How likely is it that two people of the same race are related?

Question

I have a vague recollection of reading a statistic that said something to the effect that a person who is of the same race is more closely related to you than someone of a different race. I realize that race is a socially constructed concept so maybe this statistic was bs but perhaps they were talking about people who are in the same ethnic group or something.

Answer 1

5 degrees of separation.

Answer 2

As there is only the one race they have to be related.

Answer 3

If race is a social construct, then is it necessarily biological?

Nope.

The human race is one thing! One genome, not sorted out by blue eyes, large noses, curly hair or brown, beige, pink skin colors.

Sorry buddy, but you are just as related to an indian as an Asian or  me. Yes, we are related.

You are my brother. I am your sister. The janitor is your brother, the cafeteria lady is your sister. Paris Hilton is our idiot trampy cousin.(Sorry)

If we treated each other that way, our whole world would be radically different over night! It could happen.

(I'd have our idiot cousin committed and spend her money.)

Answer 4

Well, race IS socially constructed, but being of the same general background does indicate, too, that there is likely a closer genetic relationship than someone who is not of the same general background, because your ancestors lived relatively closer to one another than people of a different race. This is on average.

Answer 5

Question: How many races do you think populate earth?

Is race the same as Ethnicity?

If there are different races currently populating the planet earth, what, then, is the....HUMAN RACE ? ? ?

I assume you are aware that smart people have successfully traced the human genome and it says that :

we all be the same race!

So, your question is......what, exactly?

Answer 6

Actually, Q, the chances of you being as genetically similar as a person of one general descent or ethnicity are equal to any other ethnicity.  Of course, when it becomes more specific you obviously have a greater chance of being related to someone in your tribe, but a "black" individual from Kenya can be closer in genetic makeup to a Cambodian or a German than a "black" individual from Ethiopia.

So no, it is not more likely unless you get far more specific than our current descriptions of race and ethnicity.