Your skeleton has a race and that's okay

'Do skeletons have a race?' From the historical context of Blumenbach's taxonomy of the five human races, we will shed light on the complexities of determining race through cranial categories.

Sources:
Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte [Handbook of Natural History]. Göttingen: Johann Christian Dieterich, 1779

The documentary- series "Finding Lola" is done, but is the journey over?

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Come join me on a new docu-series that explores identity, racial tensions in the South during the 20th century, and the unique experiences of those who historically called Louisiana home.
My name is Danielle Romero, and all my life, I have romanticized Louisiana.
Growing up in New York, it represented a place where I could step back the sepia-toned life of my great grandmother, Lola Perot, who died before I was born.
Now, it was time to go back to Louisiana--although I had no idea what the truth would be or what questions to ask---who was Lola really? Who were we?

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[nytn]

What do you think about the "race" of skulls? Let me know!

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[erikamantell]

Yes. This is what i learned in Anthropology. Except the classification were Negroid(Sub-saharan), Mongoloid(East Asian, Amerindian, Pacific Islander), Caucasoid( West Asian, N. African, Europe) and Australoid. And before D.N.A. the study of skull shape was very effective at identify race from human remains.

[bambooshot]

I agree 100% there's a place for anthropology and studies of human skull variances. But you said it best; it's the hierarchical structures designed by the few that is the issue. Where differences are used to classify intelligence, desirable features, etc. Great video!

[LloydYarbrough-eiur]

To look at me I'm about as white as it gets, but my great, great, great, great grandma was black and a slave. My great, great, great grandfather was an Irish slave in New York. My family heritage can be dated to 1690 in this country. I'm so thankful for you and your work! I'm sick and tired of the"race" thing. Thank you again.

[christopherreed]

Very fascinating Danielle.
Wherever the research leads us.
Great job!!!!
I like your style of speaking and but powerful.
Have a great weekend.

[peytonweb]

Being someone interested in anthropology, archaeology, & also being a dental assistant who sees many variations of teeth & bone/facial structure daily, I have always found this subject fascinating! You are so right about it being ok to group, but NOT ok to assign a hierarchy to those groups, for they are ALL beautiful & unique. That's the beauty of mankind ~ VARIETY! Years ago, a few dental models got mixed up in the back laboratory at work. I was able to determine who's model was who's, simply by looking at the size of the dental arch, teeth size, & teeth shape. Asian shovel-shaped incisors saved the day, lol. Native Americans also have uniquely shaped incisors, & other variations that interest me, because I have them too. It's so cool to me...😄🤩😍💀👀

[lynneholland]

Very interesting about the skull differences of the past. And I agree with you when you say that 2 groups are not enough to define human beings. Possibly skulls in the near future will no longer be classified into one of those 3 groups mentioned, as our genealogy becomes more mixed. Interesting subject, keep up the good work.

[thomasspicer]

We are so diverse as a human race I have always been interested in anthropology it’s so interesting the forearms are something I notice on those of Subsaharan ancestry the forearms are much larger

[SheksgemWhepdo]

So which one is Turkish, Arabian, Iranian, Afghan, Pakistani, Indian?

[JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

Thank you for touching on the skull structure. ❤

These classifications have proven helpful during the identification of skeletal remains and I have always found that to be amazing. 💡

[stacyfrederick]

This video makes me think of the stupid forced classifications I had to suffer in grade school. There were only three races to be considered. All peoples somehow had to be fitted into one of three races come hell or high water. When skin tone didn't work; it was eye color next. Then facial features, particularly the nose and mouth. These academics never got around to the forehead, or eye sockets, eyebrow ridges, cheekbones, upper jaw or lower jaw. Then as a last resort it was not hair coloring; but hair texture that was the deciding factor. So people from the middle east were considered a quote en quote "dark branch" of the Caucasian race. Same goes for people from the Indian subcontinent. Australian aborigines were considered "white". Native Americans were considered Mongoloid or Asian. South Pacific islanders were in limbo. You couldn't get a teacher or scientist to commit to definitive answer. To make matters worse; there is such diversity between Polynesians, Micronesia, Macronesia, and Melanesia. And people of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia all seem to have more in common with the people of Southeast Asia and the Mongoloids. Then the Moguls of India are Indo Iranian with Mongols mixing with Persians and then returning to India. Many areas in Central Asia have such a complex admixture they fall under the "what the hell are you?" category. Native Americans are supposed to be the oldest modern race that there is which is about 20, 000 years. I have heard that they are believed to be the ancestors of most if not all Europeans. The Native Americans stayed the same. But some of them started to diverge and become white men and others turned into far east Asians. Looking at the diverse features; it is hard to say. Not sure when the Mongoloid race emerged or the Negroid race; but the Caucasian race is supposed to be the youngest. There are some parallels between Native Americans, Northern far East Asians and the Ainu of Japan which believe or not are considered Caucasian even though they look like Australian Aborigines and were very negroid in appearance. Then there is a far east Asian admixture to the Saami people of Norway, Sweden too. Even more pronounced in Finland. Then there is the intermingling of the Scandinavian with the Saami and the Scandinavians with the insular Celtic peoples as apposed to continental Celts. Head spinning by now? Mine is. Don't forget the Kalahari bushmen, the Nilolote, and other odd ball groups. Not all Africans are Bantu. Then Europe has the Basques with their high percentage of Rh negative blood.

[Coolguyallthetimek]

I always say this, but I’m loving these topics and channel!

[clementmckenzie]

There is anthropological race, climate adaptive race, social race, and genetic race they mostly overlap. But not always. There are also other skeletal differences between the groups. Humans are ecosystem adaptive and we do so in a relatively short period of time compared to other mammals. This ability to quickly physically adapt has been the key to our success as a species.

[leaadams-ashby]

I had a hard time not judging this one. First, because although Blumenbach did use the available "science" for his studies and the theories that resulted from them, it's a short walk from his having an "affinity" for a Caucasoid skull to eugenics and the Northern Europeans who invented it and sold it to anyone who'd buy it. In a word: superiority, specifically of the "race" that refers to itself as Caucasian, which is just another word for "white." While I share your disdain for the simplistic color-based terms "black" and "white, " Johann Blumenbach was largely a product of his time and place, as we all are, and his body of work is steeped in 18th century Germanic cultural biases and his very limited exposure to people of color as actual human beings. Skeletons can't speak for themselves. If I learned anything from my undergraduate years as an anthropology major, it was to be leery of accepting physical anthropology as anything other than race-ism. Great methods, especially participant-observer studies when they're fact-checked with the people being "studied". Try not to limit yourself to European sources, so your inquiries and interpretations will continue to be broad and unrestrained by the partisan voices we've been hearing forever. The largest ethnic group in the world (nearly 20 percent of our global population) is the Han people in China. I'd love to hear what they make of Blumenbach's racial typology. Translated from Mandarin instead of German, of course. Keep up the good work.

[Tyjohnston]

In the short time that I've viewed your video's, I find the content both informative and entertaining. Very thought provoking.

[moonbasket]

Thank you for sharing your research. Blumenbach was actually part of the movement of physiognomy which was direct inspiration for Nazis. I agree the classification is morally neutral, but the classifications for race we use today are still based on these classifications created by Blumenbach and he created them to further scientific racism. Abby Cox here on YouTube, recently posted a video focused on the TikTok trend of "face reading" but it goes more into the connections between Blumenbach's work and racism and Nazism. It's adjacent to the research you're doing and I think would provide interesting context without making you look at more gross skulls.

[C.O._Jones]

I had wondered about this sort of thing, if there actually are typical, measurable skeletal differences between different groups of humans, and how broad the groupings are (i.e., traits varying by continent of origin, “race”, ethnicity, clan, etc.). I agree that such groupings are useful, and that applying any sort of hierarchy by grouping is wrong, and it is quite frankly nonsensical. From a scientific standpoint, diversity strengthens a species. We should be thrilled there are so many different people and traits, because that is what gives humanity its robustness as a species. Plus it’s really interesting to learn about what makes us all different, yet still all the same.

[KultureShock]

This is a big deal with the Luzia Skull because people argue about whether she was native american, aboriginal or african because of the skull. When they do dna it shows native american so idk

[TonyMoze]

I’m curious if you could do a video on Cubans/Cuban Americans.

I noticed how they were integrated with the white culture back in the 1940s…

Example:
Cubans were able to serve in the white US Army…..unlike blacks who had to be put in their own separate Army.

Typically, the Cubans who were able to make it over to the USA looked much like Italians. Think of Ricky from “I Love Lucy” ❤

🇨🇺

[janetdesmith]

Ce again a most impressive presentation.