We are the world

Even as we are separating ourselves into mini regions to establish our identities, genetic and anthropological research is pushing us in the opposite direction — that as human we are more connected than apart. The Human Genome Organisation has in a study published in Science discovered that Indians are the ancestors of all East Asians — that is, the people of China, Japan and South East Asia. Conventional wisdom earlier had it that people migrated out of Africa in two waves some 70,000 years ago, one towards India and the other towards the rest of Asia. Now it seems that the migrants stopped in India before moving on.

The immediate question that arises here is about ethnic facial and other characteristics because that is how we distinguish ourselves into “races”. But anthropologists have long known that skin colour, the shape of the eyes, the size of lips and nostrils change with climate and geography. That there is only one human race is by now practically indisputable.

Genetics and the study of the human genome give us a complete and so far fascinating picture of who we are and how we emerged. From our migration patterns, from our social interactions, from our marriage laws, we can create a picture of how we developed as societies and civilisations. Many of these divisions happened more recently in time than we had imagined. Obviously, now that we know that the usual race indicators — skin colour and so on — are superficial we ought to be better equipped to deal with our prejudices.
To know that we are one with the people of Asia also gives Indians a different perspective. Often politically and strategically, we are seen as different. But now that India is in a sense the big sister, if Africa is the mother, we share far more than we realise. Only months ago, we learnt that genetically, North and South Indians are very closely connected. Before those revelations —  which are yet to sink in — we had used language and cultural choices as ways to separate us.

To dream of one world with one race reeks of childish optimism but yet, science is inexorably pushing us in that direction. In some sense so has popular culture — singers like John Lennon or Michael Jackson — as have philosophers, thinkers, commentators. Perhaps somewhere, as we celebrate and wallow in our differences, we might also accept our similarities. We are the world?