Visions Of Difference Portfolio Questions. Unesco “statements On Race”

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Visions of Difference Portfolio Questions
4.1. The UNESCO “Statements on Race” One (1950) and Four (1967)
What are the significant differences between the First UNESCO “Statement on Race” (1950) and the Fourth “Statement” (1967)?
The first UNESCO Statement on Race 1950 highlights that mankind is one and differences merely reflect evolutionary factors as scientists had affirmed that all human beings are Homo sapiens. UNESCO Fourth Statement 1967 affirms that all people are equal deserving equal rights and dignity, but racism was a problem that threatened this (UNESCO 270).
The first statement was mostly the work of sociologists rather than scientists even as an anthropologist was involved the statement was not supported by authorities on the biological problems of race. By seeking to downplay the influence of biology on race and relying on social scientists, framing the issue of race even as mental characteristics and intelligence tests showed there were differences. The fourth statement also denies any biological origin to the race and racism / linked to slavery, colonialism and anti-Semitism (UNESCO 270).
Statement 1 highlights that people “exhibit certain physical differences as a result of their somewhat different biological histories” (UNESCO 30). There is focus on variability based on genetics or physical characteristics, but groups may misinterpret these variabilities, and its framers prefer using ethnic groups to the term race (Brattain 1390). The Fourth Statement emphasizes that there is no scientific basis for the racist doctrines where classification based on races is somewhat arbitrary, and there are any generalizations, and cultural history can also explain differences between groups (UNESCO 270). “The human problems arising from so-called "race" relations are social in origin rather than biological” (UNESCO 270).
The First Statement highlights the need to support human equality and even as there are differences between the ethnic groups, this should not be used to justify racial inequality. Both individual and group differences should be judged based on physical and physiological differences when classifying race since scientific evidence suggests that the range of mental capacities in different people is the same across ethnic, biological differences cannot be used to justify racial inequality (UNESCO 33).
The Fourth Statement suggest that anti-colonial struggles are likely to play an important role in eliminating racism, and ethnic minorities allowed to assimilate without losing their cultural identities. There was ...