The Myth of Race

The Myth of Race draws on scientific knowledge to debunk a series of myths that pass as facts, correct false assumptions, and clarify cultural misunderstandings about the highly charged topic of race. Praise for The Myth of Race comes from former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and from anthropologist Audrey Smedley, author of Race in North America. Secretary Cohen said, "Writing with stunning clarity, Dr. Fish poses profound and perturbing questions about race...The Myth of Race is must reading."Here are some of the myths dealt with in the book:* The myth that humans are divided into Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid races* The myth that people cannot change their race* The myth of the tragic mulatto* The myth of biologically based differences in intelligence among the racesThe Myth of Race demonstrates that the apparently straightforward concept of race is actually a confused mixture of two different concepts; and the confusion often leads to miscommunication. The first concept, biological race, simply doesn't exist in the human species. Instead, what exists is gradual variation in what people look like (e.g., skin color and facial features) and in their genes, as you travel around the planet--with more distant populations appearing more different than closer ones. If you travel in different directions, the populations look different in different ways. The second concept, social race, is a set of cultural categories for labeling people based on how their ancestors were classified, selected aspects of what they look like, or various combinations of both. These sets of categories vary widely from one culture to another.

Jefferson M. Fish is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at St. John's University, New York City, where he served as Department Chair and also as Director of the Ph.D. Program in Clinical Psychology. He is the author or editor of 12 books—most recently his e-book and paperback The Myth of Race—and more than a hundred other works dealing with race, culture, therapy, drug policy, and other topics. His articles have appeared in popular media (e.g., Psychology Today, Newsday, and The Humanist) and in academic journals (e.g., American Psychologist, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and American Anthropologist). Since leaving academia he has devoted his time to writing and languages (he speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish, and German). His website is jeffersonfish.com; on Facebook he is at facebook.com/JeffersonFishAuthor; and on Twitter: twitter.com/@jeffersonfish.