Racism, racial inequality and many other race-related issues are very hot topics within society today. From protests to rallies to discussions with friends and family, race is something that everyone acknowledges and, either consciously or subconsciously, acts on while going about their day. This begs the question- what is race?

Agustin Fuentes, a professor of anthropology at Princeton University, argued that while many consider race to be biologically based, it is anything but.

“But we use superficially biological characteristics to explain social, political, health, physiology, economics, education, development and experiential context,” Fuentes said. “So race is real, right? Race is the interaction of a multitude of socially constructed factors. It’s very real.”

In his lecture, “What Race Is, What It Is Not, and Why It Matters,” Fuentes discussed multiple biological factors that many people believe are responsible for our idea of what race is.

“But basically, we think there are three big races, right: sort of African, European and Asian… , but, we think there’s a category,” Fuentes said. “So we can ask, does biology get us the big three?”

The first biological factor Fuentes looked at when asking this question was blood. According to him, none of the 28 blood types and the way they are geographically distributed can answer these questions. Fuentes said that blood can not map out race.

Next, Fuentes considered genetics.

“Most people think that there’s, you know, genetics divides us up,” Fuentes said. “Well, one thing that most people have no idea about, [is] an important reality, is that humans have 100% of the same genes.

Fuentes then went on to show how genetically close humans are to other living things. According to him, from chimpanzees to daffodils to the other 8 billion people in the world, every living creature shares a percentage of the same genetics. So, if all creatures are so similar, what makes each one so inherently different? Fuentes said it is only .1% of genetic variation that causes differences amongst humans.

“That is, we are the same genes, but the sequences, the little chemical strands of base pairs, at those genes, those sequences of DNA, those vary,” Fuentes said. “And so it’s [the] certain amount of variation in not the genes themselves, but what versions of the genes we have. That’s how humans vary.”

According to Fuentes, out of the 20 to 25,000 genes humans have, only approximately 0.1% vary, and that fraction of genes is where all genetic variations stem from. He also pointed out that many genetic testing, such as 23andMe and Ancestry, does not reveal this to customers.

“So, when 23andMe tells you you’re this percentage that, this percentage that, they’re lying because you’re actually 99.9% human and a little bit of variation,” Fuentes said.

Next, Fuentes debunked the idea that body size and shape determine race. While he recognizes that every individual looks different, Fuentes said there is no correlation between race and body size.

“So if you look at the distribution of body size, shape, weight, height, all of those kinds of things, it does not map to African, European, Asian or Black, white, Asian,” Fuentes said. “In fact, large, small, heavy [and] light groups of humans are found across all of those environments.”

The last heavily believed theory of defining race Fuentes tackled was that of skin color. While it is obvious when out in the street that everyone looks different and has different variations of skin colors, Fuentes said this has nothing to do with human biology.

According to Fuentes, every human has a layer of melanocytes in their skin which produce melanin, a natural skin pigment of black or brown. But, not everyone produces the same amount of melanin at the same time. Fuentes said that geographical location is largely what determines the amount of melanin an individual’s skin produces.

Because melanin helps block ultraviolet light from damaging the skin, populations of people that live closer to the equator, where there is more intensity in UV rays, develop more melanin; therefore, individuals who live closer to the equator have darker skin tones while those who live farther away have lighter skin tones.

“So if you really understand biology, about skin, about genetics, about body shape, about blood groups, all of that, skin color doesn’t tell you that much,” Fuentes said.

With eliminating the possibility of blood, genetics, body size and skin color being the reason for race, the question remains- what is race?

According to Fuentes, race is society, politics and context. He also said race is not racism.

“Racism is how we understand race because racism is the systemic processes by which we define, reinforce and establish,” Fuentes said.

Fuentes went on to explain that the human-created concept of race matters. According to him, it matters to individuals walking down the street. Race matters in health care and mortality rates. Race makes a difference in how people experience the world.

“So race is not a biological classification, that pattern differences occur between races, but that they are due to social, historical, political, economic or spiritual context,” Fuentes said. “This all means that it’s all changeable.”

In order to bring about this positive change, Fuentes offered audience members three steps to take: think, talk and act. Fuentes said to first think about the data, realize what you can do with it, and begin to implement it into conversations. Finally, Fuentes said to make changes in your actions that reflect the idea that race and racism are socially constructed and that there is nothing biologically separating one group of people from another.

“One thing that’s so amazing [is] humans’ ability to come together,” Fuentes said. “And in every crisis or catastrophe, people usually forget race, they forget class, they forget all of these different characterizations. And they come together and help.”

Fuentes finished his discussion with a call to action.

“Remember what we have, and make a difference,” Fuentes said. “Race is not biology, racism is real. Inequality is real. And we can change those patterns.”