Africa' migration during prehistoric times. To obtain a deeper insight into the history of these lineages, we characterised the paternal genetic background of a population in Equatorial Guinea, a Central-West African country located near the region in which the highest frequencies of the R1b1 haplogroup in Africa have been found to date. In our sample, the large majority (78.6%) of the sequences belong to subclades in haplogroup E, which are the most frequent in Bantu groups. However, the frequency of the R1b1 haplogroup in our sample (17.0%) was higher than that previously observed for the majority of the African continent. Of these R1b1 samples, nine are defined by the V88 marker, which was recently discovered in Africa. As high microsatellite variance was found inside this haplogroup in Central-West Africa and a decrease in this variance was observed towards Northeast Africa, our findings do not support the previously hypothesised movement of Chadic-speaking people from the North across the Sahara as the explanation for these R1b1 lineages in Central-West Africa. The present findings are also compatible with an origin of the V88-derived allele in the Central-West Africa, and its presence in North Africa may be better explained as the result of a migration from the south during the mid-Holocene."
--Gonzalez et al. 2013. The genetic landscape of Equatorial Guinea and the origin and migration routes of the Y chromosome haplogroup R-V88. Eur J Hum Genet. 2013 21(3):324-31


-------------------------------------------------------

Southern Europeans show gene flow from several areas including Africa-
QUOTE:

"Southern European groups (SEE, SCE, SDN, SWE, and BA) on the other hand derive ancestry from African and Near Eastern World Regions. In particular, ancestry from groups most similar to contemporary populations from in and around the Levant (lev; which we define as the World Region containing individuals from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi, Yemen, and Egypt) is present across Italy (SCE), Sardinia (SDN), France and Spain (SWE), and Armenia (IA; Figure 2B). Interestingly, North (nafII) and West (waf) African ancestry is also seen entering Southern Europe, suggesting a key role for the Mediterranean in supporting gene flow back into Europe [8, 26, 27]. Dates for the influx of this admixture are broad and generally fall within the first millennium CE (Figure 3B) although are more recent in BA and SWE, including French (frenc24: 728 CE [424–1011 CE]) and Spanish (spani27: 1042 CE [740–1201 CE]; spani9: 668 CE [286–876 CE]) clusters, consistent with migrations associated with the Arabic Conquest of the Iberian peninsula [8, 11, 28] and earlier movements in and around Italy [29]."
--George B.J. Busby, et al 2015. [b]The Role of Recent Admixture in Forming the Contemporary West Eurasian Genomic Landscape. Current biology: CB (Impact Factor: 9.57). 09/2015; 25(19).


Irony: if classic "racial" models are used, Europeans themselves are a "hybrid" or "mixed" breed, one-third African, one-third Asian.


QUOTE:
".. it appears that Europeans are about two-thirds Asians and one-third African."
(--Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza (2000). Genes, peoples and languages. FARRAR STRAUS AND GIROUX Publishers)

"Nuclear DNA studies also contribute to the deconstruction of received racial entities. Ann Bowcock and her colleague's interpretation (Bowcock et al. 1991; Bowcock et al. 1994) of analyses of restriction-site polymorphisms and microsatellite polymorphisms (STRPs) suggests that Europeans, the defining Caucasians, are descendants of a population that arose as a consequence of admixture between already differentiated populations ancestral to (some) Africans and Asians. Therefore, Caucasians would be a secondary type or race due to its hybrid origin and not a primary race". This compromises the racial schema and also invalidates the metaphysical underpinnings of the persisting race construct, which implies deep and fundamental differences between its units. In this case if the interpretation of Bowcock and her colleagues (1991) is correct then one of the units is not fundamental because its genesis is qualitatively different from the other units and even connects them."
-- S.O.Y. Keita and Rick Kittles. (1997) The Persistence of Racial Thinking and the Myth of Racial Divergence, American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 99, No. 3 (Sep., 1997), pp. 534-544 



gifts from Greeks? ..



Other links
 Why HBD or hereditarianism lacks credibility
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/10/why-hbd-or-hereditarianism-lacks.html

Leading Scientists criticize hereditarian claims
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/leading-scientists-criticize.html

Thai me down - Thais fall behind genetically related southern Chinese, Tibetans below genetically related East Asians like Koreans and other Chinese
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/thai-me-up-thai-me-down.html

Time for liberals to respect "the south" ... in a way of speaking.. the south of Egypt that is..
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/08/time-for-liberals-to-respect-south-in.html

Irony 2: touted High IQ "G-men" cannot reproduce themselves 
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/irony-2-higher-iqs-correlated-with_25.html


Unz and Sowell: Unz debunking Lynn's IQ and Wealth of Nations. Sowell debunking the Bell Curve
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/07/unz-and-sowell-unz-debunking-lynns-iq.html

Irony 1: touted High IQ types are more homosexual, more atheist, and more liberal (HAL)
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/irony-high-iqs-produce-more-atheists.html


Elite white universities discriminate against Asians using reverse "affirmative action"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/06/elite-white-universities-discriminate.html

Deteriorating state of white America
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/05/deteriorating-state-of-white-america.html



Exploding nonsense: the 10,000 Year Explosion
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/03/exploding-nonsense-review-of-cochran_8.html


We need "rational racism"?
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-need-rational-racism-proponent.html

The Affirmative Action Propaganda Machine- part 1
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-affirmatve-action-propaganda.html

Two rules for being "really" black- no white wimmen, no Republican
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/to-be-really-black-you-cant-have-white.html

The Axial age reconsidered
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-axial-age-reconsidered.html

Cannibal seasonings: dark meat on white
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/12/i.html

"Affirmative Action" in the form of court remedies has been around a long time- since the 1930s- benefiting white union workers against discrimination by employers
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/09/affirmative-action-as-term-appears-in.html

Mugged by reality 1: White quotas, special preferences and government jobs
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/mugged-by-reality-1-white-quotas.html

Lightweight enforcement of EEO laws contradicts claims of "flood" of minorities "taking jobs"
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html

Railroaded 3: white violence and intimidation imposed quotas
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-3-white-violence-and.html

Railroaded 2: how white quotas and special preferences blockade black progress...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-2-thow-white-quotas-and.html

Railroaded 1: How white affirmative action and white special preferences destroyed black railroad employment...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2013/06/railroaded-how-white-affirmative-action.html

Affirmative action: primary beneficiaries are white women...
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/04/quick-regime-kill-hopes-in-libya.html

7 reasons certain libertarians and right-wingers are wrong about the Civil Right Act
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2012/05/7-reasons-libertarians-may-be-wrong.html

Social philosophy of Thomas Sowell
http://nilevalleypeoples.blogspot.com/2011/07/social-philosophy-of-thomas-sowell.html

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This post wraps up our trilogy on ancient African movement into ancient Europe, by looking at additional links via Iberia (ancient Spain). Some recent findings from DNA studies of movement to Iberia are discussed. Previous posts also looked at Greece, Italy and the Balkans. Again to dismiss the inevitably fake strawmen  when such matters arise- this post does NOT claim Spaniards, Greeks, Italians, Sardinians or other of today's Europeans are wholly "Africans," or "black " or that they cease being "European" or "white" -  but that in various measures, in some eras, distinctive ancient African gene flow into ancient Europe can be detected well before the modern slave trade/colonial era, and well before the historic era. Fake strawmen  out of the way- let's once again get down to business. 



Ancient African movement detected in Spain thousand of years ago- connections between Spain and West Africa in the Neolithic.

Over the sands and far away: Interpreting an Iberian mitochondrial lineage with ancient Western African origins- QUOTE.  

OBJECTIVES:
There is an ongoing effort to characterize the genetic links between Africa and Europe, mostly using lineages and haplotypes that are specific to one continent but had an ancient origin in the other. Mitochondrial DNA has been proven to be a very useful tool for this purpose since a high number of putatively European-specific variants of the African L* lineages have been defined over the years. Due to their geographic locations, Spain and Portugal seem to be ideal places for searching for these lineages.

METHODS:
Five members of a minor branch of haplogroup L3f were found in recent DNA samplings in the region of Asturias (Northern Spain), which is known for its historical isolation. The frequency of L3f in this population (˜1%) is unexpectedly high in comparison with other related lineages in Europe. Complete mitochondrial DNA sequencing of these L3f lineages, as well phylogenetic and phylogeographic comparative analyses have been performed.

RESULTS:
The L3f variant found in Asturias seems to constitute an Iberian-specific haplogroup, distantly related to lineages in Northern Africa and with a deep ancestry in Western Africa. Coalescent algorithms estimate the minimum arrival time as 8,000 years ago, and a possible route through the Gibraltar Strait.

CONCLUSIONS:
Results are concordant with a previously proposed Neolithic connection between Southern Europe and Western Africa, which might be key to the proper understanding of the ancient links between these two continents.

-- Pardiñas et. al. 2014. Over the sands and far away: Interpreting an Iberian mitochondrial lineage with ancient Western African origins. Am J Hum Biol. 2014 Aug 11

 


Some studies find up to 50% African DNA markers in Iberia, in some eras - Mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms in ancient populations of the Mediterranean basin

(Polimorfismos de DNA mitocondrial en poblaciones antiguas de la cuenca mediterránea- 2005)
biblioteca.universia.net/html_bura/ficha/params/title/polimorfismos-dna-mitocondrial-poblaciones-antiguas-cuenca-mediterranea/id/3136593.html


Description: SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS
The origins of European populations have been addressed from different disciplines, highlighting the contribution of population genetics studies. Shuffle two moments in prehistory in which it has been possible to model the gene pool of populations in Europe: the spread of Neolithic and Palaeolithic period expansions. The ability to recover from bygone population genetics provides a unique opportunity to test the assumptions made in situ from other disciplines. We studied 197 samples from 115 dental and bone individuals 17 archaeological sites Sumerian Neolithic and Middle East, when Meroitic Nubia and Paleolithic era, post-Neolithic and Neolithic of the Iberian Peninsula. We obtained complete sequences of mitochondrial DNA of 244 bp of 35 different individuals, were compared with sequences from the same region of present individuals from 38 populations in Europe, Africa and Middle East. In phylogenetic reconstructions based on Reynolds distance groups of ancient samples are grouped together, separated from the rest of current populations. However, phylogenetic reconstructions made from the haplotypes of ancient and modern samples denote that although the majority of ancient mitochondrial variants are not present in current populations sampled, may relate more or less closely with them.

The composition of haplotypes and haplogroups of ancient samples from the Near East and the Iberian Peninsula differs markedly from that found in the current populations of these geographical regions. In the ancient Middle East show highlights in particular the absence of mitochondrial haplogroup J, U3, W and X, associated with the Neolithic expansion into Europe. This may be due either to the sample obtained is not old chronologically or geographically-representative populations of the Middle East that spread during the Neolithic well that these variants were not introduced in Europe during the Neolithic. In the ancient sample of the Iberian Peninsula highlights the presence of 50% of sub-Saharan lines. These lines may have been introduced during the Solutrean, the Mesolithic or Neolithic. This work also delved into various technical aspects of obtaining authentic ancient DNA and the influence of several variables in the preservation of genetic material.

ABSTRACT
The origins of the European Populations Studied extensively from Have Been Different disciplines. It is Thought That ancient demic expansions, like occurred After the Late Those Glacial Maximum or DURING the Middle East from neolithic diffussion to Europe. The Possibility to recover DNA from past Populations offers an unique Opportunity to test in situ These hypothesis. 197 It Were Analyzed teeth and bones from 115 individuos Archaeological Sites and 17 Different from Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula. It WAS possible to recover mitochondrial DNA sequences 244pb-35 from Different Individuals. They Were 38 Compared to sequences from European, African and Middle Eastern Populations present-day. Phylogenetic Reconstructions from Reynolds genetic distance Showed That ancient samples clustered together, extant from Clearly Separated Populations.

However, based phylogenetic Reconstructions on ancient and modern mitochondrial haplotypes Showed That ancient haplotypes are related to extant ones. Haplotype frequencies and haplogroup in samples from the ancient Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula are Different from Those Clearly present in the Same Geographical Nowadays regions. Haplogroups related to J neolithic expansion to Europe, U3, W and X-are absent in ancient middle eastern sample. There are two possible Explanations to this fact. First, It Could Be That the ancient samples possible Analyzed wont be representative of the Middle Eastern Populations That expanded the neolithic. Second, It Could Be That Those haplogroups Also possible wont Have Been made to them in Europe associated with expansions to neolithic demic. At This work It Were Also Examined technical Several Aspects related to the obtention of genuine ancient DNA and the Influence of Different variables in DNA preservation.

--Fernandez et al. 2005. Mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms in ancient populations of the Mediterranean basin
 

--J. L. Escacena Carrasco 2000. Applications of Evolutive Archeology: Migrations from Africa to Iberia in the Recent Prehistory Prehistoric Iberia. 2000, pp 125-162 //

 More recent DNA data on ancient African movement to Spain- Hernandez 2015- 2014

New mtDNA study shows movement from Africa into Spain in Early Holocene- some 10,000 years ago- long before any Phonecian, Roman, Arab or colonial era

"Determining the timing, identity and direction of migrations in the Mediterranean Basin, the role of “migratory routes” in and among regions of Africa, Europe and Asia, and the effects of sex-specific behaviors of population movements have important implications for our understanding of the present human genetic diversity. A crucial component of the Mediterranean world is its westernmost region. Clear features of transcontinental ancient contacts between North African and Iberian populations surrounding the maritime region of Gibraltar Strait have been identified from archeological data. The attempt to discern origin and dates of migration between close geographically related regions has been a challenge in the field of uniparental-based population genetics..

To this end, in the present work we have screened entire mtDNA sequences belonging to U6, M1 and L haplogroups in Andalusians —from Huelva and Granada provinces—and Moroccan Berbers. We present here pioneer data and interpretations on the role of NW Africa and the Iberian Peninsula regarding the time of origin, number of founders and expansion directions of these specific markers. The estimated entrance of the North African U6 lineages into Iberia at 10 ky correlates well with other L African clades, indicating that U6 and some L lineages moved together from Africa to Iberia in the Early Holocene. Still, founder analysis highlights that the high sharing of lineages between North Africa and Iberia results from a complex process continued through time, impairing simplistic interpretations. In particular, our work supports the existence of an ancient, frequently denied, bridge connecting the Maghreb and Andalusia."
--Hernández et al 2015. Early Holocenic and Historic mtDNA African Signatures in the Iberian Peninsula: The Andalusian Region as a Paradigm. PLoS ONE 10(10)


"In the North, E3b1-M35 and J2-M172 show low frequencies but are more prevalent in the South, which has been interpreted to be a signal of the gene flow coming from Central European Neolithic farmers [17]. R1a1-M17 is rather rare, both in the North, where it probably originates from eastern Europe, and in the South, of possible Greek provenience [17].

The two Italian major islands, Sicily and Sardinia, show a different demographic history. The Y-chromosome variability of Sicily shares a common history with that of southern Italy, enriched by an additional Arab contribution, but also North African and Greek influences [18]. On the other hand, Sardinia has been considered to be a genetic outlier within Europe showing clear signals of founder effects;

Autosomal ancestry in Italy
A panel of 52 AIMs was genotyped in 435 Italian individuals in order to estimate the proportion of ancestry from a three-way differentiation: sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Asia. Structure analyses allowed us to infer membership proportions in population samples, and these proportions can be graphically displayed, as in Figure 2. This analysis indicated that Italians have a BASAL PROPORTION of sub-Saharan ancestry that is higher (9.2%, onaverage) than other central or northern European populations (1.5%, on average). The amount of African ancestry in Italians is however more comparable to (but slightly higher than) the average in other Mediterranean countries (7.1%).

The origin of sub-Saharan African mtDNAs in Europe (including Italian samples) has been recently investigated by Cerezo et al. [81]; the results indicate that a significant proportion of these lineages could have arrived in Italy more than 10,000 years ago; therefore, their presence in Europe does not necessarily date to the time of the Roman Empire, the Atlantic slave trade or to modern migration."

– Francesca Brisighelli-. 2012. Uniparental Markers of Contemporary Italian Population Reveals Details on Its Pre-Roman Heritage


"The Paglicci site is located on the southern slope of the Gargano Promontory (Apulia, Southern Italy) it is composed of the present-day cave and a rock shelter that, in the past, was part of the same cave-system. The site has been continuously excavated since the early 60s: from 1961 to 1963 from 2001 to present days by A. Ronchitelli (University of Siena), The 12m thick sequence uncovered inside the cave yielded archeological, paleontological and anthropological remains spanning from Lower Midd1e Paleoolithic (Acheulean, Early Mousterian) to Final Epigravettian, comprising Aurignacian and Gravettian. Among the several human remains uncovered in Paglicci,the most important are two Gravettian burials that are amongst oldest in Europe.

The two individuals from these burials, Paglicci 12 (Mezzcna and Palma dt Cesnola, 1972), a juvenile male, which age at death was around 12 years old (PA12) and Paglicci 25 (Mezzena and Palma dt Ccsnoia, 1989-90), a young adult female around 20 years (PA25). Over the years they have been the subject of general anthropological studies (Mallegni and Palmadi Cesnola, 1994; Mallegni ct aI., 1999), but with the development of new analytical techniques in paleooanthropology, the morphological affinities of the two specimens are being reconsidered. The main objective is to contribute to the understanding of the first peopling of Europe by Homo sapiens looking at various aspects of these populations such as their morphological characteristics, health status, and cultural background.

The present study focuses on the morphometric affinities of the mandibles of PA 12 and PA25 which were compared to 78 Old world modern human specimens. The mandibles were described thanks to 22 landmarks and were analyzed through a geometric morphometries analysis predefined groups: extant Europeans (N:=14, Romania and England), extant Asians (N:=14, China and Indonesia), extant Africans (N:=13, Nigeria), Neolithic Europeans (N:=13, Loisy-en~Brie, France), Neolithic Africans (N:=13, Hassie-el-Abiod from Mali; Gamble's Cave 5, F from Kenya) and Paleolithic specimens (N:= 11; Oberkassell and 2 (German), Ohalo II (Israel), Abri Pataud (France), Predmosd 3 and 4 and Brno II (Czech Republic), Combe~Cape!le (France), Grimaldi 5 (Italy), Qafzeh 9 and Skhlll V (Israel). ….to assess the morphological affinities of the Paglicci mandibles which were introduced a posteriori in the DFA. The classification results indicate that apart from the Neolithic Europeans all groups overlap in their morphology. It is especially difficult to distinguish between extant Europeans and Asians, while extant Africans present a slightly different morphotype which is closer to Neolithic Africans. These specimens;.lS weI! as the Palaeolithic mandibles show a much more robust morphology.

Both Paglicci mandibles are classified as Paleolithic specimens by the DFA. PA 12 is especially similar to the Grimaldi 5 mandible which also belonged to a juvenile individual while PA25 is more similar to Combe-Capelle and Oberkassell. This morphological affinity indicates that PA25 mandible is very robust despite the fact that it is a female individual. Finally, both Paglicci mandibles are also similar to African Neolithic specimens. Contrary to the European Neolithic mandibles, the African Neolithic specimens show close morphological affinities with the Palaeolithic fossils. This could indicate A DIFFERENT MIGRATION PATTERN BETWEEN EUROPE AND AFRICA DURING LATE PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC."

--Aurclicn Mounier1 2014. The Gravettian mandibles from Grotta Paglicci (Apulia, Italy): a geometric morpbometrics study
intriguing limbs....

"Note that there is little overlap between the European Neanderthals and any of the Gravettian individuals. Only the pathological Dolni Vestonice 15 and Paglicci 25 fall within the Neanderthal range.. The summary statistics for the radius length/trunk height index are found in Table 12.4. HEre too the recent Europeans are characterized by relatively low index values, reflective of shorter radii, and the sub-Saharan Africans are characterized by higher indices, indicative of longer radii. The Neanderthals fall very near the recent European mean, and the Gravettian sample mean falls just below the recent sub-Saharan African mean.

With the exception of Dolni Vestonice 13, the other Dolni Vestonice individuals appear more "African-like" in their relative radius lengths...

Figure 12.6 is a graphical representation of the radius length/trunk height indices among the fossils. Once again, the European Neanderthals evince the lowest indices, and for this index there is no overlap between Gravettian sample amd the Neanderthals- even the pathological DOnli Vestonice 15 individual falls below their range. Dolni Vestonice 15 has the lowest radius/trunk height index of the Gravettian sample, and DOlni Vestonice 3 and 13 fall toward the low end of the GRavettian range; as with the humerus, Paglicci 25 and Barma GRande 2 evince shorter radii, than do the remainder of the nonpathological Gravettian sample..."

--Erik Trinkaus, Jiøí Svoboda. 2005. Early modern human evolution in Central Europe: the people of Dolní Vestonice..
African Haplogroup E appears in several European populations notably Greeks and other southern Europeans, in the Balkans zone. QUOTE:
--Kalevi Wiik (2008) Where Did European Men Come From? Jrnl Gen Genealogy, 4:35-83

QUOTE:
--T. Frudakis. 2008. Molecular photofitting: predicting ancestry and phenotype using DNA
FROM: Fig 2 --Martinez et al. (2007). Paleolithic Y-haplogroup heritage predominates in a Cretan highland plateau. Eu Jrl Hu Gen. 15, 485-493
"Sardinia appears to be a particularly appropriate test case to evaluate the extent to which surnames are informative in identifying the history of Y-chromosome haplogroups. As the other European populations, almost all the Sardinian Y chromosomes belong to haplogroups E-M35, I-M170, G-M201, J-12f2 and R-M269. Haplogroups E, G and J, which are believed to have an African (E) or Middle Eastern (G and J) origin and entered Europe through different migrations,30,34,35 show frequencies in the same range as other Mediterranean populations."
--Zei et al 2003. From surnames to the history of Y chromosomes: the Sardinian population as a paradigm. European Journal of Human Genetics (2003) 11, 802-807

Southern Europeans show gene flow from several areas including Africa-
QUOTE:

"Southern European groups (SEE, SCE, SDN, SWE, and BA) on the other hand derive ancestry from African and Near Eastern World Regions. In particular, ancestry from groups most similar to contemporary populations from in and around the Levant (lev; which we define as the World Region containing individuals from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi, Yemen, and Egypt) is present across Italy (SCE), Sardinia (SDN), France and Spain (SWE), and Armenia (IA; Figure 2B). Interestingly, North (nafII) and West (waf) African ancestry is also seen entering Southern Europe, suggesting a key role for the Mediterranean in supporting gene flow back into Europe [8, 26, 27]. Dates for the influx of this admixture are broad and generally fall within the first millennium CE (Figure 3B) although are more recent in BA and SWE, including French (frenc24: 728 CE [424–1011 CE]) and Spanish (spani27: 1042 CE [740–1201 CE]; spani9: 668 CE [286–876 CE]) clusters, consistent with migrations associated with the Arabic Conquest of the Iberian peninsula [8, 11, 28] and earlier movements in and around Italy [29]."
--George B.J. Busby, et al 2015. [b]The Role of Recent Admixture in Forming the Contemporary West Eurasian Genomic Landscape. Current biology: CB (Impact Factor: 9.57). 09/2015; 25(19).

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LINKS TO OTHER POSTS:

Stealing credibility- Dinesh D'souza has prison epiphany- after hanging with the homies- Hallelujah Hilary!
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