On Sun, 4 May 2003 BrownBingb at aol.com wrote:
> > CB: Yes, but, but for the scientific refutations, how would we know that
> > race is an invalid biological concept ?
>
There are many bases for the certainty of claims; science is only one of those bases, even in an industrialized society like the U.S. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that supports the claim that angels exist, but about 75% of adults in our society are certain they exist! Tradition, family, mass media, peer pressure all play significant roles in the social production of certainties like (for many Americans) race, homosexuality, and angels (to cite a strange trilogy).
All I'm saying is this: there are many ways to skin the ideological cat. Science is one possible tool. But as the example of angels demonstrates, people can believe anything with certainty, as long as the idea is represented as an obvious certainty in a network of ongoing social relations. --And so with racial categories or the lack thereof.
Miles