Have you ever wondered how many different races there are? Well, here’s a book that renders that question meaningless and offers a different perspective on race. The book, One Race, One Blood, written by Ken Ham and Dr. Charles Ware, is a worthy source for combating racism, and I wanted to provide a short review and recommendation.

Racism has existed for thousands of years; it’s found wherever different people live close to one another. It’s tempting to think racism has become worse in recent years, but if we study history, we can find many examples of the most heinous forms of racism and evil long before you and I were born.

Pointing out racism is easy. The term “racist” is thrown about so carelessly these days that it has become baseless. For decades it has been a tool used to demonize one’s political enemies, and is the basis for creating new laws, neither of which resolves the underlying issues. So, what is the solution?

Chapter one tells the tragic story of Ota Benga, a man who belonged to the Mbuti tribe in Africa. He was put on display in the Bronx Zoo in 1906 and referred to as a barbaric savage. And as far as humans go, he was considered evolutionary inferior. Thanks to Charles Darwin and his books, The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man, people of color were looked down upon as sub-human and less evolved. The seeds of Darwinism germinated into a garden of racism and justified the behavior.

One quote I found particularly relevant was published in 1906 when a black minister came to help Ota Benga. According to the New York Times, “The reverend colored brother should be told that evolution… is now taught in the textbooks of all the schools, and that it is no more debatable than the multiplication table.” Interestingly, similar quotes are still used today to support evolution and justify racism.

Even Adolph Hitler used evolution to justify the extermination of the Jews. Some scientists believed and taught “that a purposeless process, known as evolution, had generated all of life’s complexity, including civilization itself. It had done so through a pitiless procedure of the strong eliminating the weak.” Not only that, but many of these same scientists taught that God and the Bible were a myth.

To be clear, evolution isn’t responsible for racism; but it has fueled the fire. The book One Blood, One Race explains that evolution “logically implies that certain ‘races’ are more ape-like than they might be human.” The book, however, points out that modern genetics has proven our differences are only skin deep. Chapter one is titled, “Darwin’s Garden” because it examines “the fruit of evolution with respect to racism.”

The book goes on to provide hope and a solution, and that is through God’s Word. The Bible tells us that all humans are descended from Adam and Eve, and that means we’re all related. Modern humans are descended from Noah, his wife, and their three sons, so all humans share the same bloodline and belong to the same race- the human race.

Therefore, the concept of race is misleading. Since we’re all distantly related cousins, brothers and sisters, there is no such thing as a superior race. We’re all related to and part of the same human family. So we should treat one another with respect and dignity. Further, the Bible shows us how to do that with parables like the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). And Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:28-31). These are the ideas we should encourage and promote. Then we will make progress in stopping this horrible disease known as racism.

The book One Race, One Blood can be read online. The Introduction, as well as Chapters One and Two are available, and the other chapters will be released on a regular basis. I would certainly recommend reading the entire book as it becomes available for a number of reasons: simply put, the topic is very relevant in today’s society. The book puts racism into perspective, highlights the ways evolution has made it worse, and discusses how we can combat and resolve the issue. We can be part of the solution simply by shedding light on the truth.

The fruit of evolution has been damaging, but the fruit of God’s love in us, through Jesus Christ, can bring healing, and this is the real solution we can promote.