Path: utzoo!censor!geac!jtsv16!uunet!dino!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!garcon!uxf.cso.uiuc.edu!mike
From: mike@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu (Mike Trogni)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Hybrid vigor
Summary: casual genetics & human study don't mix
Message-ID: <1728@garcon.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 9 Aug 89 19:33:37 GMT
References: <4869@drivax.UUCP> <3411@internal.Apple.COM> 
Reply-To: mike@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu (Mike Trogni)
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Lines: 21

A previous poster was correct in reminding us that every human being that
has ever been born has African roots (as scientific study of human
ancestry suggests).  Most evolutionary textbooks today use the term "race"
*very* loosely in regard to the human species.  Most scientists would rather
say that there is one race, the human race.

Always be very careful when reading studies involving classification of
human beings.  _The Mismeasure of Man_ by Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard U.
is recommended to everyone - from the layman to the graduate student in
biology.  Racist claims in human genetics usually evolve from hidden
agendas or unintended experimental bias.  

I would say that the relative preponderance of people of African ancestry
in certain atheletic endeavors *can not* be ascribed to one reason, but
to a variety of inherited *and* environmental factors.  Hybrid vigor is
something I would use to describe the strength of a plant species, not
something I would use to talk about the success of another human being.

-mike

[mike@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu]