RACE

Ever wonder what this obscene four letter word actually means and what implication it has on the world we live in. Yes you read right, obscene four letter word because the other so called obscene and highly popular four letter word has one meaning and that alone but THIS four letter word race has absolutely no consistent meaning and you can very well interpret it as you fancy!
Reminding someone of his/her race at times is worst then telling them to %#@K off!!

The word "race", along with many of the ideas now associated with the term, were first coined during the age of exploration, a time of European imperialism, technological superiority and colonization( A. Smedley (1999) Race in North America: origin and evolution of a worldview, 2nd ed. Westview Press, Boulder )
Europeans began to sort themselves and others into groups associated with physical appearance and with deeply ingrained behaviors and capacities. A set of folk beliefs took hold that linked inherited physical differences between groups to inherited intellectual, behavioral, and moral qualities(Banton M (1977) The idea of race. Westview Press, Boulder). The first post-Classical published classification of humans into distinct races seems to be François Bernier's Nouvelle division de la terre par les différents espèces ou races qui l'habitent ("New division of Earth by the different species or races which inhabit it"), published in 1684.
The 19th century saw attempts to change race from a taxonomic to a biological concept. These scientists made three claims about race: first, races are objective, naturally occurring divisions of humanity; second, there is a strong relationship between biological races and other human phenomena (such as forms of activity and interpersonal relations and culture, and by extension the relative material success of cultures), thus biologizing the notion of race, as Foucault demonstrated in his historical analysis; third, race is therefore a valid scientific category that can be used to explain and predict individual and group behavior. Races were distinguished by skin color, facial type, cranial profile and size, texture and color of hair. Moreover, races were almost universally considered to reflect group differences in moral character and intelligence.

BY THE WAY REMEMBER DARWIN...HE WAS A MONOGENIST(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogenesis)

Dr. Craig Venter and scientist Francis Collins of the National Institute of Health jointly made the announcement of the mapping of the human genome in 2000. Upon examining the data from the genome mapping, he realized that although we are indeed further apart genetically from each other, (1-3% instead of the assumed 1%), the types of variations don't warrant calling each other different races. He says quote.."Race is a social concept. It's not a scientific one. There are no bright lines (that would stand out), if we could compare all the sequenced genomes of everyone on the planet." "When we try to apply science to try to sort out these social differences, it all falls apart."(New Ideas, New Fuels: Craig Venter at the Oxonian". FORA.tv. 2008-11-03. )

Alright here is a little summary of what race means:
1. A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race.
3. A genealogical line; a lineage.
4. Humans considered as a group.
5. Biology
a. An interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms differing from other populations of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. A race that has been given formal taxonomic recognition is known as a subspecies.
b. A breed or strain, as of domestic animals.
6. A distinguishing or characteristic quality, such as the flavor of a wine.