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AAPA Statement on Race and Racism
Open accessAbstract
Race does not provide an accurate representation of human biological variation. It was never accurate in the past, and it remains inaccurate when referencing contemporary human populations. Humans are not divided biologically into distinct continental types or racial genetic clusters. Instead, the Western concept of race must be understood as a classification system that emerged from, and in support of, European colonialism, oppression, and discrimination. It thus does not have its roots in biological reality, but in policies of discrimination. Because of that, over the last five centuries, race has become a social reality that structures societies and how we experience the world. In this regard, race is real, as is racism, and both have real biological consequences. Humans share the vast majority (99.9%) of our DNA in common. Individuals nevertheless exhibit substantial genetic and phenotypic variability. Genome/environment interactions, local and regional biological changes through time, and genetic exchange among populations have produced the biological diversity we see in humans today. Notably, variants are not distributed across our species in a manner that maps clearly onto socially-recognized racial groups. This is true even for aspects of human variation that we frequently emphasize in discussions of race, such as facial features, skin color and hair type. No group of people is, or ever has been, biologically homogeneous or "pure." Furthermore, human populations are not — and never have been — biologically discrete, truly isolated, or fixed. While race does not accurately represent the patterns of human biological diversity, an abundance of scientific research demonstrates that racism, prejudice against someone because of their race and a belief in the inherent superiority and inferiority of different racial groups, affects our biology, health, and well-being. This means that race, while not a scientifically accurate biological concept, can have important biological consequences because of the effects of racism. The belief in races as a natural aspect of human biology and the institutional and structural inequities (racism) that have emerged in tandem with such beliefs in European colonial contexts are among the most damaging elements in human societies. The concept of race has developed hand-in-hand with racist ideologies over the last five centuries, and biological anthropology has played an important role in the creation and perpetuation of both the race concept and racist ideologies. Racist political doctrines should not receive support from scientific endeavors, but in practice racism has been co-constructed with inaccurate depictions of human variation provided by scientists. Over our history, the AAPA, and many of its members, have been complicit in producing and reifying racist ideologies via the misuse, falsification, or biased production of scientific information. We acknowledge this history and stress that we should not paper over it even as we seek to end these practices and prevent the reemergence of misconceptions about race in the future. While science is often represented as objective, apolitical, and unbiased, many ostensibly biological concepts of race have cultural stereotypes, biases, and ethnocentric views embedded within them. We acknowledge that outdated and inaccurate ideas about race, and racism, still inform scientific research today, and are sometimes embedded in what otherwise appears to be "modern," technologically-advanced science. We stand against such practices. As scientists, we strive to eliminate the influences of bias, racial profiling, and other erroneous ways of thinking about human variation from our study designs, interpretations of scientific data, and reporting of research results. This is not simply due to concerns about how non-scientists use scientific research; it is also about how scientists themselves conceive, implement, analyze, and present their research. We offer this statement as a baseline for what we know about race and racism in order to help us do better science and better convey what we know about human biological variation to broader audiences. Racial categories do not provide an accurate picture of human biological variation. Variation exists within and among populations across the planet, and groups of individuals can be differentiated by patterns of similarity and difference, but these patterns do not align with socially-defined racial groups (such as whites and blacks) or continentally-defined geographic clusters (such as Africans, Asians, and Europeans). What has been characterized as "race" does not constitute discrete biological groups or evolutionarily independent lineages. Furthermore, while physical traits like skin color and hair texture are often emphasized in racial classification, and assumptions are often made about the pattern of genetic diversity relative to continental geography, neither follows racial lines. The distributi
Overview
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Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
The American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) issues a formal statement arguing that race is not an accurate biological representation of human variation but is a social reality with real biological consequences via racism. It calls on biological anthropologists to acknowledge the discipline's complicity in racist ideologies and to eliminate bias from research.
Key findings
- Humans share the vast majority (99.9%) of their DNA, and genetic and phenotypic variation does not map onto socially recognized racial groups or continental clusters; most genetic variants vary clinally across geographic space.
- There is more genetic diversity in African and African diasporic populations than in others, and variants found outside Africa are largely a subset of those found within it; diversity generally decreases with distance from Africa.
- Skin color, a trait traditionally tied to racial categories, is a product of long-term evolution involving more than 37 genetic loci, local environmental factors, migrations, and gene flow, and shows a clinal distribution that cannot be separated into discrete categories.
- Racism (interpersonal and structural) demonstrably affects biology, health, and well-being, so race—though not a scientifically accurate biological concept—can have important biological consequences.
Methods
- This is a consensus/position statement written by an AAPA subcommittee tasked with revising the previous 1996 AAPA statement on the Biological Aspects of Race (Am J Phys Anthropol, vol. 101, pp. 569–570).
- It synthesizes existing evidence on genomic variation, phenotypic variation, and human evolutionary history rather than presenting new data or analyses.
- No formal study design, sample, or statistical analysis is reported.
Limitations
- The paper states no formal limitations; it is a normative statement rather than an empirical study.
- Evident from the text: it presents no new data or systematic review methodology, and its claims rest on cited bodies of prior research rather than original analysis.
- The text notes that understanding of the genetics underlying most polygenic traits is "incomplete," and that genetic ancestry tests oversimplify and misrepresent human genetic variation.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
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Claims the paper makes
44 Own interpretation · 8 No basis given
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Furthermore, in addition to being correlated with environmental factors and geography, human phenotypic variation can be distributed within and across groups according to sex, age and even various local-level environments such as socioeconomic class or caste.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Individuals nevertheless exhibit substantial genetic and phenotypic variability.”
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
“Individuals nevertheless exhibit substantial genetic and phenotypic variability, including individuals in the same community.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Because of that, over the last five centuries, race has become a social reality that structures societies and how we experience the world.”
- Also stated in: § 2.2 | What race is and what it is not · plain
“While human racial groups are not biological categories, “race” as a social realityas a way of structuring societies and experiencing the worldis very real.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: unclear — It is unclear whether it could be checked against evidence.
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- Also stated in: § 2.2 | What race is and what it is not · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, diversity generally decreases in populations located further from Africa.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Notably, racial categories have changed over time, reflecting the ways that societies alter their social, political and historical make-ups, access to resources, and practices of oppression.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.2 | What race is and what it is not
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Genetic ancestry tests also tend to equate present-day peoples and contemporary patterns of genetic variation with those that existed in the past, even though they are not identical.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.2 | What race is and what it is not
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Environment plays an important role in structuring human phenotypic variation.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Physical, or phenotypic, variation in our species reflects interactions between an individual's genome and their environment.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“No group of people is, or ever has been, biologically homogeneous or “pure.””
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
“No group of people is, or ever has been, biologically homogeneous or “pure.””
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“While race does not accurately represent the patterns of human biological diversity, an abundance of scientific research demonstrates that racism, prejudice against someone because of their race and a belief in the inherent superiority and inferiority of different racial groups, affects our biology, health, and well-being.”
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · boosted
“A substantial body of research demonstrates the many ways that racism can affect how our bodies, immune systems, and even our cognitive processes react and develop.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · boosted
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The concept of race has developed hand-in-hand with racist ideologies over the last five centuries, and biological anthropology has played an important role in the creation and perpetuation of both the race concept and racist ideologies.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.1 | Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Most genetic variants vary clinally, changing gradually across geographic space regardless of racial boundaries.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
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- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Genome/ environment interactions and gene flow across our species produce the plethora of phenotypes we see in humans today, including traits such as skull morphology (head form, nose form, dental traits) and aspects of body form.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Like human genetic variation, phenotypic variation in our species does not follow racial lines.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Notably, variants are not distributed across our species in a manner that maps clearly onto socially-recognized racial groups.This is true even for aspects of human variation that we frequently emphasize in discussions of race, such as facial features, skin color and hair type.”
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
“Socially-defined racial categories do not map precisely onto genetic patterns in our species: genetic variability within and among human groups does not follow racial lines.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
- It may state two separate claims as one. 30
- Probably not a substantial claim. 13
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This means that race, while not a scientifically accurate biological concept, can have important biological consequences because of the effects of racism.”
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
“This means that “race,” while not a scientifically accurate biological concept, can have important biological consequences because of the effects of racism.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Our genus (Homo) evolved between 2.5 and 3 million years ago in Africa, and migrated around and out of Africa by ~1.8 million years ago.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In this regard, race is real, as is racism, and both have real biological consequences.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We acknowledge that outdated and inaccurate ideas about race, and racism, still inform scientific research today, and are sometimes embedded in what otherwise appears to be “modern,” technologically-advanced science.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.1 | Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Early Homo consisted of a number of different forms (possibly species), some of which overlapped in time and space, but all of which were clearly human (and not ape-like), with tool cultures and adaptations for highly proficient bipedal locomotion.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It does, however, reflect the legacy of racist ideologies, as well as the sociopolitical considerations, cultural identities, and social experiences prevalent in the eras during and since the start of European settler colonialism.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: unclear — It is unclear whether it could be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Similar phenotypes have arisen in both closely and distantly related groups adapting to similar environments, including genetic variants for light skin pigmentation which have, for example, evolved both within and outside the continent of Africa.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Race constitutes an arbitrary and artificial division of continuous variation, and thus does not provide an accurate representation of human phenotypic variation or population similarities and differences.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Humans share the vast majority (99.9%) of our DNA in common.”
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
“Humans share the vast majority (99.9%) of our DNA.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Genetic and morphological evidence suggest that gene flow occurred repeatedly among diverse populations in the Late Pleistocene; many of these lineages provided elements to our genetic make-up that were crucial to our success as a diverse, adaptable species.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
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- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The groupings of people that exist in our species are socially-defined, dynamic, and continually evolvingamalgamations of socially-and biologically-interacting individuals with constantly-shifting boundaries, reflecting the myriad ways that individuals, families, and other clusters of people create ties, move, trade, mate, reproduce, and shift their social identities and affiliations through time.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
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Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Variation exists within and among populations across the planet, and groups of individuals can be differentiated by patterns of similarity and difference, but these patterns do not align with sociallydefined racial groups (such as whites and blacks) or continentally-defined geographic clusters (such as Africans, Asians, and Europeans).”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.2 | What race is and what it is not
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For example, skin color, a trait traditionally associated with racial categories, is a product of long-term evolution involving more than 37 genetic loci, local environmental factors, migrations and gene flow among populations.As such, skin color shows a clinal distribution that cannot be separated into disparate categories.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Over human evolutionary history, genetic and phenotypic variation shows gradual and continuous distributions over geography (clines), shaped by adaptations to new environments that arose as a result of migration and gene flow.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Humans are not divided biologically into distinct continental types or racial genetic clusters.”
- Also stated in: § 2.2 | What race is and what it is not · plain
“What has been characterized as “race” does not constitute discrete biological groups or evolutionarily independent lineages.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 2.2 | What race is and what it is not · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We also see more genetic diversity in African and African diasporic populations than in other populations, and the genetic variants found outside Africa are largely a subset of those found within it.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Furthermore, human populations are notand never have beenbiologically discrete, truly isolated, or fixed.”
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
“Furthermore, human populations are notand never have beenbiologically discrete, isolated, or static.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Furthermore, while physical traits like skin color and hair texture are often emphasized in racial classification, and assumptions are often made about the pattern of genetic diversity relative to continental geography, neither follows racial lines.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.2 | What race is and what it is not
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In this regard, ancestry tests often oversimplify and misrepresent the history and pattern of human genetic variation, and do so in ways that suggest more congruence between genetic patterns and culturally-defined categories than really exists.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.2 | What race is and what it is not
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Evidence suggests that early species such as Homo erectus, as proficient hunter gatherers, were functionally hairless, and presumably exhibited biological variation, including skin color variation, consistent with variation seen across the circumequatorial world today.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Over our history, the AAPA, and many of its members, have been complicit in producing and reifying racist ideologies via the misuse, falsification, or biased production of scientific information.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.1 | Introduction
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Classifying human beings into different races has never been wholly innocent, unbiased, or apolitical; racial classification has long served to justify exploitation, oppression, discrimination, and structural racism.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.2 | What race is and what it is not
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: unclear — It is unclear whether it could be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Most traits are also polygenic (influenced by multiple genes, or loci), and our understanding of the genetics underlying them is incomplete.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Race does not capture these histories or the patterns of human biological variation that have emerged as a result.Nor does it provide a clear picture of genetic ancestry.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Our species, Homo sapiens, arose through a complex process of migration, interaction, and gene exchange over the last few hundred thousand years or more.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Instead, the Western concept of race must be understood as a classification system that emerged from, and in support of, European colonialism, oppression, and discrimination.It thus does not have its roots in biological reality, but in policies of discrimination.”
- Also stated in: § 2.1 | Introduction · plain
“The concept of race has developed hand-in-hand with racist ideologies over the last five centuries, and biological anthropology has played an important role in the creation and perpetuation of both the race concept and racist ideologies.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 2.1 | Introduction · plain
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Genetic ancestry tests can identify clusters of individuals based on patterns of genetic similarity and difference, but the particular clusters we infer depend on the individuals included in the analysis.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.2 | What race is and what it is not
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A substantial body of research demonstrates the many ways that racism can affect how our bodies, immune systems, and even our cognitive processes react and develop.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As one example, environmentally-specific ultraviolet radiation levels have played an essential role in driving the evolution of variation in human skin color.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“While science is often represented as objective, apolitical, and unbiased, many ostensibly biological concepts of race have cultural stereotypes, biases, and ethnocentric views embedded within them.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.1 | Introduction
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We are all, in essence, hybrids, with humanity emerging from many tangled lineages -lineages that cannot be separated into discrete units with clear reproductive barriers.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Most phenotypic variation is continuous, and therefore understood in terms of the frequencies and distributions of traits.Adaptation, population history, and neutral evolutionary forces have all shaped the frequencies and distribution of the variation we observe today and in the past.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Because the environment generally changes gradually as latitude/ longitude changes, most phenotypic variation in humans is clinally distributed across geographic space.As a result, human phenotypes vary in frequency across a range of populations, and are not simply present or absent by population or continent.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.2 | b) Physical variation
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Race does not provide an accurate representation of human biological variation.It was never accurate in the past, and it remains inaccurate when referencing contemporary human populations.”
- Also stated in: § 2.2 | What race is and what it is not · plain
“Racial categories do not provide an accurate picture of human biological variation.”
- Also stated in: § 2.2 | What race is and what it is not · boosted
“The distribution of biological variation in our species demonstrates that our socially-recognized races are not biological categories.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 1 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § 2.2 | What race is and what it is not · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Natural selection and adaptation to local environments have influenced populations as well.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Both the genomic and phenotypic variation that exists in our species reflects the fact that all humans living today belong to a single species, Homo sapiens, and share common descent.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.3.3 | c) The influence of human evolutionary history
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Because the human lineage first emerged on the continent of Africa, longer population histories there allowed more genetic variation to accumulate in Africa, and repeated reductions in diversity occurred outside Africa as people dispersed and new populations were founded.”
§ AAPA Statement on Race and Racism > 2.4 | The dilemma of race and racism
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
Citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Ten simple rules for building an antiracist lab
Chaudhary, V. B., & Berhe, A. A. (2020) · PLoS Computational Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008210 · Cited by 157
Don't blame the BAME : Ethnic and structural inequalities in susceptibilities to COVID ‐19
Bentley, G. R. (2020) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.23478 · Cited by 76
Clinical, regional, and genetic characteristics of Covid-19 patients from UK Biobank
Kolin, D. A., Kulm, S., Christos, P. J., & Elemento, O. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241264 · Cited by 80
Chasing Ghosts: Race, Racism, and the Future of Microbiome Research
Wolfe, T. J. D., Arefin, M. R., Benezra, A., & Rebolleda‐Gómez, M. (2021) · mSystems · doi:10.1128/msystems.00604-21 · Cited by 67
Carlson, J., & Harris, K. (2020) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000860 · Cited by 61
Metadata
- Authors
- Fuentes, A., Ackermann, R. R., Athreya, S., Bolnick, D., Lasisi, T., Lee, S., McLean, S., & Nelson, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- Texas A&M University (US)
- University of Connecticut (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Santa Clara University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fuentes, Agustín
- ORCID
- Venue
- American Journal of Physical Anthropology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-06-14
- Volume
- 169
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 400-402
- ISSN
- 0002-9483 (ISSN-L)
- 1096-8644
- OpenAlex
- W2951598669
- Cited by
- 190
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 12.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Physical Anthropology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Race, Genetics, and Society
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Medical History and Research
- Keywords
- race, racism, biological variation, human genetic variation, social construction of race, European colonialism, racism and health, physical anthropology, scientific racism, institutional racism, skin color, hair type, facial features, scientific integrity, history of anthropology, structural inequality, epigenetics
- MeSH terms
- Biological Variation, Population, Anthropology, Physical, Biological Evolution, Humans, Genetic Variation, Racial Groups, Racism
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-29, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-29 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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