Racial Theories PDF

RACIAL THEORIES p147 - 159 Introduction In the 19th century, ideas about race and racial superiority were used to justify discrimination. So-called scientific theories ‘proved’ that whites were superior to other groups, based on physical differences. However, those who drew up...

RACIAL THEORIES p147 - 159 Introduction In the 19th century, ideas about race and racial superiority were used to justify discrimination. So-called scientific theories ‘proved’ that whites were superior to other groups, based on physical differences. However, those who drew up these theories ignored any evidence that contradicted their research. Scientific Racism o supporters of Scientific Racism based their work on that of botanists and zoologists who had classified plants and animals according to their physiological structure o the same principles were applied to people, whom they divided into racial groups and then ranked into a hierarchy, grading some as superior to others o the decision about what constituted qualifications to be the superior group was based on subjective values and not on scientific fact the term ‘pseudo-scientific racism’ is more accurate o Blumenbach – divided people into 5 racial groups based on the geographical area they lived in and then ranked them according to his own view of what was desirable, concluding that the white group was the superior one. Each race group was given stereotyped characteristics o Morton – classified people according to the shape and size of their skulls and believed that each group had different abilities. He also linked intelligence to brain size but based his theories on flawed methods o Scientific Racism became very popular in the West and was used to justify colonialism which was seen as the conquering of an inferior race by a superior one o However, in the 1920s evidence was found that humankind started in southern Africa and this was backed up by findings made in East Africa in the 1960s. This is why the Sterkfontein caves are called the ‘cradle of humanity’. From these early beginnings, people gradually moved and spread throughout the world between 180 000 and 90 000 years ago, developing different characteristics due to the effects of climate and the environment. So in fact we are all descended from one ‘race’!! Social Darwinism o In 1859 Darwin published the findings of his research in a book called On the Origin of Species. His theory of evolution maintained that species constantly change and evolve by a process of adapting and natural selection i.e. species which adapted better to changes in their environment flourish at the expense of the less well adapted. He called this the ‘survival of the fittest’ o Herbert Spencer – adopted Darwin’s groundbreaking research on evolution in the animal kingdom and applied it to humans, saying that some humans were biologically  superior to others those that were ‘fit’(white, wealthy and powerful) were at the top of society and the ‘unfit’ (poor, black and even Jews) were at the bottom. This was used to justify social inequality and followers of this theory believed it gave ‘superior’ white nations, with their advanced weaponry, the right to conquer and ‘civilise’ ‘savage blacks’ it was used to justify imperialism, colonialism, racism and poverty o This was a total misinterpretation of Darwin’s theories. He believed that a whole species of animals was constantly adapting to a changed environment, not individual animals within a species – and humans are all the same species. He also did not rank the different species according to any order o This false teaching had terrible effects because European characteristics were seen as the ideal e.g. the Nazis blonde blue eyed Aryans, whose physical qualities were linked to intelligence, physical strength and moral character. This meant that people who did not fit the description were inferior in every way and drastic measures were used to eliminate them. Eugenics o means ‘good in birth’ o followers of Galton’s work believed that it was possible to improve the quality of human societies by encouraging people with superior qualities and above average intelligence to reproduce, thus improving stronger groups in society. This led to the idea that it would be better to remove weaker groups o supporters of eugenics thought that it was possible to solve social problems like crime and poverty by getting rid of ‘inferior’ people o they focussed on differences between people and categorised them as ‘fit’ and ‘unfit’ o a perfect race could be created by getting rid of the weak and unfit o negative eugenics involved not allowing people with genetic defects or other ‘inferior’ qualities to reproduce because this would lead to racial degeneration they would eventually die out and only the fit would survive o believers in eugenics promoted sterilisation, abortion and contraception for the ‘unfit’ and at the same time superior and ‘fit’ people were encouraged to have lots of children. The Nazis were the strongest supporters of this idea ¼ million people were sterilised because of poor health and more than 70 000 people in German mental hospitals were murdered as were millions of others because of their religion or race. Race o the reason human beings do not all look the same even though they are one species is because their ancestors lived and developed in different environments o ‘race’ is not a scientific concept; physical features do not relate in any way to how people think or behave o the misuse of the word ‘race’ to classify people has resulted in a disregard for human rights and cruel behaviour towards those regarded as inferior o people’s ideas about ‘race’ are influenced by their cultural and social traditions e.g. apartheid used physical appearance (skin colour) as a basis for putting people into categories people could apply to be reclassified depending on what they looked like and children from the same biological parents could be put into different population groups. o These ideas were applied in various countries : Germany The Nazis used eugenics and pseudo-scientific racism to ‘prove’ that Jews were inferior and subhuman → the Holocaust USA The eugenics movement, led by a biologist, Davenport, believed that intelligence and other characteristics were passed from parents to children in their genes → they thought this would create a problem if feeble-minded or ‘inferior’ people (which included people of colour like African Americans or Native Americans) reproduced with ‘superior’ groups. The solution would be to ensure that these groups remained separated. By 1928, eugenics was part of the curriculum in high schools and universities → states passed eugenics laws like those preventing interracial marriage or forbidding people with a ‘defect’ like epilepsy from having children. Australia 1788 Britain began colonising Australia, driving the indigenous Aborigines off their land. Many were massacred and there was a serious attempt to exterminate them. Social Darwinism was used to justify this treatment because Aborigines were seen as a sub-human, primitive inferior race. Immigration laws ensured that only whites were allowed into Australia. South Africa Segregation and later apartheid (apartness) aimed to separate white South Africans from the rest of the population and blacks, coloureds and Indians were discriminated against. This policy, which was built on racism and enforced by laws, lasted until 1994.