Page 35 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

1978). This type of gradation has made it difficult to count the number of races in the world
and there are a number of opinions on this. Some say that races do not even exist, only
differences in gradation of the gene frequency called clines. Others generalize species and
races so that they see there being only one race, Homo sapiens.
However, in the global population, there is clearly a phenotype or set of distinct
differences in the physical appearance of the human population groups. Through the
grouping of such characteristics we can distinguish three main races: Mongolic, Caucasoid,
and Negroid. Further, two more smaller groups can be distinguished on the basis of physical
characteristics: Australoid and Choisanid (Jacob, 1967). There are many other views on
this, the most complex or detailed distinguishes 53 human races (Barbujani, 2005). Despite
these different views on the classification of races, we need to understand that at present
time there is almost no such thing as a pure race because inter-race marriage fertility has
created mixed descendants everywhere. Because of this, the concept of race is being left
behind, especially because its usage is often misunderstood as a viewpoint that supports
racism. Many anthropologists and linguists avoid these terms precisely to avoid falling
victim to being accused of being racists.
Evolution, which creates typical population characteristics which may be grouped
in races and then in sub-races, actually happens because of the combination of external
influences and local evolution of different intensity. External influences, for example,
can happen through cultural or biological interactions with other populations nearby, or
with those that have come from a distance. These interactions with visitors can influence
the dietary habits or the nutrition patterns of the indigenous population so that they
gradually lead to physical changes. The biological interactions through marriage can
create descendants with mixed characteristics. These mixed descendants may gradually
form a population with their own typical characteristics. Local evolution happens when
the population living secludedly in a region experiences desperation or limitation of gene
flows with the initial population. This condition makes the natural processes of mutation,
isolation and selection gradually form specific physical characters so as to create
populations which are different from other populations.

Races in Indonesia
The concept of race owes much to the anthropological descriptions developed around the
20th century and which still are used as references by many researchers up to now. There
are two main opinions on the existence of races in Indonesia and the surrounding area. The

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