Category: Social Issues

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  The Death of Racism: A Call To Bury Systema Naturae

  If you still think “race” when you think of a person’s skin color, your way thinking is almost 300 years out of date. In 1735, (290 years ago), Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish Biologist, divided humanity into four races largely by complexion.

  • Europeans = white
  • Africans = black
  • Asians = yellow
  • Native Americans = red

  Here’s the problem: his classifications have been proven wrong time and time again, and society has never gotten rid of them.

  There is only one race: The human race, and within it we carry extraordinary diversity.

  We are not different races. We are of different complexions.

  Complexion is defined as “the natural colour, texture, and appearance of a person’s skin, especially of the face“.

  So my mission, starting now, is to end racism – and the best way I know how is to finally do what should have been done 290 years ago: bury Carl Linnaeus’s classifications for humans based on complexion once and for all.

  And we’ll start with calling him out for what he was – the father of racial science.

  In 1735, when he published Systema Naturae, he didn’t just classify human beings. He attached temperaments and value judgments, and as a European intellectual in a colonial era, while he was obsessed with classifying things, he also reflected the stereotypes and hierarchies of the era of colonialism and transatlantic slavery, where Europeans at the top, others ranked lower.

  These are his classifications:

  • Homo Europaeus (white, governed by laws)
  • Homo Afer (black, governed by caprice)
  • Homo Asiaticus (yellow, governed by opinion)
  • Homo Americanus (red, governed by custom)

  What his Systema Naturae did was provide a scientific veneer, a covering, for ideas that were already being used in colonialism and slavery, and it gave a “natural order” justification to the inequalities Europeans had been enforcing since the 1600s.

  Linnaeus’ system may not have caused slavery, but it institutionalized race-thinking and gave it a framework that politicians, economists, and slaveholders could lean on.

  By the late 1700s and 1800s, his taxonomy fed directly into so-called “scientific racism,” which rationalized slavery, colonial exploitation, and segregation as being natural.

  It was this kind of thinking Darwin would use 124 years later in his work, Origin of the Species, (full title: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life).

  It was this kind of thinking that Hitler would then use, starting in 1933 during the Holocaust and the Nazi Medical Trials to exterminate Jewish people.

  It’s this kind of thinking that Margaret Sanger would use, publishing and promoting Nazi propaganda about race and eugenics, as the basis to open abortion clinics in and around non-white communities of color.

  And it’s this kind of thinking that has infiltrated almost every level of society from politics and economics, to social systems and even medicine.

  Many in our medical industry still believe that:

  • Black patients feel less pain, or have thicker skin/nerve endings.
  • Black patients naturally have higher muscle mass and therefore higher kidney function.
  • Black and Asian patients have inherently lower lung capacity than whites.
  • Rashes, bruising, jaundice, cyanosis (oxygen loss) show up the same way on all skin tones.
  • Black patients are biologically predisposed to hypertension.
  • Black women’s bodies are “naturally” higher risk in childbirth.

  For the record: ALL OF THOSE ARE FALSE!

  Carl Linnaeus’ Systema Naturae has been at the heart of scientific racism for almost 300 years, and it has been at the heart of justifying racism based on complexion in all of it’s forms, and it has been used to justify murders, genocides, and countless atrocities and injustices throughout history.

  And it remains pervasive and problematic almost 300 years later, even though it’s been proven wrong over and over again, because those who peddle hate, and those who benefit from the division are able to justify it with faux science.

  It’s time for Systema Naturae to die… and I’m recruiting you to help me.

  How We Should Classify Fellow Human Beings (Update)

  When I first started sharing my idea about ending Systema Naturae, there were some specific questions that I had to address, because, if we weren’t saying “race” anymore, what is the right way to answer? So, here are some questions and answers I felt were necessary to share, and how I answered them.

  Question: But didn’t black people in the US create a new race? They gained culture and community over shared experiences during slavery, Jim Crow, etc. That collectivism is the foundation of the race, something White people in the US lack.
  Answer: A black culture, a black heritage, not a black race.
  
  Question: Do you consider American people who are descendants of slaves racially African then?
  Answer: No. I consider them ethnically African. Race is a false classification when applied to complexion (skin color).

  Question: How then would you classify what we consider as mixed race?
  Answer: I consider them ethnically mixed.

  Question: Doesn’t Rh negative blood prove that different humans are different species?
  Answer: Rh negative blood indicates geographic and ethnic distribution patterns, not separate races. While blood types vary by ancestry, genetic evidence proves that humans are one species, with clinal variation, not discrete racial categories.

  Question: So, there’s no such thing as an “interracial marriage” or “interracial relationship”?
  Answer: Nope. We have intraracial marriages and relationships, meaning two people of the same race (human) but with different complexions (color).

  Question: What would you say to people who say things like “we are one species, and within that species there are different races?”
  Answer: I would say that we are one species, and within that species this is one race with different ethnicities.

  Your Mission (Should You Choose To Accept It)

  If you’d like to help me on my journey to end Systema Naturae, (removing the scientific justification for color-based racism), there’s how.

  1. Share this post on social media. The goal here is to ultimately inform the masses that race and complexion are not interchangeable, and that there is only one race – the human race.

  Whether you share this post, made a video, or even create your own blog post, (you have my permission to copy my work on this post), doesn’t matter to me, as long as the word spreads and the message becomes common knowledge.

  2. Challenge color-based racism when you see it. I’m not talking about starting debates or fights online, or trolling and bullying others. The goal is to combat hate, not perpetuate it, (you can’t fight hate with hate).

  So, whenever you see someone sharing or espousing ideas that perpetuate or promote racism based on complexion, especially in your own circles, challenge it. Let them know that at the correct word is complexion and we are not different races. Point back to this post if they need evidence of that, (there is a growing list of proof at the end of this article).

  This second one is important, because some messages are better received by people when it’s coming from their peers and people they know, like, and trust. I could scream, “there’s only one race: the human race,” until I’m blue in the face, but some people will only receive it when it’s from someone they know.

  That’s just human nature.

  3. Pitch In. I am just one person on a mission, and there’s only so much I can do. If you’d like to do more, then you are welcome to join me. I would love to hear your ideas. If you have a platform, I would love to collaborate with you. I’m open to different ideas, and I’m willing to work with anyone who’s genuine about stopping racism.

  So, leave a comment below, or follow me on my socials and DM me. The links are up top.

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  Scientific Evidence Against Color-Based Racism

  1. Genetic Similarity of All Humans

  • Evidence: The Human Genome Project (2003) found that all humans share 99.9% of their DNA.
  • Takeaway: Genetic differences within any so-called “race” are often greater than differences between races.

  2. No Biological Basis for Racial Categories

  • Evidence: The American Association of Physical Anthropologists (1996 statement) and the American Anthropological Association (1998 statement) both declared that “race” is a social construct, not a biological reality.
  • Takeaway: Skin color is just one trait – not a marker of separate human subspecies.

  3. Skin Color = Adaptation, Not Race

  • Evidence: Skin pigmentation is controlled by a handful of genes (especially MC1R, SLC24A5, SLC45A2) that regulate melanin production.
  • Takeaway: Variation in complexion is an evolutionary response to sun exposure and vitamin D synthesis – not a separate race.

  4. Clinal Variation

  • Evidence: Human traits (height, skin color, nose shape, hair texture) vary gradually across geography in “clines,” not in hard racial boundaries.
  • Takeaway: There are no sharp biological divisions between populations, only gradual shifts.

  5. Blood Types and Traits Cross Racial Lines

  • Evidence: Traits like blood type distribution, lactose tolerance, or sickle-cell trait are spread by ancestry and geography, not “race.”
  • Takeaway: A Black person and a white person can share the same blood type, while two white people may have completely different ones.

  6. Genomic Mapping of Populations

  • Evidence: Modern genetic studies (e.g., Lewontin, 1972; Rosenberg et al., 2002) show that about 85-90% of genetic variation is within local populations, not between “races.”
  • Takeaway: Most differences are individual, not racial.

  7. Medical Failures of Race-Based Assumptions

  • Evidence:
    – Kidney function (eGFR adjustment) artificially raised scores for Black patients, delaying treatment.
    – Spirometry “race corrections” misdiagnosed lung capacity.
    – Pain myths caused undertreatment in ERs.
  • Takeaway: Race-based assumptions harm patients and obscure real ancestry/environmental factors.

  8. Forensic Anthropology Backlash

  • Evidence: Forensic scientists can sometimes guess ancestry from bones, but even experts acknowledge high overlap and error. Increasingly, they warn that racial categories in forensics are statistical probabilities, not biological truths.
  • Takeaway: Even in fields where “race” was once treated as useful, the scientific consensus now treats it as misleading.

  Evidence List: Proof That Color-Based Racism Is a Lie

  1. The Apportionment of Human Diversity (Richard Lewontin, 1972) | Most human genetic variation (~ 85%) is within so-called “races,” only a small portion between “races.” Shows racial categories have almost no genetic/taxonomic significance. Source
  2. “Race and genetics versus ‘race’ in genetics: A systematic review” (Duello, 2021) | Reinforces that “race” in much scientific research is misused; genetic variation is continuous; race is socially constructed. Source
  3. “Race: How the Post-Genomic Era Has Unmasked a Misconception Promoted by Healthcare” (D. Schaare et al., 2023) | In post-genomic science, the old race categories are revealed to have no firm biological basis; what matters more is ancestry, environment, gene flow. Source
  4. Misunderstanding of race as biology (HL Lujan et al., 2024) | Documents that genetic differences are far larger within racial groups than between them; shows harm when race is treated as biology. Source
  5. “The social, economic, political, and genetic value of race and ethnicity” (TB Mersha, 2020) | Argues that there is no valid genetic basis for traditional race/ethnicity categories; differences in health outcomes derive from social/historical causes (racism, inequities), not innate skin color biology. Source
  6. AABA (American Association of Biological Anthropologists) Statement on Race & Racism | Official statement: race does not accurately map onto human biological variation; skin color etc. do not align with discrete genetic clusters. Source
  7. “Why Humans Do Not Have Biological Races” (LabXchange/educational resource) | Straight-forward statement: there are no “biological races” in humans; race is myth in biology though real in social terms. Source
  8. “Researchers Need to Rethink … How and Why Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry Labels are Used” (National Academies, 2023) | Science & medicine communities being urged to stop using “race” as a proxy for genetic variation; because it misleads and re-entrenches false ideas. Source
  9. “Race Is Real, But It’s Not Genetic” (Alan Goodman, Sapiens) | Emphasizes that while race is real socially, it has no genetic foundation; debunks myths around medical and biological assumptions tied to race. Source
  10. The Jena Declaration (2019) | Declaration by scientists rejecting the idea of human biological races; says racial categories are arbitrary and superficial. Source
  11. The Myth of Race: The Troubling Persistence of an Unscientific Idea (Robert Wald Sussman, 2014) | Historical survey that shows race was never scientifically valid; how scientific racism persisted despite evidence. Source

  September 13, 2025

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  They Didn’t Leave Us To It: A Timeline of White Violence Against Black Communities

  It made for great viral content over social media when a group called Return to the Land has purchased about 160 acres near Ravenden, Arkansas, explicitly restricting residency to people of white European ancestry with matching ideological views. Jews and non-whites are excluded.

  It wasn’t met with much noise in the black community because this is all too common. There’s a history of segregation that black people deal with, and the realities of sundown towns that dot the American landscape is a stark reminder that it’s not just historical, but current.

  The silence from the black community however, may have been agitating to some white people because they went out of their way to make sure their town received attention, and many were upset as to why black people weren’t responding.

  It received it’s fifteen minutes of fame and then was pushed out of the media, but what emerged was unexpected – there were videos from white creators asking why black people didn’t do the same as Return to the Land.

  One creator even said, “if black people started a functioning black community we would leave you to it,” and the responses were swift, not just from black creators, but every other shade of creator as well.

  One in particular is @drinkablebryan who posted a response across this platforms. I chose this one from Facebook.

  Click here if you can’t see the video. It’s worth watching.

  My only issue with content in that format is that it’s more about making a point than it is about educating and informing. This is why I choose to write long-form blog posts, so that people who are serious about becoming informed and learning, will have a source that is well-reasoned and insightful.

  With that in mind, I want to focus on why the initial statement, “if black people started a functioning black community we would leave you to it,” fell so flat and why the response to it was greater than the fact that yet another whites-only town was being created.

  The answer is simple – it’s devoid of any kind of history whatsoever. Whether it’s intentional, or they person is doesn’t know, is irrelevant.

  The fact is that black people have repeatedly started functioning black communities, and racism wouldn’t allow white people to “leave us to it“.

  To that end, here is a list of times that black people created functioning communities, and white violence destroyed them.

  • Seneca Village, New York (1857)
    A thriving free Black community of landowners in Manhattan was seized and demolished to create Central Park. Families were displaced and generational wealth erased.
  • New Orleans Massacre, Louisiana (1866)
    A white mob, aided by police, attacked a gathering of Black citizens and white allies advocating for voting rights and constitutional reform. Dozens were murdered, many more wounded.
  • Colfax Massacre, Louisiana (1873)
    White supremacists massacred more than 100 Black men defending a courthouse after a disputed election. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned convictions, gutting federal protections for Black citizens.
  • Wilmington Coup & Massacre, North Carolina (1898)
    The only successful coup d’état on U.S. soil. White supremacists overthrew Wilmington’s elected, multiracial government, killing hundreds of Black residents and forcing thousands to flee.
  • Atlanta Race Massacre, Georgia (1906)
    Fueled by false reports of Black men assaulting white women, mobs of armed white men rampaged through Atlanta’s Black neighborhoods, killing dozens and destroying Black businesses.
  • Slocum Massacre, Texas (1910)
    After rumors of a Black uprising, white residents killed as many as 200 Black men, women, and children. Survivors fled, abandoning land and property that was stolen by whites.
  • East St. Louis Massacre, Illinois (1917)
    White mobs, many union members angry over job competition, attacked Black residents. Between 100–150 were killed, homes were burned, and thousands displaced.
  • Elaine Massacre, Arkansas (1919)
    Black sharecroppers attempting to organize for fair pay were met with mass slaughter by white mobs and federal troops. Hundreds were killed, and survivors falsely prosecuted.
  • Chicago Race Massacre, Illinois (1919)
    A Black teenager was stoned and drowned after drifting into a whites-only beach. Days of rioting followed, leaving 38 dead and more than 1,000 Black families homeless.
  • Ocoee Massacre, Florida (1920)
    On Election Day, a Black man tried to vote. White mobs retaliated by killing dozens and burning the entire Black community of Ocoee to the ground.
  • Tulsa Massacre, Oklahoma (1921)
    Known as the destruction of “Black Wall Street.” White mobs, with support from local officials, burned down the Greenwood District, killing as many as 300 Black residents and destroying 35 city blocks.
  • Rosewood Massacre, Florida (1923)
    After false accusations of an assault, white mobs razed the prosperous Black town of Rosewood. Survivors fled into swamps, never to return.
  • Oscarville Expulsion / Lake Lanier, Georgia (1912–1956)
    In 1912, Black residents were violently expelled from Oscarville by mobs and lynchings. Decades later, the town’s ruins were submerged under Lake Lanier, erasing its history.
  • Detroit Race Massacre, Michigan (1943)
    Racial tensions in wartime Detroit erupted into violence. White mobs stormed Black neighborhoods, leaving 34 people dead (25 Black), most killed by police.
  • MOVE Bombing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1985)
    Police dropped explosives on the home of a Black liberation group in a residential area. Eleven people were killed (including 5 children), and 61 homes were destroyed.

  The destruction of thriving black communities weren’t always direct. Many times they were targeted in the name of progress. Many of the state parks and lakes we recognize today hide dark secrets… and the remains of the dead.

  Here are seven clearly documented cases in the U.S. where historically Black communities (or Black-founded resorts/neighborhoods) were later turned into parks or lakes.

• Seneca Village, New York -> Central Park (1857)
  A thriving Black landowning community in Manhattan was seized and demolished to create Central Park. Families were evicted and wealth was erased.
• Oscarville, Georgia -> Lake Lanier (1912–1956)
  After the violent expulsion of Black residents in 1912, the abandoned town was later submerged under Lake Lanier in the 1950s, erasing it completely.
• Kowaliga, Alabama -> Lake Martin (1926)
  A self-sufficient Black community built by formerly enslaved John J. Benson was flooded out when Martin Dam was constructed, creating Lake Martin.
• Fonta Flora, North Carolina -> Lake James (1916–1923)
  A farming settlement with many Black sharecroppers was drowned when Duke Power flooded the valley to build Lake James.
• Harris Neck, Georgia -> Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge (1942)
  A coastal Black community was seized by the government during WWII for an airfield, then never returned. The land is now a wildlife refuge.
• Bruce’s Beach, California -> Parkland (1924)
  A Black-owned beach resort in Manhattan Beach was condemned “for a park” under false pretenses. The land sat unused for decades until finally turned into public parkland.
• Vanport, Oregon -> Delta Park (1948)
  At the time Oregon’s second-largest city, Vanport housed many Black shipyard workers and their families. A flood destroyed it in hours; the site was later redeveloped into parkland and city facilities.

These are not exhaustive lists; there were several more. These are just the most documented and easy to verify cases.

As you dig into the history of white violence against black communities, you will find countless instances of injustice ranging from lynchings and murder, to the bombings of black towns, and blatant genocide and attempts at racial extermination.

This post only focused on a specific context, and hopefully you better understand why, of all people in the United States, black people can’t seem to hold on to generational wealth. It’s because when they’ve tried in the past, they were attacked, killed, and had everything taken from them – including the wealth that they were building.

It was systemic. For example, the Tulsa Massacre, Oklahoma (1921) with the banks and insurance companies locked out black account owners.

Insurance Companies: Survivors filed more than $1.8 million in claims (over $27 million today). Almost every single one was denied under “riot clauses,” leaving families with nothing.

• Local White-Owned Banks: Many Black residents had deposits and business accounts in Tulsa banks. After the massacre, banks refused to release funds, froze accounts, or denied withdrawals, effectively keeping the money from survivors.

The result? Even those who had been financially responsible, insured, and banking “the right way” lost everything twice – first in fire and violence, then in the systemic refusal to honor their wealth.

In the end, cash deposits and personal savings held in white-owned Tulsa banks, (about $1.8 million or up to $35 million at today’s value), 35 city blocks of homes and businesses, at least 191 Black-owned businesses (restaurants, movie theaters, law offices, doctor’s clinics), and over 1,200 homes were destroyed.

The US has a very sad and ongoing history of racism that has never fully been resolved, and because the turn of education on black history is going backwards, more and more people are forgetting that history, and it is important we remember it.

If you found this post insightful, please share and leave a positive but honest comment. I would love to hear your thoughts.