# Are the internal organs of black people and white people incompatible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579 "2003-03-27T18:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/21 "2003-03-27T21:19:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you saying that blacks are more likely to be genetically similar to blacks than they are to whites? This is contrary to what I’ve seen argued in the ‘no such thing as race’ threads. I am saying that a greater number of people with a shared history of intermarriage will have a higher percentage of traits that have been passed through inheritance, although, as **pravnik** has pointed out, there is very much dissimilarity _within_ any group, as well. Nothing precludes a white or a black from receiving donor organs from a person of the other group. There is simply a greater probability of finding a match among people with a shared history. As to the “no such thing as race” threads, you’d have to dig up **sjgouldrocks** and ask him what his position is. On the race threads, my position has been and continues to be that we have no single set of markers that clearly identifies race and that there is too much blending for race to be a biological term. I have never denied that there are _populations_ (smaller than the usual concept of race) who might share specific characteristics or that there are not physical similarities that allow us to create the social notion of race, based on appearance. I do not find race to be a useful concept when we know, for example, that sickle-cell anemia crosses “racial” boundaries, that adult lactose intolerance crosses “racial” boundaries, and that people of different “races” can be organ donors and recipients for each other. ---
**Author:** ![Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burns)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/22 "2003-03-27T21:26:50Z")
Well, yes, it is an anecdote, but it concerns biology, Zwalld. Don’t you agree? And, since you enjoy playing with semantics, let’s not call me “racist”. Let’s call me prejudiced. I heard a stirring speech by a black activist–who hated whites–wherein he carefully explained that black people–lacking economic power in the US–cannot be racist, as the word apparently indicates the ability to “shut out” another race from benefits or rights. He was merely prejudiced because he hadn’t the power to do either to whites. I liked that explaination and have subscribed to it since then. And also–such venom! You make it sounds like I hate black people, which is far from the actual situation. I just find them distasteful when compared to whites, that’s all. It’s as innocent as preferring blondes to brunettes. Now, when are these esteemed board members returning? Are they physicians or in the medical profession. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/23 "2003-03-27T21:29:01Z")
I’m not sure what they mean, but I’ll stick to my statement, although I wouldn’t want you to make too much of it; I’m just saying that people we identify as black or white or what have you tend to share traits in common other than just the color and structure of the skin around the body; they also share other traits, for example skeletal similarities of the nose, cranium, and femur. It’s similar to saying a blond person is more likely to have blue eyes and fair skin. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/24 "2003-03-27T21:47:21Z")
**Burns** , a person who identifies as “black” has a higher chance of having matching HLA markers with another person that self identifies as “black” than someone who self-identifies as “white”, just the same as they have a higher chance of having a similar complexion. The difference ends there, however. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/25 "2003-03-27T21:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Burns \* > \*\* I just find them distasteful when compared to whites, that’s all. It’s as innocent as preferring blondes to brunettes._\* Well, since you put it that way… ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/26 "2003-03-27T22:02:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Burns \* > **And, since you enjoy playing with semantics, let’s not call me “racist”. Let’s call me prejudiced. I heard a stirring speech by a black activist–who hated whites–wherein he carefully explained that black people–lacking economic power in the US–cannot be racist, as the word apparently indicates the ability to “shut out” another race from benefits or rights. He was merely prejudiced because he hadn’t the power to do either to whites. I liked that explaination and have subscribed to it since then.** I’ve heard the argument that certain individuals or groups can’t be racist, because racism is an institution, and if you lack the power of the institution you can’t be a racist, Q.E.D. It’s sophistry and doesn’t fly. Racism is an institution, but it is also the personal belief of the individual giving rise to the institution. Discrimination or predjudice based on race is racism. > [@](#): > > **And also–such venom! You make it sounds like I hate black people, which is far from the actual situation. I just find them distasteful when compared to whites, that’s all. It’s as innocent as preferring blondes to brunettes.** No, it’s not. Comparing racial predjudice to a discriminating choice of sex partners is a false analogy. > [@](#): > > \*\*Now, when are these esteemed board members returning? Are they physicians or in the medical profession. \*\* Yes, but they’re all black. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/27 "2003-03-27T22:05:38Z")
> [@](#): > > I heard a stirring speech by a black activist–who hated whites–wherein he carefully explained that black people–lacking economic power in the US–cannot be racist, as the word apparently indicates the ability to “shut out” another race from benefits or rights. He was merely prejudiced because he hadn’t the power to do either to whites. I don’t recall that in my Websters… ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/28 "2003-03-27T22:23:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Burns \* > \*\*And, since you enjoy playing with semantics, let’s not call me “racist”. Let’s call me prejudiced. \*\* From [Websters](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary): Main Entry: rac·ism Pronunciation: 'rA-"si-z&m also -"shi- Function: noun Date: 1936 1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race **2 : racial prejudice or discrimination** I used this definition because Websters is a fairly unbiased source, and the word ‘racist’ sounded less clunky in my statment than ‘person prejudiced against blacks’. Didn’t mean to offend. I 'll leave it to your prerogative to compile definitions from racist…I mean prejudiced…activists. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/29 "2003-03-27T22:33:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **pravnik** _ > It’s indisputable that two people most people identify as “black” are more likely to share certain genetic traits than others, skin color being the most obvious. > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by **zwaldd** _ > > That statement has been vigorously disputed by certain well respected members of this board, especially one who has recently returned from hiatus…I would like to hear their thoughts on this. Well, he has already indicated that he is limited in time and opportunity and that, for now, he is going to limit his participation to a single thread in **GD** , so I will take the liberty of quoting him on the subject (although I certainly welcome his participation if he chooses to join in). In [So, what’s the matter with eugenics?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=870268#post870268) he posted > [@](#): > > Races do NOT differ in genetic make up, **there are no genetic markers by which one can identify someone by race. No “race” has private alleles, that is alleles which express only in that race.** There are no clear boundaries and most variation occurs at the individual level, not at the population level. Certainly one can find patterns of variation, tendencies, but these map onto populations smaller than the old fashioned races, which present no coherency at all at the genetic level. None. ( **bolding mine** ) His earliest “tract” on the subject seems to have been in the [Differences between humans](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=493381#post493381) thread in which he did use a “no races” phrase once or twice, but very clearly indicated that he was pointing out, not that there can be no similarities, but that we have only _varying_ frequencies of the same alleles and that there are no traits that can be idenitified as belong to “one race.” In the [Races don’t exist](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1095799#post1095799) thread, he set out the statement that most nearly resembles my perspective on the issue: > [@](#): > > Current genetic data indicates that no cluster of traits vary by race (using race in the normal, popular sense) in a coherent manner, ergo the operation is useless. Geneticists prefer the term populations when trying to define coherent (in terms of packages of alleles or distributions thereof) groupings, for the obvious reason that race has far too much baggage and the popular understanding (black, white, yellow schema) far too deeply entrenched to reform. * * * [Separately: regarding the charge of and definition of “racist”: I don’t take my word usage from Louis Farrkhan, but if you guys aren’t careful, this thread is going to get hurled into **GD**. I think we can answer the OP _without_ either a debate or a feud, but you guys do what you feel you must.] ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/30 "2003-03-27T22:34:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Burns \* > \*\*But back to the issue–yes, what about people of mixed race? As for my friend pulling my leg–I highly doubt it. He’s a first year med student, with no sense of humor, and was as genuinely surprised to learn this as I was. What I really want to know is the rationale behind this. Is there a doctor in the house? \*\* Back to the issue -Did my link to the Donor Alliance donor FAQ not answer the question on the table? As to mixed race peope it would seem logical that to the extent the race “mixing” (churn baby, churn), distances them from the requirement to have close tissue matching (for the body parts that require this) the less compatible they will be on a relative basis. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579/31 "2003-03-27T22:45:40Z")
I believe **astro** ’s link to Donor Alliance does answer the factual question here, so I’ll close this thread. Race debates may be continued in the Great Debates forum. bibliohage moderator GQ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-internal-organs-of-black-people-and-white-people-incompatible/164579.md?page=1)