Dr. Don Batten and Dr. Carl Wieland

What are "races"?

How did different skin colors come about?

Is it true that black skin is the result of Noah's curse?

According to the Bible, all people living on Earth are descended from Noah, his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law (and even earlier from Adam and Eve - Genesis 1-11). However, today on Earth there are groups of people called "races", whose external signs differ significantly. Many see this state of affairs as a reason to doubt the truth of the biblical story. It is believed that these groups could have arisen only as a result of separate evolution over tens of thousands of years.

The Bible tells us how the descendants of Noah, who spoke the same language and held together, disobeyed the divine command « fill the earth» (Genesis 9:1; 11:4). God confused their languages, after which people divided into groups and scattered throughout the Earth (Genesis 11:8-9). Modern methods of genetics show how after the separation of people in just a few generations, variations in external features (for example, skin color) could develop. There is compelling evidence that the different groups of people that we see in today's world were not isolated from each other for vast periods of time.

In fact, on earth "there is only one race"- the race of people, or the human race. The Bible teaches that God « from one blood ... produced the whole human race " (Acts 17:26). Holy Scripture distinguishes people by tribes and peoples, and not by skin color or other features of appearance. At the same time, it is quite obvious that there are groups of people who have common features (for example, the notorious skin color) that distinguish them from other groups. We prefer to call them "groups of people" rather than "races" to avoid evolutionary associations. Representatives of any people can interbreed freely and produce fertile offspring. This proves that the biological differences between "races" are quite small.

In fact, the differences in the composition of DNA are extremely small. If we take any two people from any corner of the Earth, then the differences in their DNA will normally be 0.2%. At the same time, the so-called "racial characteristics" will make up only 6% of this difference (that is, only 0.012%); everything else is within "intra-racial" variations.

“This genetic unity means, for example, that a white American who is markedly different in phenotype from a black American may be closer in tissue composition to him than another black American.”

Fig. 1 The eyes of Caucasians and Mongoloids differ in the amount of fat around the eye, as well as the ligament, which disappears in most non-Asian infants at six months of age.

Anthropologists divide humanity into several main racial groups: Caucasoid (or "white"), Mongoloid (including Chinese, Eskimos and American Indians), Negroid (black Africans) and Australoid (Australian Aborigines). Virtually all evolutionists today admit that different groups of people could not be of different origin- that is, they could not evolve from different types of animals. Thus, proponents of evolution agree with creationists that all groups of peoples descended from a single original population of the Earth. Of course, evolutionists believe that groups such as the Australian Aborigines or the Chinese are separated from the rest by tens of thousands of years.

Most people believe that such significant external differences could develop only for a very long time. One of the reasons for this misconception is that many believe that external differences are inherited from distant ancestors who acquired unique genetic properties that the rest did not have. This assumption is understandable, but fundamentally wrong.

Consider, for example, the question of skin color. It is easy to assume that if different groups of people have yellow, red, black, white or brown skin, then there are different skin pigments. But since different chemicals imply a different genetic code in the gene pool of each group, a serious question arises: how could such differences have formed in a relatively short period of human history?

In fact, we all have only one "dye" of the skin - melanin. This is a dark brown pigment that each of us produces in special skin cells. If a person does not have melanin (like albinos - people with a mutational defect due to which melanin is not produced), then his skin color is very white or slightly pinkish. Cells in "white" Europeans produce little melanin, in black Africans - a lot; and in between, as is easy to understand, all shades of yellow and brown.

Thus, the only significant factor that determines skin color is the amount of melanin produced. In general, whatever property of a group of people we consider, it, in fact, will be just a variant comparable with others inherent in other peoples. For example, the Asian eye section differs from the European one, in particular, by a small ligament that slightly pulls down the eyelid (see Figure 1). This ligament is present in all newborns, but after the age of six months it remains, as a rule, only in Asians. Occasionally, the ligament is retained in Europeans, giving their eyes an Asian almond-shaped cut, and vice versa, in some Asians it is lost, making their eyes Caucasian.

What is the role of melanin? It protects the skin from ultraviolet rays of the sun. A person with a low amount of melanin under the strong influence of solar activity is more prone to sunburn and skin cancer. Conversely, if you have too much melanin in your cells, and you live in a country where there is not enough sun, it will be more difficult for your body to produce the required amount of vitamin D (which is produced in the skin when exposed to sunlight). A lack of this vitamin can cause bone diseases (such as rickets) and some types of cancer. Scientists have also found that ultraviolet rays destroy folates (salts of folic acid), vitamins needed to strengthen the spine. Melanin helps to store folate, so dark skinned people are better able to live in areas with high UV levels (tropics or highlands).

A person is born with a genetically predetermined ability produce melanin in a certain amount, and this ability is activated in response to sunlight - a tan appears on the skin. But how could such different skin colors have arisen in such a short time? If a member of a black group of people marries a "white", the skin of their descendants ( mulattoes) will be a "medium brown" color. It has long been known that from mulatto marriages children are born with the most diverse skin color - from completely black to completely white.

The realization of this fact gives us the key to solving our problem as a whole. But first we need to familiarize ourselves with the basic laws of heredity.

Heredity

Each of us carries information about our own organism - detailed, like a drawing of a building. This “drawing” determines not only that you are a person, and not a head of cabbage, but also what color your eyes are, what is the shape of your nose, and so on. At the time of the fusion of the spermatozoon and the egg into the zygote, it already contains all information about the future device of a person (excluding such unpredictable factors as, say, sports or diet).

Much of this information is encoded in DNA. DNA is the most efficient information storage system, many times superior to any of the most complex computer technologies. The information recorded here is copied (and recombined) in the process of reproduction from generation to generation. The term "gene" means a piece of this information containing instructions for the production of, for example, only one enzyme.

For example, there is a gene that carries instructions for the production of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells. If this gene is damaged by a mutation (copy error during reproduction), the instruction will be incorrect - and we will, at best, get damaged hemoglobin. (Mistakes like this can lead to diseases like sickle cell anemia.) Genes are always paired; therefore, in the case of hemoglobin, we have two sets of codes (instructions) for its reproduction: one from the mother, the second from the father. The zygote (fertilized egg) receives half of its information from the father's sperm and the other half from the mother's egg.

Such a device is very useful. If a person inherits a damaged gene from one parent (and this condemns their cells to produce, say, abnormal hemoglobin), then the gene received from the other parent will be normal, and this will enable the body to produce normal protein as well. In the genome of each person there are hundreds of errors inherited from one of the parents, which do not appear, because each of them is "hidden" by the activity of another - a normal gene (see the booklet "Cain's Wife - Who is She?").

Color of the skin

We know that skin color is determined by more than one pair of genes. For simplicity, we assume that there are only two such (paired) genes, and they are located on the chromosomes in places A and B. One form of the gene, M, "gives the order" to produce a lot of melanin; another, m, - little melanin. According to the location of A, paired combinations of MAMA, MAmA and mAmA can be used, which give the skin cells a signal to produce a lot, not a lot or a little melanin.

Similarly, at location B, combinations of MBMB, MBmB, and mBmB can exist, also signaling the production of much, little, or little melanin. Thus, in people with very dark skin color, there may be a combination of genes, such as MAMAMMB (see Figure 2). Since both sperm and eggs of such people can only contain MAMB genes (after all, only one gene from positions A and B can get into a sperm or egg), their children will be born only with the same set of genes as their parents.

Consequently, all these children will have very dark skin color. In the same way, light-skinned people with the mAmAmBmB gene combination can only have children with the same gene combination. What combinations can appear in the offspring of mulattoes with dark skin, with a combination of the MAmAMBmB genes - which are, for example, children from the marriage of people with the MAMAMBMB and mAmAmBmB genes (see Figure 3)? Let's turn to a special scheme - the "Pennett lattice" (see Figure 4). On the left are the genetic combinations possible for the sperm, on the top - for the egg. We select one of the possible combinations for the spermatozoon and consider, going along the line, what results from its combination with each of the possible combinations in the egg.

At each intersection of a row and a column, a combination of offspring genes is recorded when a given egg is fertilized by a given spermatozoon. For example, when a sperm cell with the MAmB genes and an egg cell mAMB are fused, the child will have the MAmAMBmB genotype, like his parents. In general, the diagram shows that children with five levels of melanin content (shades of skin color) can be born from such a marriage. If we take into account not two, but three pairs of genes responsible for melanin, we will see that the offspring can have seven levels of its content.

If people with the MAMMBB genotype are “totally” black (i.e., have no melanin-reducing and skin-lightening genes at all) marry each other and move to places where their children cannot meet with lighter-skinned people, then all of them the descendants will also be black - you get a clean "black line". Similarly, if "white" people (mAmAmBmB) marry only people of the same skin color and live apart without dating darker people, then the result will be a pure "white line" - they will lose the genes necessary to produce a large amount of melanin, providing a dark skin color.

Thus, two swarthy people can not only produce children with any skin color, but also give rise to various groups of people with a stable skin tone. But how did groups of people of the same swarthy shade appear? Again, this is easy to explain. If people with the MAMAmBmB and mAmAMBMB genotypes do not intermarry, they will produce only swarthy offspring. (You can test this for yourself by making a Punnett lattice.) If a representative of any of these lines enters into a mixed marriage, the process will reverse. In a short time, the offspring of such a marriage will exhibit a full range of skin tones, often within the same family.

If all people on Earth were now freely intermarrying, and then for some reason were divided into groups living apart, there could be a whole host of new combinations: almond-shaped eyes with black skin, blue eyes and black curly short hair, and so on. Of course, it must be remembered that genes behave in a much more complex way than in our simplified explanation. Sometimes certain genes are linked. But the essence of this does not change. Even today, within one group of people, one can see traits usually associated with another group.

Figure 3 Multi-colored twins born to mulatto parents are an example of genetic variants of skin colors.

For example, you can meet a European with a wide flattened nose, or a Chinese with very pale skin or quite European eyes. Most scientists today agree that for modern humanity, the term "race" is practically devoid of biological meaning. And this is a serious argument against the theory of the isolated development of groups of peoples over long periods of time.

What really happened?

We can recreate the true history of groups of people with:

1. information given to us by the Creator Himself in the Book of Genesis;
2. the above scientific information;
3. some environmental considerations.

God created the first man, Adam, who became the progenitor of all people. 1656 years after Creation, the Flood destroyed all mankind, except for Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives. The Flood radically changed their habitat. The Lord confirmed to the survivors His commandment to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1). A few centuries later, people decided to disobey God and united to build a huge city and the Tower of Babel - a symbol of rebellion and paganism. We know from the eleventh chapter of Genesis that up to this point people spoke the same language. God put disobedience to shame by mixing up the tongues of men so that people could not work together against God. The confusion of languages ​​forced them to scatter over the Earth, which was part of the Creator's intentions. Thus, all "groups of people" arose simultaneously, with a mixture of languages ​​during the construction of the Tower of Babel. Noah and his family were probably dark-skinned—they had the genes for both black and white.)

This average color is the most universal: it is dark enough to protect against skin cancer, and at the same time light enough to provide the body with vitamin D. Since Adam and Eve had all the factors that determine skin color, they probably also had swarthy, brown-eyed, with black or brown hair. In fact, most of the modern population of the Earth has dark skin.

After the Flood and before the construction of Babylon, there was a single language and a single cultural group on Earth. Therefore, there were no obstacles for marriages within this group. This factor stabilized the skin color of the population, cutting off extremes. Of course, from time to time people were born with very light or very dark skin, but they freely intermarried with the rest, and thus the "middle color" remained unchanged. The same applies to other traits, not just skin color. In circumstances suggesting the possibility of free crossing, obvious external differences do not appear.

In order for them to appear, it is necessary to break the population into isolated groups, eliminating the possibility of interbreeding between them. This is true for populations of both animals and humans, which is well known to any biologist.

Aftermath of Babylon

This is exactly what happened after the Babylonian pandemonium. When God forced people to speak in different languages, insurmountable barriers arose between them. Now they did not dare to marry those whose language they did not understand. Moreover, groups of people united by a common language could hardly communicate and, of course, did not trust those who spoke other languages. They were forced to move away from each other and settled in different places. Thus God's commandment was fulfilled: "Fill the earth."

It is doubtful that each of the newly formed small groups contained people of the same wide range of skin colors as the original. Carriers of dark skin genes could predominate in one group, while lighter ones in the other. The same applies to other external signs: the shape of the nose, the shape of the eyes, and so on. And since now all marriages took place within the same language group, each such trait no longer aspired to the average, as it had previously. As people moved away from Babylon, they had to face new unusual climatic conditions.

As an example, consider a group heading to cold climes where the sun shines weaker and less frequently. Black people were deficient in vitamin D there, so they got sick more often and had fewer children. Consequently, over time, this group began to be dominated by people with fair skin. If several different groups headed north, and one of them lacked the genes for fair skin, that group was doomed to extinction. Natural selection operates on the basis existing traits rather than creating new ones. The researchers found that, who today have already been recognized as full-fledged representatives of the human race, suffered from rickets, which indicates a deficiency in the bones of vitamin D. In fact, it was the signs of rickets, plus evolutionary prejudices, that for a long time forced Neanderthals to be classified as "monkey people ".

Apparently, this was a group of dark-skinned people who found themselves in a natural environment that is unfavorable for them - because of the set of genes, which they originally had. Again, we note that the so-called natural selection does not create a new skin color, but only selects from existing combinations. Conversely, a group of fair-skinned people stranded in a hot, sunny region would be more likely to suffer from skin cancer. Thus, in hot climates, dark-skinned people were more likely to survive. So we see that environmental influences can

(a) influence the genetic balance within one group and

(b) even cause entire groups to disappear.

That is why we are currently seeing the correspondence of the most common physical qualities of the population with the environment (for example, northern peoples with pale skin, dark-skinned inhabitants of the equator, and so on).

But this is not always the case. The Inuit (Eskimos) have brown skin, although they live where there is little sun. It can be assumed that initially their genotype was something like MAMAmBmB, and therefore their offspring could not be lighter or darker. The Inuit mainly eat fish, which is rich in vitamin D. Conversely, the native South Americans living near the equator do not have black skin at all. These examples once again confirm that natural selection does not create new information - if the genetic pool does not allow you to change skin color, natural selection is not able to do it. African pygmies are inhabitants of hot lands, but they are very rarely in the open sun, because they live in shady jungles. And yet their skin is black.

Pygmies can serve as a prime example of another factor influencing the racial history of mankind: discrimination. People who represent a deviation from the "norm" (for example, a very fair-skinned person among blacks) are traditionally treated with dislike. It is difficult for such a person to find a spouse. This state of affairs leads to the disappearance of light-skin genes in black people in hot countries and dark-skin genes in light-skinned people in cold countries. This was the tendency of the groups to "purify".

In some cases, consanguineous marriages in a small group can bring about a reappearance of near-extinct traits that have been "suppressed" by ordinary marriages. There is a tribe in Africa, all members of which have severely deformed feet; this sign manifested itself in them as a result of closely related marriages. If people with hereditary short stature were discriminated against, they were forced to seek refuge in the wilderness and marry only among themselves. So over time, the "race" of the pygmies was formed. The fact that Pygmy tribes, according to observations, do not have their own language, but speak the dialects of neighboring tribes, is strong evidence in favor of this hypothesis. Certain genetic characteristics could move groups of people to consciously (or semi-consciously) choose the place of settlement.

For example, people genetically predisposed to denser subcutaneous fat layers were more likely to leave regions that were too hot.

Common memory

The biblical story of the origin of man is supported by more than just biological and genetic evidence. Since all mankind descended from Noah's family relatively recently, it would be strange if the tales and legends of different peoples did not contain references to the Flood, even if somewhat distorted during oral transmission from generation to generation.

Indeed, in the folklore of most civilizations there is a description of the Flood that destroyed the world. Often these stories contain wonderful "coincidences" with the true biblical story: eight people who escaped in a boat, a rainbow, a bird sent in search of land, and so on.

And what is the result?

The Babylonian dispersion broke up a single group of people, within which free interbreeding was carried out, into smaller, isolated groups. This led to the appearance in the formed groups of special combinations of genes responsible for different physical traits.

The dispersion itself must, in a short space of time, bring about the appearance of certain differences between some of these groups, commonly called "races." An additional role was played by the selective influence of the environment, which contributed to the recombination of existing genes to achieve precisely those physical characteristics that were required in given natural conditions. But there was no evolution of genes "from simple to complex" and could not be, because the entire set of genes existed. The dominant properties of different groups of people have come about as a result of recombinations of an already existing set of engineered genes, with minor degenerative changes due to mutations (random changes that can be inherited).

Initially created genetic information either combined or degraded, but never increased.

What did the false teachings about the origin of races lead to?

All tribes and peoples are the descendants of Noah!

The Bible makes it clear that any "recently discovered" tribe definitely goes back to Noah. Therefore, at the very beginning of the culture of the tribe were laid down: a) the knowledge of God and b) the possession of technology high enough to build a ship the size of an ocean liner. From the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, we can conclude that the main reason for the loss of this knowledge (see appendix 2) is the conscious renunciation of the ancestors of these people from serving the living God. Therefore, in helping the so-called "backward" nations, the gospel must come first, not secular education and technical support. In fact, in the folklore and beliefs of most "primitive" tribes, memories have been preserved that their ancestors turned away from the living Creator God. Dan Richardson of the Child of the World mission has shown in his book that a missionary approach that is not blinded by evolutionary prejudices and seeks to re-establish a lost connection has, in many cases, borne abundant and blessed fruit. Jesus Christ, who came to reconcile a man who has rejected his Creator with God, is the only Truth that can bring true freedom to people of any culture, of any skin color (John 8:32; 14:6).

Attachment 1

Is it true that black skin is the result of Ham's curse?

Black (or rather, dark brown) skin is just a special combination of hereditary factors. These factors (but not their combination!) were originally present in Adam and Eve. There is no indication anywhere in the Bible to the fact that the black color of the skin is the result of a curse that fell on Ham and his descendants. Also, the curse did not apply to Ham himself, but to his son Canaan (Genesis 9:18,25; 10:6). Most importantly, we know that the skin of the descendants of Canaan was swarthy (Genesis 10:15-19), not black.

False teachings about Ham and his descendants were used to justify slavery and other biblical racism. African peoples are traditionally considered to be descended from the Hamites, since the Kushites (Kush - son of Ham: Genesis 10:6) are believed to have lived in what is now Ethiopia. The Book of Genesis allows us to assume that the scattering of people on Earth occurred with the preservation of family ties, and it is possible that the descendants of Ham were on average somewhat darker than, for example, the clan of Japheth. However, things could have been quite different. Rahab (Rahab), mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, belonged to the Canaanites, the descendants of Canaan. Being from the clan of Ham, she married an Israelite - and God approved this union. Therefore, it didn't matter what "race" she belonged to - what mattered was that she believed in the true God.

The Moabite Ruth is also mentioned in the genealogy of Christ. She confessed her faith in God before her marriage to Boaz (Ruth 1:16). God warns us against only one kind of marriage: God's children with unbelievers.

Annex 2

Stone age people?

Archaeological finds show that there were once people on Earth who lived in caves and used simple stone tools. Such people live on Earth to this day. We know that the entire population of the earth descended from Noah and his family. Judging by the book of Genesis, even before the Flood, people had advanced technology that allowed them to make musical instruments, farm, forge metal tools, build cities, and even build huge ships like the Ark. After the Babylonian Pandemic, groups of people - due to mutual hostility caused by the confusion of languages ​​- quickly dispersed over the earth in search of shelter.

In some cases, stone tools could be used temporarily until people equipped their homes and found deposits of metals necessary to make familiar tools. There were other situations when a group of immigrants initially, even before Babylon, did not deal with metal.

Ask the members of any modern family: if they had to start life from scratch, how many of them would be able to find a deposit of ores, develop it and smelt the metal? Obviously, the Babylonian dispersion was followed by a technological and cultural decline. Harsh environmental conditions may also have played a role. The technology and culture of the Australian Aborigines is well suited to their way of life and the need to survive in the drylands.

Let us recall at least the aerodynamic principles, the knowledge of which is necessary to create various types of boomerangs (some of them return, others do not). Sometimes we see clear but hard to explain evidence of decline. For example, when Europeans arrived in Tasmania, the technology of the natives there was the most primitive one can imagine. They did not fish, did not make or wear clothes. However, archaeological excavations have shown that the cultural and technological level of the previous generations of aborigines was incomparably higher.

Archaeologist Rhys Jones claims that in the distant past, they were able to sew complex clothes from skins. This contrasts sharply with the situation of the early 1800s, when the natives simply threw the skins over their shoulders. There is also evidence that in the past they caught fish and ate it, but they stopped doing this long before the arrival of Europeans. From all this we can conclude that technological progress is not natural: sometimes the accumulated knowledge and skills disappear without a trace. Followers of animistic cults live in perpetual fear of evil spirits. Many elementary and healthy things - washing or good nutrition - are taboo for them. This once again confirms the truth that the loss of knowledge about God the Creator leads to degradation (Romans 1:18-32).

Here is the Good News

Creation Ministries International strives to glorify and honor the Creator God, and to affirm the truth that the Bible describes the true story of the origin of the world and man. Part of this story is the bad news about Adam's violation of God's command. This brought death, suffering and separation from God into the world. These results are known to everyone. All of Adam's descendants are afflicted with sin from the moment of conception (Psalm 50:7) and share in Adam's disobedience (sin). They can no longer be in the presence of the Holy God and are doomed to separation from Him. The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that all “will suffer chastisement, eternal destruction, from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). But there is good news: God did not remain indifferent to our trouble. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16).

Jesus Christ, the Creator, being sinless, took upon Himself the blame for the sins of all mankind and their consequences - death and separation from God. He died on the cross, but on the third day he rose again, having conquered death. And now everyone who sincerely believes in Him, repents of his sins and relies not on himself, but on Christ, can return to God and be in eternal communion with his Creator. “He who believes in Him is not judged, but the unbeliever is already condemned, because he did not believe in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God”(John 3:18). Wonderful is our Savior and marvelous is salvation in Christ our Creator!

Links and notes

1. On the basis of variations in mitochondrial DNA, attempts were made to prove that all modern people are descended from a single foremother (who lived in a small population from about 70 to 800 thousand years ago). Recent discoveries in the field of mitochondrial DNA mutation rates have drastically reduced this period to the time frame specified by the Bible. See Lowe, L., and Scherer, S., 1997. Mitochondrial Eye: the plot thickens. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 12 (11):422-423; Wieland, C., 1998. A shrinking date for Eve. CEN Technical Journal, 12(1): 1-3. creationontheweb.com/eve

Among the variety of features inherent in representatives of different peoples, scientists are looking for features typical of large groups of the Earth's population. One of the first scientific classifications of population was proposed by K. Linnaeus. He identified four main groups of people who are characterized by similarities in skin color, facial features, hair type, and the like. His contemporary Jean-Louis Buffon called them races (arab. races - beginning, origin). Today, scientists define races not only by the similarity of hereditary features of appearance, but also by the origin of a particular group of people from a certain region of the Earth.

How many races are there on our planet?

Disputes around this issue have been going on since the time of C. Linnaeus and J.-L. Buffon. Most scientists in the composition of modern mankind distinguish four large races - Eurasian (Caucasoid), Equatorial (Negroid), Asian-American (Mongoloid), Australoid.

Race origins

Remember: view Homo sapiens originated in Africa, from where about 100 thousand years ago its gradual settlement began in Europe and Asia. People moved to new territories, looked for places suitable for living, and settled in them. Millennia passed, and separate groups of people reached the northeastern border of Asia. In those days, there was no Bering Strait yet, so Asia and America were connected by a land "bridge". Him and came to North America, immigrants from Asia. Over time, moving south, they reached South America.

Settlement continued for tens of thousands of years. Scientists believe that during the migration, racial characteristics were fixed, according to which the inhabitants of different regions of the planet differ. Some of these traits must be adaptive in nature. So, a mop of curly hair among the inhabitants of the hot equatorial zone creates an air gap, protects the vessels of the head from overheating, and the dark pigment in the skin is an adaptation to high solar radiation. Enhanced evaporation of moisture and, accordingly, cooling of the body contributes to a wide nose and large lips.

fair skin Caucasians can also be regarded as adaptation to climate. Vitamin D is synthesized in the body of fair-skinned people under conditions of low solar radiation. The narrow slit of the eyes in representatives of the Asian-American race protects the eyes from sand during steppe storms.

Due to the resettlement of people, isolation and mixing became factors in fixing racial characteristics. In a primitive society, people united in small isolated communities, where the possibilities of marriage unions are limited. Therefore, the predominance of one or another racial trait often depended on random circumstances. In a small closed community, any hereditary trait can disappear if the person who has this trait leaves no descendants. On the other hand, manifestations of a certain trait can become massive, since, due to the limited number of marriages, it is not replaced by other traits. Because of this, for example, the number of dark-haired residents or, conversely, fair-haired ones, may increase.

Reasons for the isolation of human communities

The reason for the isolation of human communities there may be geographical barriers (mountains, rivers, oceans). Remoteness from the main migration routes also leads to isolation. On such a "lost island" people live in isolation, their appearance retains the features of distant ancestors. For example, the Scandinavians "mothballed" physical features that were formed millennia ago: blond hair, tall stature, and the like. For many millennia there was also a mixture of races. People born from marriages between representatives of different races are called mestizos. Thus, the colonization of America resulted in many marriages between Indians (representatives of the Mongoloid race) and Europeans. Mestizos make up about half of the population of modern Mexico. Usually, most of the racial traits in mestizos are less pronounced than in the extreme manifestations of these traits: the skin of Mexican mestizos is lighter than that of the Maya Indians, and darker than that of Europeans.

Four human races are considered (some scientists insist on three): Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid and Australoid. How does division take place? Each race has hereditary characteristics that are unique to it. These features include the color of the skin, eyes and hair, the shape and size of such parts of the face as the eyes, nose, lips. In addition to the external obvious distinguishing features of any race of a person, there are a number of characteristics of creativity, abilities for a particular work activity, and even features of the structure of the human brain.

Speaking of the four large groups, one cannot but say that they are all divided into small sub-races, which are formed from various nationalities and nationalities. No one has been arguing about the species unity of man for a long time, the best proof of this very unity is our life, in which representatives of different races get married and get married, and in these viable children are born.

The origin of races, or rather their formation, begins thirty to forty thousand years ago, when people begin to populate new geographical areas. A person adapted to live in certain conditions, and the development of certain racial characteristics depended on this. identified these features. At the same time, all human races retained common species features that characterize Homo sapiens. Evolutionary development, or rather its level, is the same for representatives of different races. Therefore, all statements about the superiority of any nation over others have no basis. The concepts of "race", "nation", "ethnicity" should not be mixed and confused, since representatives of different races speaking the same language can live on the territory of one state.

Caucasoid race: inhabiting Asia, North Africa. Northern Caucasians are fair-faced, and southerners are dark-skinned. Narrow face, strongly protruding nose, soft hair.

Mongoloid race: the center and eastern part of Asia, Indonesia and the expanses of Siberia. Dark skin with a yellowish tint, straight coarse hair, a wide flat face and a special slit in the eyes.

Negroid race: the majority of the population of Africa. The skin is dark in color, dark brown eyes, black hair - thick, coarse, curly, large lips, and the nose is wide and flat.

Australian race. Some scientists distinguish it as a branch of the Negroid race. India, Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania (ancient black population). Strongly developed superciliary arches, pigmentation of which is weakened. Some Australoids of the west of Australia, the south of India, in their youth are natural blondes, the reason for this is the once-fixed mutation process.

The characteristics of each human race are hereditary. And their development was primarily due to the necessity and usefulness of a particular trait to a representative of a particular race. So, the extensive one warms the cold air faster and easier before it enters the lungs of the Mongoloid. And for a representative of the Negroid race, the dark color of the skin and the presence of thick curly hair, which formed an air gap that reduced the effect of sunlight on the body, were very important.

For many years, the white race was considered the highest, since it was beneficial for Europeans and Americans, conquering the peoples of Asia and Africa. They unleashed wars and seized foreign lands, mercilessly exploited, and sometimes simply destroyed entire nations.

Today in America, for example, they look less and less at racial differences, there is a mixture of races, which sooner or later will necessarily lead to the appearance of a hybrid population.

Anthropologists, on the basis of the main features (skin color, structure of the facial part of the head, the nature of the hairline, body proportions), distinguish large races of people: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid and Australoid.

Races began to form at the end of the Stone Age on the basis of the largest territorial populations. It is possible that there were two main primary centers of race formation: the western (Euro-African) and the eastern (Asiatic-Pacific). Negroids and Caucasians were formed in the first center, and Australoids and Mongoloids were formed in the second. Later, during the development of new lands, mixed racial populations arose. For example, in North and East Africa, as well as in the south of Western Asia, the mixing of Caucasoids with Negroids began very early, in Hindustan - Caucasoids with Australoids, and partly with Mongoloids, in Oceania - Australoids with Mongoloids. Subsequently, after the Europeans discovered America, Australia and Oceania, new vast zones of interracial miscegenation arose. In particular, in America, the descendants of the Indians mixed with European and African settlers.

The history of the development of the modern human population takes place not only in the natural-geographical, but also in the socio-cultural environment. In this regard, the relationship between the two types of intraspecific communities - reproductive (populations) and historical-genetic (races) is changing radically. So, human races are large areal communities of people distinguished by genetic kinship, which outwardly manifests itself in a certain similarity of physical features: skin color and iris, hair shape and color, height, etc.

The largest (by number) large race is Caucasoid - 46.4% of the population (together with transitional and mixed forms). Caucasoids have straight or wavy soft hair in shades from light to dark, they have light or dark skin, a large coloration of the iris (from dark to gray and blue), a very developed tertiary gilding cover (beard in men), insufficient or average protrusion of the jaws , narrow nose, thin or medium thick lips. Among Caucasians, branches are distinguished - southern and northern. The northern branch is characteristic of the Nordic countries; southern - common in southern Europe and North America, Western Asia and North India, it also includes the Caucasoid population of Latin America. Between the southern and northern branches there is a wide band of transitional types, including the population of Central and partly Eastern Europe, Siberia and the Russian Far East, as well as the Caucasoid population of North America and Australia.

The Mongoloid (Asian-American) large race, together with transitional and mixed forms, makes up more than 36% of the world's population. Mongoloids are distinguished by yellow skin, black straight hair, underdeveloped tertiary hairline; characteristic dark eyes with an epicanthus (fold of the upper eyelid), a narrow or medium-wide nose, cheekbones that protrude very much.

There are two branches: Asian and American. The Mongoloids of Asia are divided into two main groups - continental and Pacific. Among the continental Mongoloids, the most common are northern or Siberian Mongols, Buryats, Yakuts, Evenks, etc.), Less common are Eastern Mongoloids, mainly Chinese. The northern groups of the Pacific Mongoloids are represented by northern Tibetans, Koreans, and others. The American branch of the Mongoloids includes the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America - the Indians.

The transitional forms of the Mongoloid race include a population that has significant Australoid features: wavy hair, dark and olive skin from the Incas, a flat face, a wide nose. These are Viet, Lao, Khmers, Malays, Javanese, southern Chinese, Japanese and other peoples of Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Negroid (African) large race (16.6% of the world's population), as well as its transitional and mixed forms, are characterized by dark brown skin, black curly hair, dark eyes, moderately bulging cheekbones, thick lips, wide nose, very developed prognathism. It includes the indigenous population of Africa (south of the Sahara) - blacks, as well as the Negro population of hay, Central America, the Antilles, Brazil. A separate group is made up of low-growing tribes of tropical forests - Negrilli (pygmies), as well as South African Bushmen and Hottentots.

The Australoid (Oceanian) large race (0.3% of the world's population) is represented by the Melanesians, the Papuans of New Guinea and the Aborigines of Australia. Australoids are very close to Negroids and are characterized by dark skin color, wavy hair, significant tertiary hairline on the face and body in men. Among the Papuans and Melanesians of Oceania there are undersized tribes - Negritos, living on the Malay Peninsula and the Andaman Islands; small tribes of the Vedas live in remote areas of India and the countries of Southeast Asia, and the Ainu live on the Japanese islands.

In other racial types (mixed) - about 14 million people, include Polynesians, Micronesians, Hawaiians, Malagasy (mixing of southern Mongoloids with Negroids and southern Caucasoids - Arabs), mestizos (Caucasians with Mongoloids), mulattoes (Europeans with blacks), sambo (Negroes with Indians).

The population of Europe almost entirely belongs to the Caucasoid race (about 17% of the region's population belongs to the northern Caucasoids, 32% - to the south and more than half - in the transitional and Central European forms).

On the territory of the former USSR, the majority of the population (85.4% according to 1987 data) belongs to the Caucasoid race, represented by all its branches. The southwestern groups of Russians belong to the northern branch, and most of the peoples of the Caucasus belong to the southern branch. The indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia and the Far East are the Mongoloids. The transitional forms include the majority of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and other peoples of Eastern Europe, as well as the peoples of the Urals, Western Siberia, Altai and Kazakhstan, living in the contact zone with the Mongoloids.

In Asia, various groups of all four races are common: 29% - Caucasoids (Southwest Asia and North India) Asian Mongoloids - 31% and southern Mongoloids - 25% (South China, Indonesia, Indochina) Japanese type - 4.3%, over 10 million people represent Australoids, on the Arabian Peninsula, part of the population has features of Negroids.

The population of Africa (54%) belongs to the Negroid race, prevails in countries located south of the Sahara. In the north of the continent live Caucasoids (25% of the population of Africa), in the south - live about 5 million Caucasoids and their descendants who migrated in the past from Western Europe. The modern population of Africa is characterized by a large number of transitional forms (Ethiopians, Fulbe - Negroids and Caucasoids, Malagasy - Mongoloids, Negroids, Caucasoids).

In America, the racial composition of the population is very diverse, which is associated with the participation of representatives of three large races in its formation. Aborigines (Mongoloids: Indians, Aleuts, Eskimos) live compactly only in certain areas of the Mexican Highlands, in the Andes, in the deep regions of South America, in the Arctic regions (5.5%). At present, the Caucasoid race is widely represented - 51% (almost 9/10 of the population of the USA and Canada, over 1/4 of the population of Latin America). Mestizos are numerous in America - 23% (almost the entire population of Mexico, Central American countries, Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay and other countries), fewer mulattoes - 13% (African Americans of the USA, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, peoples of the West Indies), there are groups sambo. Negroids (7%) live in Brazil, the USA, make up the main population of Haiti, Jamaica and other countries of the West Indies.

In Australia and New Zealand, representatives of the Caucasoid race predominate (77% of the total population), Melanesians and Papuans make up 16.5%, Polynesians and Micronesians - 4.2%. The mixing of Oceanians with Caucasians, as well as immigrants from Asia, led to the formation of large mestizo groups in Polynesia, Micronesia, the Fiji Islands and New Caledonia.

The number of individual races is growing unevenly: over the past quarter of a century, the number of Negroids has grown 2.3 times, mestizos and mulattos of America - almost 2 times, southern Mongoloids - by 78%, Caucasians - by 48% (northern branch - only 19%, southern - by 72%).

Race- this is a group of people united on the basis of their mutual relationship, common origin and some external hereditary physical characteristics (skin and hair color, head shape, structure of the face as a whole and its parts - nose, lips, etc.). There are three main races of people: Caucasoid (white), Mongoloid (yellow), Negroid (black).

The ancestors of all races lived 90-92 thousand years ago. Starting from that time, people began to settle in territories that differ sharply from each other in terms of natural conditions.

According to scientists, in the process of the formation of modern man in Southeast Asia and neighboring North Africa, which are considered the ancestral home of man, two races arose - southwestern and northeastern. Subsequently, Caucasoids and Negroids descended from the first, and Mongoloids from the second.

The separation of the Caucasoid and Negroid races began about 40 thousand years ago.

Displacement of recessive genes to the outskirts of the population range

The outstanding geneticist N. I. Vavilov in 1927 discovered the law of the exit of individuals with recessive traits beyond the center of origin of new forms of organisms. According to this law, forms with dominant traits dominate in the center of the species distribution area, they are surrounded by heterozygous forms with recessive traits. The marginal part of the range is occupied by homozygous forms with recessive traits.

This law is closely connected with the anthropological observations of N. I. Vavilov. In 1924, the expedition members led by him witnessed an amazing phenomenon in Kafiristan (Nuristan), located in Afghanistan at an altitude of 3500-4000 m. They found that most of the inhabitants of the northern highlands had blue eyes. According to the hypothesis prevailing at that time, northern races were widespread here from ancient times and these places were considered a center of culture. N. I. Vavilov noted the impossibility of confirming this hypothesis with the help of historical, ethnographic and linguistic evidence. In his opinion, the blue eyes of the Nuristanis are a clear manifestation of the law of the exit of the owners of recessive genes to the outskirts of the range. Later this law was convincingly confirmed. N. Cheboksarov on the example of the population of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The origin of the signs of the Caucasian race is explained by migration and isolation.

All mankind can be divided into three large groups, or races: white (Caucasian), yellow (Mongoloid), black (Negroid). Representatives of each race have their own distinctive, inherited features of the body structure, hair shape, skin color, eye shape, skull shape, etc.

Representatives of the white race have light skin, protruding noses, people of the yellow race have a cheeky face, a special shape of the eyelid, and yellow skin. Blacks, who belong to the Negroid race, have dark skin, wide noses, and curly hair.

Why are there such differences in the appearance of representatives of different races, and why do each race have certain characteristics? Scientists answer this as follows: the human races were formed as a result of adaptation to different conditions of the geographical environment, and these conditions left their imprints on representatives of various races.

Negroid race (black)

Representatives of the Negroid race are distinguished by black or dark brown skin, black curly hair, a flattened wide nose and thick lips (Fig. 82).

Where blacks live, there is an abundance of sun, it's hot - people's skin is more than adequately exposed to sunlight. And overexposure is harmful. And so the body of people in hot countries for thousands of years has adapted to an excess of sun: a pigment has been developed in the skin that retains part of the sun's rays and, therefore, saves the skin from burns. Dark skin coloration is inherited. Hard curly hair, which forms an air cushion on the head, reliably protects a person from overheating.

Caucasian race (white)

Caucasians are characterized by fair skin, soft straight hair, a thick mustache and beard, a narrow nose and thin lips.

Representatives of the white race live in the northern regions, where the sun is a rare visitor, and they really need the sun's rays. In their skin, pigment is also produced, but at the height of summer, when the body, thanks to the sun's rays, is replenished with the right amount of vitamin D. At this time, representatives of the white race become swarthy.

Mongoloid race (yellow)

People belonging to the Mongoloid race have dark or lighter skin, straight coarse hair, sparse or undeveloped mustaches and beards, prominent cheekbones, lips and nose of medium thickness, almond-shaped eyes.

Where the representatives of the yellow race live, winds are frequent, even storms with dust and sand. And the locals endure such windy weather quite easily. Over the centuries, they have adapted to strong winds. Mongoloids have narrow eyes, as if on purpose, so that sand and dust get into them less, so that the wind does not irritate them, and they do not water. This sign is also inherited and is found in people of the Mongoloid race and in other geographical conditions. material from the site

Among people there are those who believe that people with white skin belong to the higher races, and those with yellow and black skin belong to the lower races. In their opinion, people with yellow and black skin are incapable of mental work and should only do physical work. These harmful ideas are still guided by racists in a number of third world countries. There, the work of blacks is paid lower than whites, blacks are subjected to humiliation and insults. In civilized countries, all peoples have the same rights.

Studies by N. N. Miklukho-Maclay on the equality of races

The Russian scientist Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay, in order to prove the complete inconsistency of the theory of the existence of "lower" races incapable of mental development, settled in 1871 on the island of New Guinea, where representatives of the black race lived - the Papuans. For fifteen months he lived among the island-chans, became close to them, studied them