Making Sense Of Race

Race is our age's great taboo. Public intellectuals insist that it does not exist-that it's a "social construct" and biological differences between races are trivial or "skin deep." But as with taboos in other times, our attitude towards race seems delusional and schizophrenic. Racial differences in sports and culture are clear to everyone. Race is increasingly a factor in public health, especially in disease susceptibility and organ donation. And in a globalized world, ethnic nationalism-and ethnic conflict-are unavoidable political realities. Race is everywhere . . . and yet it's nowhere, since the topic has been deemed "out of bounds" for frank discussion.