ABSTRACT
In 1972, R. C. Lewontin undermined the value of racial classification by showing that a relatively small proportion of total human genetic diversity is found among races. Lewontin’s conclusions have been widely used, across a range of disciplines, to contest the biological significance of race. Although Lewontin’s description of the genetic structure of human populations was based on a small number of proteins, his findings have been empirically confirmed by recent developments in population genomics. Nevertheless, it has become a widely accepted view that these developments prove Lewontin wrong. This is due to A. W. F. Edwards’ 2003 argument that Lewontin succumbed to an “old statistical fallacy” of analyzing genes without allowing for the correlation of loci. However, as a PhD student of Theodosius Dobzhansky’s during the 1950s, Lewontin was schooled in an intellectual tradition that emphasized genetic variability within and between populations, and as a vocal critic of DNA forensics in the early 1990s, Lewontin emphasized the importance of correlated genetic variation between populations. This paper approaches the current controversy by broadening the context of inquiry to consider the historical influence of competing for scientific traditions, the pragmatic aspects of classification, and the inescapable legacy of White supremacy.
