Race in the 21st Century

Race (i.e. the subdivision of humans as being genetically differentiated into different groups) is a myth. Whites, blacks, hispanics, etc. are all different only by the amount of melanin in their skin and certain perceived differences that when looked at on the whole, are entirely superficial. Take any two persons of different "races" (A brief note, on the US Census you determine what race you are, there are no scientific definitions provided, simply what race you believe you are) and strip away the skin and you will see identical body structure. Evaluate the genome and you will find only that certain people produce more melanin. If this seems offensive, consider the following skin tone chart:

Now, decide at which point one race ends and another begins. Though it may be easy to say the darkest tone is black and the lightest white, it is difficult, if not impossible to make agreeable differences in between. Every person has their own definition of what color constitutes what race. In addition, modern evidence suggests that all humans originated in Africa and the Middle East and then spread out across the globe. Differences in skin tone developed as a way of the body coping with different climates. Differences in body mass and fat distribution did the same. Both of these over millennia of human history. Research has shown no difference in brain mass and indeed apart from superficial differences in skin tone and other environmental changes (e.g. hair type, fat distribution, etc.) no difference at all. All humans share the same genetic code and because of this, it is impossible to divide us into subsets according to any reliable method because no subsets exist.
All of this is not to say that groups that identify with one race or another do not share cultural differences. These differences however, come from heritage and not a division of race. Cultural differences should of course be respected, but we should not fool ourselves into believing that any human is better or worse than any other human. Moreover, we should not fool ourselves into thinking our self-created race identifications have any significance to anyone but the individual. White, black, yellow, red, green, or even purple polka dots (would be interesting to see that one) are simply natural reactions to the climate that person's ancestors chose to live in and reflect in no way the individual's capacity. Martin Luther King Jr. knew this and envisioned a day when all colors of people came together and were not judged by their color but by their character. This day, despite mountains of scientific evidence showing our sameness, has yet to come. Bigotry, hatred, and fear still abound. Though we like to think ourselves sophisticated, we are still the same fearful and racist nation we have always been (with some refreshing exceptions). We still look for ways to divide. We look at race, political party, religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc. any excuse to consider ourselves superior and others inferior. If we ever hope to make any progress, we must stop this foolhardy way of thinking and instead look to what unites us, and consider all men and women equal. Only then can we have a dialogue and come together to fix our nation and our world.