There’s a marginal group in America, and they shouldn’t be racialized.
I’m speaking of skeletons.
Names will not hurt you, even though sticks and stones can break bones. However, what if bones are all you’ve got?
Perhaps supplemental sensitivity’s in order.
Thus, Elizabeth A. DiGangi and Jonathan D. Bethard called each other in July 2013.
They asked experts via the Journal of Forensic Sciences to stop determining the race of the skeletal remains.
They ate sinister systems.
Historiographers in the 21st century will study the year 2020. They will also examine how a series of seismic earthquakes impacted American daily life. This event served to expose the inequalities and systemic problems that have plagued the country for hundreds of years. Between the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and the homicides of numerous Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement officials, we have all been reminded about the fragility of life, and the failures of our society to live up to the ideals enshrined in the foundational documents which established the United States…
Of course, the missive was fired inmidst of a commotion over George Floyd.
It was time to tackle, according to DiGangi and Bethard.
Tackling these failures seems overwhelming at times… In writing this letter, we direct our comments to the forensic anthropology community in the United States in hopes of sparking a discussion about the long-standing practice of ancestry estimation and changes that are frankly long overdue.
These two theories claim that the biological race of man is a myth.
Due to white supremacy, the practice of racially separating people can be particularly troublesome.
Where forensics and crime are concerned, if bones aren’t considered Caucasian, investigating cops might not care:
[A]Bundant data show that unidentified cases are not treated equal. Take for example the well-known “missing White women syndrome.” Numerous reasons may prevent families from providing missing persons reports, and it is understood that bias exists in how such cases are investigated and ultimately resolved. … [U]In certain cases, nidentified relatives may have been subject to insufficient investigative efforts.
Therefore, those in the field must “undertake a critical reflection of physical anthropology’s history to include its past contribution to racist systems and structures persisting today which have led to the premature deaths of countless people of color.”
In January, the duo waxed further with “Uncloaking a Lost Cause: Decolonizing ancestry estimation in the United States.”
[F]Orensic Anthropologists haven’t fully considered the racism of America’s criminal justice system with respect to treatment of Black and Indigenous People of Color. We also have not considered how ancestry estimation could hinder identification efforts due to racial prejudices.
The writers hazed the “harm” of a confederate monument and commended Critical Race Theory.
They even delivered sad news.
Whiteness is the best covering for anthropology.
Science and social justice are becoming more common.
The following cases are examples:
Collegiate Eyes: Teaching Science and Mathematics Through the Prism of Colonialism, White Supremacy
Science Journal Blasts Star Wars for Othering, ‘Orientalism’ and White Saviorism
Harvard Professor of Evolutionary Biology Insists There Are Two Sexes, Colleague Is ‘Appalled’
After suggesting there were two types of men, Professor is kicked out the Neuroscience Group
Bethard, DiGangi took to the bat for BIPOC
[W]We believe that by encouraging the biological race concept of law enforcement (whether it is our intent to or not), we are helping to create a system of justice thatdisproportionately damages Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). BIPOC is the one that we do a disservice by continuing to affirm for law enforcement and public that the biological species exists.
So let’s wipe out white privilege:
While denial can be used to defend the narrative of white superiority and privilege, as well as its subsequent racism, it is also used to disown any responsibility for traumas or inequalities.
As noted by The College Fix, not everyone’s on the enlightened authors’ side.
Science magazine published this archaeology article.
When an unidentified body arrives in the laboratory of Allysha Winburn, a forensic anthropologist at the University of West Florida, it’s her job to study the bones to help figure out who the person was when they were alive — to give the biological remains a social identity. … But Winburn, who is white, is now questioning whether she should continue to do so. … Over the past year, debate about ancestry estimation has exploded in U.S. forensic anthropology, with a flurry of papers examining its accuracy, interrogating its methods, and questioning its assumptions.
Even so:
No empirical data indicate that forensic anthropological ancestry estimates promote racially biased investigative outcomes.”
San Jose State anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss told TCF, “If forensic anthropologists abandon determining race, then they are going to be doing victims and their families a big disservice and are basically engaging in a dereliction of their duty.”
As for Bethard and DiGangi’s beliefs, Elizabeth surmises something’s strange:
“I think it’s this weird phenomena; they want to place emphasis on the social construction of race (and racism), but want to deny the biological concept of race. Nevertheless, they would never support making the argument that one can self-determine race.”
She followed with, “I suspect that the next problem that will arise in forensics is sex identification…”
I’d say that’s on its way.
After all, sex — like race — may be a social construct.
Wednesday, the State Department announced that they have issued their first 3-gender passports for Americans who are not gender-conforming, non-binary or intersex. https://t.co/hzFVnBrlI1
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) October 27, 2021
Anthropologists aren’t alone in their activism; geologists are digging for justice, too.
In their instance, the living are involved.
Science Journal Decries Racism in Geology, Claims Black People Are Too Scared to Hold Hammershttps://t.co/TieQtKBNKE
— Alex Parker (@alexparker1984) July 14, 2021
Here’s to a future where hammers lose their stronghold and mummies are no longer marginalized.
There’s no excuse for bigotry toward bones.
-ALEX
You can find more of my content here:
‘Ladies and Gentlemen,’ an Ivy League University Says You’re Canceled
Nearly 50 ‘Racial Healing’ Centers Hit American College Campuses
Harvard Hosts a Shakespearean Extravaganza — but Only for Black People
All my RedState works Click here
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