A person's environment is influenced by social and cultural circumstances

Racial inequality exists in many societies. Though people of different races outperform one another in the realms of education, athletics, wealth, and health, these differences are due to a person's environment - not their innate genetics or biological makeup. One of the first anthropologists to challenge the idea that race is biological was Franz Boas (1858-1942). Boas showed that cranium size - evidence which evolutionary anthropologists and race scientists used to support their arguments that intelligence differences between races were biologically innate - was more affected by environmental factors such as differences in nourishment.^[1] In the US, health disparities exist between White people and people of color (POC). While proponents of race as a biological reality may look to health disparities and conclude innate biological differences exist between White people and POC, the cause of disparities is the environment. In the US, Black and Brown communities are more affected by pollution.^[2] A report on data collected from 1987 to 2007 found that over half of the people who live within 1.86 miles of toxic waste facilities were people of color.^[3] Children of color living in urban areas are disproportionately more affected by lead poisoning, compared to white children.^[2] Exposure to lead and other toxic wastes affect the environment children grow up in and cause long-lasting health issues. Environmental factors, rather than innate biological features, influence the experiences and lives of different racial communities.