Was Darwin a Racist?

Summary

This video script explores the complex legacy of Charles Darwin, challenging the myth that he was anti-racist. It discusses Darwin's opposition to slavery and his family's abolitionist ties, yet also highlights his views on racial hierarchy and the extermination of 'less intellectual' races. The script contrasts Darwin's progressive ideas with contemporaneous anti-racist voices, urging a nuanced understanding of historical figures and their ideologies.

Takeaways

• 🧔 The debate revolves around whether Charles Darwin, known for his impressive beard and scientific contributions, was a racist.
• 📚 The myth that Darwin was not racist is challenged, suggesting his opposition to slavery and belief in racial equality might be overstated.
• 🗓 In May 2020, protests against racism led to a reevaluation of historical figures, including Darwin, in academic circles.
• 🔍 Darwin's family ties to the abolitionist movement and his published works were initially seen as evidence against him being racist.
• 🌟 Anthropologist August Quintas criticized Darwin's 'Descent of Man' for justifying colonialism and genocide, influencing scientific conclusions.
• 📜 Darwin's correspondence with others reveals his belief in the gradation of intellectual powers between races and the extermination of 'less intellectual' races.
• 🏛️ Darwin did not openly demonstrate bigotry but his views supported a racial hierarchy and the superiority of certain races.
• 🤔 The script questions the defense that Darwin was simply a man of his time, pointing out that there were contemporaries who opposed his racial views.
• 🔬 Darwin's work is complex, with some parts being revolutionary and others toxic, and it's important to distinguish between them.
• 🌐 The script concludes that Darwin likely held racist views, and it's crucial to identify and discuss racism in historical figures honestly.

Q & A

What was the context that led to Charles Darwin's legacy being reviewed in 2020?

In May 2020, widespread protests against police violence and racism in the US impacted various sectors, including academia. Social movements like Black in the Ivory and Shutdown STEM pressured universities to address historical white supremacy, leading to a review of Darwin's legacy.

What was the initial perception of Darwin's stance on race and racism?

Darwin was initially seen as not racist due to his family ties to the abolitionist movement and his opposition to polygenism, which was a scientific theory of the time that insisted blacks and whites had separate ancestors.

How did Darwin's views on slavery align with his family's beliefs?

Darwin's opposition to slavery was in line with his Wedgwood family's beliefs. His family was part of the 18th-century British abolitionist movement, and Darwin himself expressed pride in Britain's efforts to eradicate slavery.

What did anthropologist August Quintas criticize in Darwin's 'Descent of Man'?

Anthropologist August Quintas criticized Darwin's 'Descent of Man' for justifying empire, colonialism, and genocide, arguing that Darwin's racism influenced his scientific conclusions.

What is the myth surrounding Darwin's views on race?

The myth is that Darwin was not a racist and that his opposition to slavery and belief in racial equality reflected his views. This myth has been challenged by recent scholarship, suggesting that Darwin held more complex and sometimes racist views.

What did Darwin's correspondence with Charles Lyell reveal about his views on race?

Darwin's correspondence with Charles Lyell revealed that he believed in gradations of intellectual powers between different races, implying a significant but not insurmountable gap between races, and that less intellectual races were being exterminated as part of natural selection.

How did Darwin's views on polygenism differ from his contemporaries?

While Darwin disagreed with the idea that different human races were distinct species, he did not challenge the hierarchical view of races presented by others. He remarked on the extermination of lower races by higher civilized races as part of natural selection.

What evidence is there in Darwin's published works that suggests he supported racial hierarchy?

In 'The Descent of Man,' Darwin emphasized racial competition and suggested that white groups always won when in contact with Aboriginal populations. He also leaned on research showing supposed correlations between brain size and intelligence across races, placing whites at the top.

What were the two defenses scholars used to argue that Darwin was not racist?

Scholars defended Darwin by suggesting that acknowledging his support for wrong or malicious ideas would give victory to biblical creationists, and by arguing that he was simply a man of his time, despite also being considered ahead of his time.

How does the author of the article suggest we should view Darwin's legacy?

The author suggests that we should view Darwin as a whole person, acknowledging both the toxic ideas and the revolutionary contributions in his work. This approach humanizes Darwin and encourages a more nuanced discussion of his legacy.

Outlines

00:00

🧔 Debunking the Myth of Charles Darwin's Anti-Racism

The paragraph introduces a debate on Charles Darwin's stance on race, challenging the popular belief that he was not racist. It references a book that questions this myth, particularly an article by Eric Petersen. The context is set by the May 2020 protests against racism and police violence in the US, which led to a reevaluation of historical figures, including Darwin. Despite initial views that Darwin's family ties to abolitionism and his opposition to polygenism indicated anti-racist beliefs, recent criticism suggests that his work may have supported colonialism and racial hierarchies.

05:00

🌍 Darwin's Personal Experiences and Views on Slavery

This section delves into Darwin's personal experiences with slavery during his voyage on the HMS Beagle and how these experiences influenced his views. It mentions his pride in Britain's efforts to abolish slavery and his opposition to it, which was contrary to what others predicted. The paragraph also discusses Darwin's admiration for the enslaved people he met, highlighting a complex view that includes both appreciation for their character and physique, and a perpetuation of stereotypes about 'happy slaves.'

10:02

📜 Darwin's Scientific and Private Views on Race

The paragraph explores Darwin's scientific and private correspondence to understand his views on race. It contrasts his public stance against polygenism, which argued for separate species for different races, with his private letters that suggest a belief in the natural extermination of 'less intellectual races.' The text also discusses Darwin's views on racial hierarchy, where he implies a gap in intellectual powers between races and supports the idea of natural selection favoring 'higher' races over 'lower' ones.

15:03

🔍 Reevaluating Darwin's Legacy on Race

The final paragraph examines Darwin's legacy in the context of race, acknowledging the complexity of his views. It points out that while Darwin did not openly express racist sentiments, his work was used to justify racist ideologies. The paragraph also critiques the defenses of Darwin as either a man ahead of his time or simply a man of his time, highlighting that there were contemporaneous voices against racism that Darwin was aware of. The conclusion calls for a balanced view of Darwin, recognizing both his scientific contributions and the problematic aspects of his racial views.

Keywords

💡Racism

Racism refers to the belief that one race is superior to others and often results in discrimination and prejudiced actions. In the video, the discussion centers on whether Charles Darwin held racist views, despite his opposition to slavery. The script mentions Darwin's complex views on race, including his belief in the extermination of 'less intellectual races' and his correspondence that reflects a hierarchical view of races.

💡Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist and the father of evolutionary science, best known for his theory of evolution by natural selection. The video script debates Darwin's stance on race, exploring his family's abolitionist history and his own scientific writings, which are scrutinized for potential racist undertones.

💡Polygenism

Polygenism is the now-discredited belief that different races of humans are separate species. The script discusses Darwin's opposition to polygenism, which was a common scientific theory of his time that justified racial hierarchies and slavery. Darwin's views on race and his rejection of polygenism are central to the video's exploration of his racial beliefs.

💡Natural Selection

Natural selection is the process by which organisms with traits better suited to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The video examines how Darwin's concept of natural selection was used to justify racial hierarchies and the idea of the 'extermination' of less intellectual races, which is a controversial application of his theory.

💡Abolitionist Movement

The Abolitionist Movement was a social movement that sought to end the institution of slavery. The script mentions Darwin's family ties to the movement, particularly through the Wedgwood family, who were known for their anti-slavery stance. This context is used to contrast with the debate over Darwin's own views on race and racism.

💡Racial Hierarchy

Racial hierarchy is a system that ranks different racial groups as superior or inferior based on perceived characteristics or abilities. The video discusses how Darwin's writings have been interpreted as supporting a racial hierarchy, with his comments on the intellectual capacities of different races and the 'extermination' of less advanced races.

💡The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man is a book by Charles Darwin, in which he applies the principles of evolution to human beings. The video script critically analyzes this work, pointing out passages that have been interpreted as promoting racial hierarchy and justifying racial competition, which are contentious aspects of Darwin's legacy.

💡Scientific Racism

Scientific racism is the use of scientific theories or methods to support or justify racism. The video argues that Darwin's language and concepts were later adopted to justify racist assumptions, suggesting that his work inadvertently contributed to the development of scientific racism.

💡Victorian Biology

Victorian Biology refers to the biological sciences as they were understood and practiced during the Victorian era. The script contrasts Darwin's views with those of his contemporaries, noting that while he was progressive in some respects, such as opposing slavery, he also held views that were typical of his time, including certain racist beliefs.

💡White Supremacy

White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to other races and should therefore dominate society. The video discusses Darwin's private letters, which reveal a belief in the natural extinction of non-white races, suggesting a belief in white supremacy that is at odds with his public stance against slavery.

💡Anthropologist

An anthropologist is a scientist who studies human societies and cultures and their development. The video mentions anthropologists like August Quintas, who criticized Darwin's work for justifying colonialism and genocide, highlighting the role of scholars in re-evaluating historical figures and their impact on racial attitudes.

Highlights

Debate on whether Charles Darwin was a racist, challenging the myth that he was not.

Context established with the 2020 US protests against racism and academia's response.

Darwin's family ties to the abolitionist movement and his opposition to polygenism initially seen as anti-racist.

Anthropologist August Quintas criticizes Darwin's 'Descent of Man' for justifying colonialism and genocide.

Darwin's views on race and his belief in the gradation of intellectual powers between races.

Darwin's correspondence with Charles Lyell revealing his views on the extermination of less intellectual races.

Darwin's published works arguing for the shared ancestry of all humans, a central aspect of his scientific contribution.

Darwin's firsthand experience of slavery in Brazil in 1833 and his subsequent support for abolition.

Darwin's admiration for the Brazilian black population, contrasting with his views on race hierarchy.

Darwin's private letters reveal a belief in white supremacy and the natural extinction of non-white races.

List of passages from 'The Descent of Man' supporting racial hierarchy and competition.

Darwin's views on the inferiorization of non-white races and the destruction of Aboriginal populations.

Scholarly defenses of Darwin as either a man ahead of his time or simply a man of his time.

The argument that Darwin's work should be seen in its entirety, including toxic ideas and revolutionary ideas.

The impact of Darwin's language and ideas on scientific racism and racial equality debates.

The importance of distinguishing between the mythologized and real person of Darwin, acknowledging his false ideas.

Call to action for a more nuanced discussion of Darwin's work and the need to identify and challenge racism.

Transcripts

hello everyone and let's come back to

our British gentleman Charles darn and

in particular I would like to debate the

question whether this nice man with the

impressive beard was actually a racist

and there's actually a myth that is

existing surrounding

Darwin that he was not a racist that

Darwin's hatred of slavery reflected his

beliefs in raal equality equality and uh

this view is probably a myth as recently

pointed out in a book on the myths of Ja

Darin and this is in particular the

article of Eric Petersen so let's look

into the article so the article first

starts with establishing some context

and this is particular that in May 2020

we had widespread Pro protests in the us

against police violence and racism

impacted various sectors

including uh Academia so that was what

the pro protests were about social

movements like black in the ivory and

shutdown stem pressured University to

address historical white supremacy in

both visible and subtle ways actions

included removing statues renaming

buildings and creating new cour forces

then as Academia scrutinized racial

legacies Charles Darin's Legacy came

under review despite being historically

seen as an unlikely

Target uh Darwin's Family Ties to

evolutionism and his opposition to

polygenism were initially seen as

evidence Against Racism so if we read it

concretely some Jim Watson of double

helix Fame perhaps most

glaringly made for easy targets but

Charles darn seemed an unlikely one for

starters Darwin was Wedgewood through

his mother's side Josiah wedw cast the

iconic am I not a man and a brother

Medallion the unforgettable symbol of

18th century British abolish AB

Abolitionist Movement and in The Descent

of men and selection in relation to sex

published in

1871 Charles Darwin son of and husband

to wedgewood's attacked the

justification of polygenism the

scientific theory of that day that

insisted blacks and whites had separate

ancestors however uh in

2021 with the

150 anniversary there was the

Anthropologist August quentes who

criticized Darin's Descent of Man for

justifying Empire colonialism and

genocide quentas argued that Darin's

racism influence to Scientific

conclusions so it's highly relevant

actually Darwin was frequently and

notably more modern in his thinking than

most victorians they claimed The Descent

of Man the second of Darwin's Trilogy

extending his abstract of origin species

Darwin demolished the slavery justifying

view of different races as separate

species Beyond merely reforming

Victorian biology this group claimed

descent inspired later anti racist

perspectives and this is probably true

to a degree but we have to see the full

picture so Charles Darin hated slavery

just like his wetwood family or so it is

thought taught in many biological class

biology classrooms so why is that um

yeah this is probably because we need a

myth right uh we need uh the startling

modding thinker on issues of race indeed

a Proto boasian

Anthropologist um this is a myth and

like the author here patteron or what is

his name yeah he attempts to actually

debunk

it so against this article of fenus we

had like a backlash a group of Scholars

defended Darwin claiming he was ahead of

his time and opposed to slavery

supporting theories they argued that The

Descent of Man contributed to

anti-racist perspectives that's what

I've just read so

um yeah so far for the introduction now

let's come to the argument so here we

see that Darwin as influenced by the

Wedgewood Family Tradition displayed the

strong distaste for cruelty towards both

animals and humans uh near Rio de

Janeiro I lived opposite to an old lady

who kept screws to crush the fingers of

a female slaves I will not even allude

to the many heart signning

atrocities uh who speak of slavery as a

tolerable evil so Darwin firsthand

experien in Brazil 1833 that was during

his journey at the HMS Beagle uh the

brutal realities of

slavery and actually Darwin learned to

support here the abolition Darwin

expressed pride in Great Britain moved

to eradicate slavery a sentiment he

shared in a later letter to his sister

so he

wrote uh what a proud thing for England

if she is the first European nation

which utterly abolishes it Darwin felt

that living in slave countries only

strengthened his opposition to slavery

contrary to what others had predicted

yeah and like we also see here a kind of

weird appreciation of of the okay the

word I'm not supposed to say right uh a

much higher estimate of the ha character

it is impossible to see and not feel

kindly towards him such cheerful open

honest expression and such fine muscular

Muscular bodies and the text uh

rightfully criticizes and this widely

quoted passage Davin revealed both swarm

feelings for the enslaved person

physique and cheerfulness we may not as

a cringeworthy repetition of the happy

slave anecdote ever after baked into the

picous American lost CA myth so Darwin

was never racist in the conventional

sense of the word that's actually the

myth he expressed his dislike of slavery

and his ADM admir admiration for the

Brazilian black

population so that then is the myth and

Darwin actually published works

consistently arguing for the shared

ancestry of all humans a central aspect

of his scientific contribution this is

basically what this articles has so now

however let's look at Darwin's thoughts

on Race So what certainly stands out in

this regard is his correspondence with

his former geology geology teacher

Charles ly that basically taught him to

think in the Deep dimensions of time

Darwin believed in gradation gradations

of intellectual powers between different

races implying a significant but not

insurmountable gap between a hotten tot

and an urang I guess an urutan maybe I

wrote that wrong here I guess it's in

Ran Darwin suggested that less

intellectual races were being

exterminated a process he saw As Natural

Selection and action

quote I look at this process as now

going on with the R es of man the less

ex intellectual races being

exterminated uh so this is what he says

here right uh so we see here already a

view that supports a certain kind of

racism and genocide right uh so let's

look at his views on

polygenism uh the idea that we have more

than one common ancestor so Darin indeed

disagreed with the idea that different

human races were distinct species but he

did not challenge the hierarchical view

of races presented by others he remarked

on the extermination of lower Races by

higher civilized

races as part of natural selection

Caucasian races have beaten the Turkish

Hollow in the struggle for

existence um we find that

struggle of existence improving the face

of Earth uh I'm not entirely sure where

I put this quote let me just find it hot

that's what I said

before and

then Caucasians races have beaten the

Turkish Hollow and the struggle for

existence so we see here really a

pattern that just starts repeating in

his correspondence with Charles Kingsley

so King suggested that the superior

white race naturally selected against

other races a view D Darwin did not

dispute in 500 years how the Anglo-Saxon

race will have spread and exterminated

whole

Nations um and in his published work

that's then also uh like object of

debate he actually said in The Descent

of Man that racial competition

and he actually emphasized racial

competition and he suggested that white

groups always won when in contact with

Aboriginal populations like for example

in Australia he leaned on Research

showing supposed correlations between

brain size and intelligence across races

placing whites at the top and

darkskinned Australians at the bottom

implications are that Darin's private

letters reveal a belief in white

supremacy and the natural Extinction of

non-white

races and uh here is actually a

list

of and I need to show it yeah so let's

rotate it yeah so here's a list of

passages in The Descent of Man where we

actually see that he supports racial

hierarchy so uh like dark colored races

have a greater sense of

smell so is that racial similarity no is

it racial hierarchy yes then their

cranial capacity ranking from

92.3 in Europeans to 81 kubic whatever

it is cubic inch I guess um this is no

racial similarity but again racial

hierarchy and Savages will only risk

life to save own Community civilized

will risk life of strangers as weird as

that is slavery is a great crime Savages

treat women like slaves torture and

abuse animals show kindness to Keen but

not to strangers except Mongol Park

common experience justifies the maxim of

the Spaniard never never trust an Indian

so racial similarity is here uh

uncertain but there's racial

hierarchy uh the law the laow morality

of savages because a they are only

sympathetic to their own tribe and B low

reasoning skills to see broader

consequences of action C weak power of

self-command which in the Civilized

comes through habit perhaps inherited

instruction and religion so then we have

on page 147 civilized man extend

sympathy sympathies to all in nation

then all humans then beyond humans

unfelt by Savages except towards their

pet and that goes on and goes on and

goes on and goes on so we find actually

many passages that suggest that Darwin

indeed had racist views now how to

interpret this let's come uh to the

final passages here um Darwin never

openly demonstrated the sort of

emotionally D driven bigor tree and the

desent Descent of Man so it was not as

open yeah uh but it certainly was an

inferiorization

yeah uh perhaps as

influential um oh let's skip this

so we cannot say the same about

inferiorization so he has not an

antipathy against like the Savages right

so but we see here even with the sin of

Brazilian slavery washed away he

believed all uncivilized people would be

exterminated the gap between humans and

apes

widened and then uh let's see like

scholar came up with two defenses

basically the first one that even

hinting that Darin would have supported

wrong or malicious ideas means bib

biblical creationists will

win okay so the idea here is if we

demolish the picture of Darwin

as and anti-racist person then

creationists will win and the second

defense is he was simply a man of his

time which

interestingly uh conflicts with him

being Sim simultaneously lorded as a man

ahead of his time so and the author

actually makes some good good points

about how to look at that um so for

example Anthropologist Jonathan Marx

responded in the fren's 2021 for Forum

discussing the ideas that are toxic In

Darwin's work in addition to those that

are presend and revolutionary helps to

Mark make Darin seem more real and his

followers seem less cult-like and I

agree we should probably discuss the

whole person of Darwin right and then uh

for the second strategy in other words

to say Darwin was a man of his time

means to imagine that no prominent

voices or at least nonfamiliar to him

would be crying out against Darwin's own

attitude toward the destruction of

Aboriginal populations but there were

such voices and Darwin knew them well so

and actually the text list before some

of these voices uh so yeah let's come I

mean let's not look at or I mean now I

showed it so this is like one of these

pictures that clearly um supports this

kind of racism and it claims that the

figure in 21 was I guess in the wake of

Darin and old racism received a new

scientific justification in the Lexicon

through Darin um let's see what the

author writes about it completely it is

a shame Darin could not have wielded

that original wetwood Abol abolitionist

flame to argue for racial equality

instead any scientific argument for

racial equality lost Credence for at

least half a century after Darin

descent became not an egreg egregious

example of scientific racism but all to

typical scientific texts adopted Darin's

language to justify their racist

assumptions with astonishing rapidity

following the desent of man yeah and I

think this should be definitely also

something that we should keep in mind

and talk about and yeah so if we

ask was

Darwin actually a

racist we should probably say yes was he

simply a man of his time no there were

voices that were speaking out against

this kind of racism uh so we have to

learn to

identify racism where it occurs I mean I

say that as a white person right

but so I guess like I'm not the right

person to lead this kind of discourse um

and actually I don't know if I should

how much I should get involved in this

discourse for these reasons but looking

at Darwin I think we need to learn to

distinguish between the person that we

usually put on a pedestal and say it was

a genius and then the real

person that had many false

ideas um that were rooted in a false

ideology and yeah I just talk around

saying he was a man of his

time well there were always

anti racist arguments and maybe we

should then emphasize these thank you

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