There is a new book called “How to argue with a racist”, by Adam Rutherford.  Writing  at a time when genetic services such as 23 and Me are being used by huge numbers of people, Rutherford points out that the last common ancestor of all people with long-standing European ancestries lived only 600 years ago.  Indeed the experts say that nearly everyone with British ancestry is almost certainly descended from King Edward III.  And every person alive in 10th Century Europe, and who left descendants, is an ancestor of all Europeans alive today.

Ancestry studies show that we are all mongrels and that there is no such thing as “racial purity”.  Every white supremacist and racist has African, Indian, Chinese.,  Native American and even indigenous Australian ancestors of some sort. The idea that small genetic variations in between racial groups have an influence on behavior is totally discredited.  Skin color is the most visible difference between people who are otherwise all remarkably similar, born with a wide variety of capabilities and potential.  Race is a social construct, powerful still and a curse, but something that allows one person to feel superior to someone else.

As for this writer, he claims to be descended from, yes, Edward III, also King Louis XV of France and the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund 1368 – 1437. (a notorious fellow for the ladies, it is said).  This just shows how silly all this is, since is does me no good at all, and you probably don’t believe it anyway.