Scientific racism

misuse of the scientific method to justify racism

Scientific racism is the use of science to support racism. In the 19th century, scientists divided humankind into different groups called "races".

Indigenous Races of the Earth (1857), Josiah Clark Nott and George Robins Gliddon implied that "Negroes" were a creational rank between "Greeks" and chimpanzees.

For instance, the group of black people was called "Black race" or "Negroid race". Many scientists said that white people were superior to (better than) black people. In this way, scientists supported slavery and Jim Crow laws.[1]

In the 19th century, some scientists said that Jews were a race. People like Houston Steward Chamberlain wrote that Jews were a danger to other people. Adolf Hitler read some of their books. He ordered the Holocaust in which about 6 million Jews were murdered.

Today, scientists agree that there is only one human race. Modern genetic research has shown that the idea of different races was wrong.[2][3]: 360  Scientists also say that the "belief in races" is a bad thing that has caused much damage.[4]

References change

  1. Brooks, Roy L., editor. “Redress for Racism?” When Sorry Isn't Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice, NYU Press, 1999, pp. 395–398.
  2. American Association of Physical Anthropologists (27 March 2019). "AAPA Statement on Race and Racism". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  3. Templeton, A. (2016). Evolution and notions of human race. In Losos J. & Lenski R. (eds) How Evolution Shapes Our Lives: Essays on Biology and Society (pp. 346-361). Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv7h0s6j.26. That this view reflects the consenus among American anthropologists is stated in: Wagner, Jennifer K.; Yu, Joon-Ho; Ifekwunigwe, Jayne O.; Harrell, Tanya M.; Bamshad, Michael J.; Royal, Charmaine D. (February 2017). "Anthropologists' views on race, ancestry, and genetics". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 162 (2): 318–327. doi:10.1002/ajpa.23120. PMC 5299519. PMID 27874171.
  4. American Association of Physical Anthropologists (27 March 2019). "AAPA Statement on Race and Racism". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved 19 June 2020. The belief in "races" as natural aspects of human biology, and the structures of inequality (racism) that emerge from such beliefs, are among the most damaging elements in the human experience both today and in the past.