Ideas

Truth is, there are no genes for race

13 February 2020 - 07:00 By jonathan jansen
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One of the chief culprits in the return of racial science is genetics, which, some have argued, has become the backdoor for the return of eugenics in mainstream science.
One of the chief culprits in the return of racial science is genetics, which, some have argued, has become the backdoor for the return of eugenics in mainstream science.
Image: 123RF/fotoquique

Coloured people get tuberculosis and Indians stomach ulcers. Afrikaner men have high levels of cholesterol and Basotho women are prone to particular kinds of psychiatric dreams.

If you think this is nonsense, you’re right. But there is a virulent strain of thinking in the medical sciences that continues this line of race essentialist research deep into the post-apartheid years.

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