ABSTRACT
I begin by identifying a mapping phenomenon that’s almost 20 years old. The phenomenon is that the populations that occur at the fivefold subdivision of Homo sapiens into biological populations correspond one-to-one with the five official races of the Office of Management and Budget in the US government. Next, I show that this mapping phenomenon raises an interesting and difficult metaphysical question, namely, ‘What is the metaphysical relation that’s exemplified by this mapping phenomenon?’ The answer I advance is that the relation is identity. Next, I defend this identity thesis using a four-step deductive argument that explores other candidate hypotheses in the philosophy of race literature, such as the relation being co-exemplification, coextension, or a function of tracking. Nevertheless, I defend the identity thesis against these rival hypotheses.
