Ancestry Estimation Perpetuates Racism, White Supremacy
Binghamton University, February 24, 2021
Ancestry estimation a method used by forensic anthropologists to determine ancestral origin by analyzing bone structures is rooted in “race science” and perpetuates white supremacy, according to a new paper by a forensic anthropologist at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
By themselves, bones seem somewhat uniform to the untrained eye. They lack the traits we so often use to categorize fellow humans: hair texture, the shape of nose and eye, skin pigmentation.
Forensic anthropologists know that race isn’t based in biological fact, but in a history and culture that assigns meaning to physical traits that occur among different human populations. Why, then, are they still relying on a tool from the field’s negative roots in “race science”?
Ancestry estimation a method used by forensic anthropologists to determine ancestral origin by analyzing bone structures is rooted in race science and perpetuates white supremacy, according to a new paper by a forensic anthropologist at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
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