Alex, to add more trivia to the mix, the dictionary I quoted, I believe, is The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language (the kind that was used in Canadian school libraries when I was young; the kind adolescents used to look up "bad" words, when the librarian wasn't looking). However, the front and rear cover is missing from the weighty tome, as well as some of the last pages, hence the missing title. It does contain usage notes for the word "race", a partial list follows:

Re: grouping by ethnicity-
"That Pigmean Race Beyond the Indian Mount" (Milton)
"The second great variety in the human species seems to be that of the Tartar race." (Goldsmith)
Re: descendants of a common ancestor or family-
"The Boubon are by no means a cruel race." (Sterne)
Re: natural or inherited disposition-
"I giue my sensuall race, its reine (Shakespear)
Re: having some common feature or features-
"The race of leaned men, still at their books" (Thompson)
or in the case of a head from BC, still one toke over the line.

There are many more, but its late and the print is small.

Interesting that the word "racism" doesn't appear in the English language until 1942 and is defined then as: "The theory that fundamental characteristics of race are preserved by an unchanging tradition."

I didn't think there would be so many variations regarding the use of the word "race" in the English language either, but I guess my beat up old dictionary demonstrates that in more recent years, the English language has become ever less colourful and definitely more limited in the scope of usage.

A shame really, we seem to loose a considerable depth of expression of feelings and ideas as a result.