RACE: Are We So Different?
| 3
THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN VARIATION
RACE:
A Story With Three Themes
Learn the story of race by diving into the rich collection of
video, photography, printed word and interactive technology
resources the exhibit offers. As you experience
RACE
, think
and talk about these three themes: the science of human
variation, the history of race and race in our culture.
The science of human variation
Start your journey by learning what current science research
tells us about human variation and its connection to ideas
about race. Explore our common ancestry, learn why we are
different as well as alike, and see how many common ideas
about race are inaccurate or incomplete.
African Origins
highlights the contemporary scientific
understanding about human origins. This interactive animation
uses colored dots to represent the geographic distribution of
human genetic diversity over time. The animation illustrates
how humans emerged from Africa and then spread to populate
the world. Using a wheel, guests can control the rate of change
on the map, pause to read interpretive text on a screen and
even move backwards in time.
The Colors We Are
is an engaging experience for adults
and children alike. Here guests scan their skin and watch their
image appear on the screen next to skin images from dozens
of other guests. Questions inserted on the screen challenge
guests to consider what skin shade reveals about themselves
and others. “Where does one ‘draw the line’ to categorize
people?” “If the lines are hard to draw, how valid are the
categories?” “Does skin color equal race?”
“Historically, the concept of race was imported
into biology … from social practice.”
—Richard Lewontin, geneticist
Photo courtesy of American Anthropological Association and Science Museum of Minnesota
HUMAN VARIATION IN OUR COMMUNITY
The Changing Face of King County
Diversity is Our Future
The population of King County is not only growing, it’s also becoming more racially and
culturally diverse. Between 1980 and 2010, the non-white segment of the population
almost tripled. This trend toward greater diversity promises to continue. Today, almost
half of King County residents under the age of 18 are non-white. At some point, King
County will no longer have a predominantly white population, and many people will
identify with more than one racial or ethnic category.
“In 2009 the Tukwila school district was the most
ethnically diverse in the United States, as measured
by the chance that any two students chosen at random
would come from different ethnic backgrounds.”
— King County Equity and Social Justice Annual Report, 2012
