Race is purely a social construct

Do not be deceived by my opponent's argumentative footwork. It is nothing more than a half-baked sham. My opponent claims that the argument for race not being a social construct is not only incredibly sound, but so sound in fact that it is "self-evident". This is nothing more than a con. If it were so self-evident, there would be no point of contention, now would there? My opponent cannot justify their position by claiming such nonsense; it is meaningless frivolity.On to the topic at hand. Now my opponent claims there are differences amongst human beings, and that these differences are biological evidence of differing "races". While it is true that some human beings may have lighter or darker skin, slightly differing skeletal structure, and so on, let us take a moment to actually grasp what it is we are discussing when we speak of "race". We are discussing genetic and biological variation amongst individuals of a given species, that give rise to their own distinct sub classification. We are not discussing cultural or linguistic histories of a group of people. There is not a "Celtic" race, nor an "English" race, nor a "Texan" race, or any other frivolous nonsense that deals with anything other than biology.So, the question is, are there separate human races? Well according to the claims of modern biologists and geneticists, no, there are not. The variation amongst what are popularly called "races" is not sufficient or relevant to sub classification, and are, rather, simply variation. This information has been widely available for some time. In 1998, a professor of biology at Washington University published a study where he concluded that 85% of genetic variation we see in people is individual variation, and a meager 15% can be traced to any sort of lineage. This amount, he claims, is well below any threshold biologists use to determine sub classification.[1] He goes so far as to state that human beings are one of the most genetically homogeneous species we know of. Race as a term then has no significance what so ever, and the phrase "There is only one race; the human race", is patently true. Human beings are classified as being part of the species homo sapien[2]. This is the scientific consensus. The Human Genome Project had this to say on the subject[3]:"DNA studies do not indicate that separate classifiable subspecies (races) exist within modern humans. While different genes for physical traits such as skin and hair color can be identified between individuals, no consistent patterns of genes across the human genome exist to distinguish one race from another. There also is no genetic basis for divisions of human ethnicity. People who have lived in the same geographic region for many generations may have some alleles in common, but no allele will be found in all members of one population and in no members of any other."Now you may try to claim that the 15% variation is what defines separate races in human beings, but what you do then is you play the dangerous and ultimately frivolous game if making the term "race" absolutely meaningless. If the minor variation we see in human beings, such as differing skin colour of facial structure, is enough to classify people into different races, we might as well begin to classify people based upon their height, weight, eye colour, hair colour, chance for diseases, and other useless and meaningless genetic components of their being. Just as well, as some of these factors have more to do with genetics than whether you are black or white. Consider, for instance, our current president, Barak Obama. Genetically, he is "half black". Yet many would classify him as being a separate race, due to his skin colour. But while he may be half black, he is also, genetically, half white. What then makes him any different then any other half white/half black individual, who happens to have fairer skin? Genetically, nothing. Yet still individuals like my opponent will persist in claiming he is of a separate "race", purely because of skin tone. I ask then, when people tan, do they momentarily change between races too? This line of thinking is utter nonsense people.So where then has our notion of race come from? As far back as humans have existed, and lived in separate populations, they have classified themselves as separate from one another. However, nothing like we think of race today. To put this into perspective, Marco Polo once described the "Persian Race", saying: "The people are of the Mahometan religion. They are in general a handsome race, especially the women, who, in my opinion, are the most beautiful in the world"- Polo, Marco; The Travels of Marco PoloHowever, it was in the 17th century when our modern idea of race sprung into being. The concept of race as we know it originated in Europe during the scientific revolution. This was also the time period of heavy European imperialism and colonization. Various nations would invade other groups of people, and upon arriving, would speculate about the various differences they physically saw. This, combined with a notion of superiority when conquering foreign lands, gave rise to the idea of human beings divided into different "races", some of which were more adapt in certain areas of life than others. Indeed this behavior grew more and more, as Europeans began to seek to divide human beings into groups of people, categorizing them, and dehumanizing them, as a part of their subjugation of the "lesser people". Despite the time period this notion arose however, this categorization had no scientific basis what so ever. Instead what it was was a heavily biased, flawed analysis, based upon superficial features noticed by conquering powers, who sought a justification for their subjugation through their own cultural lens. Thus we can see the notion of separate human races does not, nor has it ever in it's founding, had scientific backing. It is an entirely socially constructed notion, bread only to justify the oppression an categorization of human beings by other human beings.Sources1. http://www.eurekalert.org...2. http://www.virginia.edu...3. http://www.ornl.gov...