Reply to commentaries by Drs. Krieger and LaVeist on "race in epidemiology".

Racial categorizations are a dangerous anachronism with a disastrous history and fatal consequences for the human species. They play into the hands of racists and undermine the solidarity of some impoverished and neglected segments of our societies. Race is no longer a constructive tool of health or social research and should be abandoned as a category in research and programs of economic, social, and health amelioration.