Evolutionary Theory inspired Racism
The argument that evolutionary theory is inherently racist, although having garnered popularity in the 19th century, has since been largely frowned upon, for good reason. The ubiquitous presence of racial propaganda, like the image seen below, fueled the tense racial situations in 19th century Europe and America. Furthermore, the racial propaganda, unfortunately accumulating in conjunction with the surging popularity of evolutionary theory, led to more dangerous forms of racial exploitation in the 20th century. Commonplace acceptance of certain half, or false truths, perpetuated the falsity of racial hierarchies and this gave rise, over the years, to a deep ingrained racism among the European population. This acceptance allowed for more dangerous forms of racial exploitation to occur in the 20th century, i.e. Social Darwinism.
The argument that evolutionary theory is inherently racist, although having garnered popularity in the 19th century, has since been largely frowned upon, for good reason. The ubiquitous presence of racial propaganda, like the image seen below, fueled the tense racial situations in 19th century Europe and America. Furthermore, the racial propaganda, unfortunately accumulating in conjunction with the surging popularity of evolutionary theory, led to more dangerous forms of racial exploitation in the 20th century. Commonplace acceptance of certain half, or false truths, perpetuated the falsity of racial hierarchies and this gave rise, over the years, to a deep ingrained racism among the European population. This acceptance allowed for more dangerous forms of racial exploitation to occur in the 20th century, i.e. Social Darwinism.
Linnaeus’ five-piece categorization of homosapiens is trying to be as scientific as Darwin’s catalog of each subspecies of Finch. The two sets of analysis are comparable in that they each demonstrate the variations of characteristics among a seemingly similar group of species/races. But, while Darwin recognizes that the Finches are equally adapted to their respective environments, Linnaeus simply characterizes separate races of people by very specific positive or negative qualities. The American, Asiatic, and African peoples are attributed immoral mental attributes and severe brutish physical qualities, while the Europeans (of course) are attributed with civilized and refined qualities. This biased view easily demonstrates how racial hierarchies were implemented into the evolutionary theories of the 18th and 19th centuries and exploited in the 20th century. The falsity of Linnaeus’ analysis further reminds us how science, when put into the wrong hands of powerful men, can be bent and twisted to perpetuate discrimination and hatred among races and sexes. When politics enters the realm of science, progress is put on hold. And the socio-political structures of 18th and 19th century Europe and America favored white males in roles of power, therefore scientific inquiry became an exclusive discipline. It is on surprise sexist and racial propaganda seeped into the theories of evolution. But we can ask ourselves, how has political interjection into the scientific community dictated the course of history?
Picture Links: http://spacedoutmagazine.com/2014/04/26/breaking-news-how-to-deal-with-racism-in-2014/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism