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well, how black does one have to be? i'm mixed, my son is mixed, making him 1/4 black. i'm fair skinned and the son looks white, Mediterranean-ish (understanable w/a 1/2 greek father). depending upon your view of race, he is either mostly white (statistically correct) or since he has a drop of black blood, he is black. (the klan theory of genetics...)

I suspect there is no such thing as race, except as an exercise in preconceived notions.

I say that to look at someone or to look at his forebears, and then to place that person in a category with other people as a "breed" apart--for any motive--is another side of the same coin.

Is there a gene or a set of genes that makes someone a black person or a white person?

I don't think so.

Therefore, any attempt to categorize someone as white or black or hispanic or kangaroo is an exercise in stereotyping.

The way to end racism is to stop perpetuating the NOTION of race.

I don't believe in 'race' per se. I do believe in 'genetic isolates'. Having said this, there probably *are* genes specific to continent of origin. Whether these genes are relevant to anything important is desperately unproven. If there were different 'races', interbreeding wouldn't be as 'effective' as it is. There appears to be no genetic issue with the production of 'mixed race' children nor do said children appear to be at a disadvantage when they in turn reproduce. Race is a really dumb term. Clearly, we're all the same race albeit products of different genetic isolates of said race. I do believe, however, that culture plays a huge role in determining whether a particular group is successful in this country.