Comparing the viewpoints of Leroi with those of Goodman

          Goodman took an article written by two men, Leroi and Thomas, and used their "errors" to produce his concept for the lack of the need for the concept of race to exist. First of all, I do not blame Goodman for showing resentment of Leroi in his article. Leroi sarcastically joked about Goodman's field, anthropology, and the men who make it up. One thing that I came across when comparing the articles of these men was that Goodman found that Leroi's views on why race is useful in the medical field was erroneous. Leroi believes that there is not enough precision in the medical field to understand why certain "races" are more vulnerable to certain diseases, like sickle cell traits, and others are not. He says that because we don't have the precision to categorize people in a better way, it is important to show that the "black race" is more prone to certain diseases, or not as responsive to certain medications because that is what is shown. Goodman argues that Leroi's views are incorrect.

Goodman says, "Why do some individuals have sickle cell trait? Is it because of their race?” The answer to this question is clearly “no.” Race is a poor explanation for the distribution of sickle cell trait, which occurs in high frequencies only in particular regions of Africa while also occurring in high frequencies in parts of Asia and Europe"(raceandgenomics.ssrc.org). 

It is not accurate to categorize "Sickle cell traits" as a "black race" trait because the people that get sickle cell anemia lived in certain places under the same conditions and then passed their genetic material on. Although Sickle cell traits are found at a high rate in Africa, those same traits can also be found at a high rate in Europe and Asia, "which were considered "non black" race countries. Goodman feels that the use of "race" is harmful and that Leroi is making excuses for the continuation of a word, even though modern genetics does not prove that there are different races.