Human Evolution, Societal Concepts, and Historical Milestones

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life on Land
16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals

Understanding Race and Human Diversity

Key Concepts of Race

• Race is a modern idea with no genetic basis.
• Human subspecies do not exist.
• Skin color is only skin deep.
• Variation exists within so-called races, not primarily between them.
• Slavery predates the concept of race.
• Race and freedom were born together, with race often used to justify inequalities as natural.
• Race is not biological.
• Colorblindness will not end racism.

Essential Vocabulary

Adaptation

The process of change in which a species becomes better suited to its environment.

Anthropology

The study of humans and cultures from past and present.

Civil Rights Act

A federal law that authorized action against segregation in public places.

Genotype

The genetic endowment of an individual from the two alleles in a given locus.

Jim Crow Law

A code that limited and defined the rights of former slaves.

Phenotype

The observable characteristics of an individual.

Scala Naturae

The "Great Chain of Being," which pictured individuals rising in linear order from minerals to God.

Segregation

The separation of different racial groups.

Species

A group of living organisms of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes.

Trait

A characteristic of one's phenotype or genotype.

Insights from Dr. Spencer Wells

Dr. Spencer Wells states: "We are literally African under the skin, brothers and sisters, separated by mere two thousand generations. Old-fashioned concepts of race are not only socially divisive, but scientifically wrong."

Are There Subspecies Within the Human Race?

• Yes: Through the years, human beings adapted to their environment and developed different characteristics for a certain area.
• No: The genetic difference between two African Americans is the same, genetically speaking, as the one between an African American and an Asian. Humans haven't been around enough time to evolve into separate species.

Milestones in Human Development

1. Homo habilis learns to use tools.
2. Homo erectus appears; humans walk upright.
3. Humans invent the wheel.
4. Humans discover fire.
5. Human expansion: now living in Europe and Asia.
6. Ice Age: Humans cross the Bering Strait and settle in America.
7. Humans discover agriculture; humans become sedentary.
8. Great Civilizations emerge.
9. Democracy in Greece.
10. Republic in Rome.
11. Christianity spreads in Asia.
12. Rome falls; feudalism begins.
13. Gunpowder invented in China.
14. The Crusades.
15. America is discovered.
16. The Renaissance.
17. The Enlightenment Period.
18. The USA gains independence.
19. The French Revolution.
20. The Industrial Revolution.
21. World War I.
22. World War II.
23. The United Nations is formed.
24. The Vietnam War.
25. The Digital Revolution.
26. Brexit.
27. Donald Trump becomes President of the USA.