a question of race

[olddutch]

All the recent interest and concern over racism got me wondering about races in general.

Does anybody have the definitive answer to the question:-
How many races are there in the world and what are they ?

[kempie]

You first have to define what constitutes "race"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_views_on_ race

[Ctrak]

A tricky one, especially when you consider interracial breeding etc. With that you spin off new ones.

The Holy Grail that I use for these sorts of answers has turned up nothing definite, but you might want to look anyway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race

[Hammer Head]

In these enlightened times in which we live, I would be branded a racist if I, as a Welshman, called someone from Glasgow a Scottish **** or someone from Dublin an Irish ****. So it could be inferred from this that the inhabitants of each country constitute a different race. Now I know that to be nonsense but then I don't live in Islington do I. What would be the situation if I called our friend from Glasgow a Celtic ****. Would that be racist as I am a Celt myself and I would say that Celts are a clearly defined 'race'.

[Ctrak]

OK, Hammer Head, keep it calm. 'Twas a sensible enough question.

[Hammer Head]

For your information ctrak, I am always calm. The four asterisks were put in by me not AB. They are used to represent no particular expletive. I really don't know what you are getting at. Yes it was a sensible question to which i gave a sensible answer. Better than your answer which hints at some perceived anger on my part.

[Le Chat]

Is one considered to be racist, if they only despise one particular race and love all others? For example, if I hate eastern europeans, does that make me a racist per se, even if I love asians?