TheJena Declaration is a scientific statement that questions and refutes the concept of human "races in a biological sense". It was published in September 2019 at the 112th Annual Meeting of theGerman Zoological Society (Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft) in Jena. The statement was written by leading scientists from the fields ofevolutionary research,genetics andzoology, and was instrumental in influencing thelegislative amendment to remove the term "Rasse" (roughly "race in a biological sense") from theGerman constitution.[1][2][3] With this statement, the Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Research atFriedrich Schiller University Jena explicitly distances itself from its 20th century predecessors, especially from the controversial scholar and evolutionary biologistErnst Haeckel, who was closely associated with the University of Jena and whose ideas ofracism andeugenics are today considered scientifically untenable and morally reprehensible.[4]
The authors of the statement,Martin S. Fischer,Uwe Hoßfeld,Johannes Krause andStefan Richter examined the issue of alleged human "races" from abiological perspective. They clarified that this concept has noscientific justification. Scientific studies of genetic variation within and between human populations showed that the biological concept of "race" was a typological construct based on arbitrarily selected physicalcharacteristics and did not reflect the actualgenetic diversity of the human species.[5]
The Jena Declaration affirms that there are no "races" in the biological sense in humans, since the genetic variation within humanpopulations is often greater than the genetic variation between these populations. Only indomestic animals thegenetic similarity within a breed is actually greater than between breeds. Moreover, genetic differences between populations are continuous, as humanstravelled long before major explorations and voyages of conquest by Europeans, creating links between populations that were geographically distant from each other. External characteristics such asskin colour, used fortypological classifications or in everyday racism, are very superficial and rapidly changingbiological adaptations to local conditions. In the humangenome, for example, there is not a single difference among the 3.2 billion base pairs that separates Africans from non-Africans. So not only is there not a single gene that accounts for "racial" differences, there is not even a singlebase pair.[5]
The authors conclude that the concept of human "races" is the result ofracism and not its precondition. Its use in scientific literature and social discourse often leads to misunderstandings and reinforces prejudice and discrimination. They therefore call for the term "race" to be discontinued in relation to people, except inhistorical orsocio-political contexts where it should be understood as asocial construction rather than a biologicalreality. They argue that the use of the term in relation to people creates a false idea of genetically separate groups and that it is important to debunk thismyth in order to combat racism.
They conclude the statement with an appeal toeducational institutions,media,authorities and allcitizens to reconsider the German term "Rasse" and emphasise genetic diversity and humanity instead of artificial and harmful categorisations.
In Germany, the Declaration had a considerable impact on public debate andlegislation, especially on the discussion about removing the term "Rasse" from the German constitution.[1][3]
The Jena Declaration also led to a number of publications in the field ofeducation andlearning. In the book "Den Begriff 'Rasse' überwinden: die 'Jenaer Erklärung' in der (Hoch-)Schulbildung" (Overcoming the Concept of Race: The Jena Declaration in (Higher) School Education),[6] a variety of ideas and concepts for overcoming the concept of "race" are offered. In this publication, the Jena Declaration serves as an impulse for a nationwide reorientation of (high) school education. Another example is the publication "Die Jenaer Erklärung gegen Rassismus' und ihre Anwendung im Unterricht" (The Jena Declaration against Racism and its Application in the Classroom),[7] which presents concrete examples of the application of the Jena Declaration in the classroom.
IQWiG (The independent Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care) also backs the "Jena Declaration" by ceasing to translate the term "race" as "Rasse" in its evaluations.[8]
The Institute no longer translates the term "race" as "Rasse" in its assessments.
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