Our diversity and the Italian Constitution. Do we really need human races?

This paper describes a proposal regarding the presence of the word "race" in the Italian Constitution. Three points are worth of note. Firstly, simply removing the word race from the Constitution is of no real help, since we could miss an indispensable hook for laws concerned with racism. Rather, we should be able to introduce an alternative phrase that: (i) can express the concept of diversity without forgetting all the various aspects of its meaning (biological and cultural, above all); (ii) in no way evokes a hierarchy of values. To make it more effective, the amendment must be accompanied by an explicit statement that race has no meaning for the human species and that any discriminatory view based on such an invalid assumption must therefore be rejected. Secondly, overcoming the old, but still existing, dichotomy between “physical” and “cultural” anthropology, is an absolute necessity in every discussion about the ”human races”. In fact, the term race is also used to stigmatize cultural differences, as if they were the product of different intellectual skills or moral predispositions. Achieving a synthesis between the biological and cultural dimensions of race is a preliminary step to effectively counter the dangerous links between new forms of intolerance and the resurgence of genetic determinism. Thirdly and finally, we should be aware that our commitment must not end simply by signing a document. On the contrary, it must start from there. In our educational and training activities, we must seek to involve wider audiences and provide them with the best tools so they can look at human diversity with no preconceptions. It is important to raise awareness of the need for a change among all those who, for various reasons,are involved in scientific and cultural dissemination.