Ideas of race in the 19th and
20th centuries
By W Koopman
What is RACE?
• A group of people who are similar because
they speak the same language or have the
same history or customs.
• Identify “racial” groups within the class.
Pseudo Science
• What is it?
• Definition: A theory, methodology, or practice
that is considered to be without scientific
foundation.
• Examples?
• Two theories: Scientific Racism and Social
Darwinism
• Theories about RACE
• Its origins?
Darwinism / Charles Darwin
Origin of Species: 1859
“Multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the
weakest die.” Charles Darwin, The Origin of
Species
Darwinism
• A theory of biological evolution developed by
Charles Darwin and others, stating that all
species of organisms arise and develop
through the natural selection of small,
inherited variations that increase the
individual's ability to compete, survive, and
reproduce
• What does this mean practically?
Theories based on the pseudo science:
1. Scientific Racism
2. Social Darwinism
Scientific Racism
• It was based on the study of various human
beings throughout the world and the
categorisation of these people into racial
groups.
• People were categorised according to their
physical features and in later years this would
be used to suggest that these various races
had varying mental abilities.
Social Darwinism
• Social Darwinism does not believe in the
principle of equality of all human beings.
It states that:
• Some human beings are biologically superior
to others
• The strongest or fittest should survive and
flourish in society
• The weak and unfit should be allowed to die
Social Darwinism
Saartjie Baardman
•
Saartjie Baartman was born in 1789 into the Griqua tribe of the eastern Cape, a subgroup of
the Khoisan people who are now thought to be the first aboriginal inhabitants of the
southern tip of Africa. Her family moved to a shack near Cape Town and, while working as a
20-year-old servant to a local farmer, she attracted the attention of a visiting English ship's
surgeon, William Dunlop. What made her a curiosity in the doctor's eyes were her
extraordinary steatopygia — enlarged buttocks — and her unusually elongated labia, a
genital peculiarity of some Khoisan women of the time.
•
She agreed to go with Dunlop to England where, he promised her, she would become rich
and famous as a subject of medical and anthropological research. She was 21 when she left
Cape Town for London. At first, she was indeed put under anatomical scrutiny by scientists,
who named her genital condition the 'Hottentot apron'. 'Hottentot' was a word coined by
early Dutch settlers to South Africa to describe the strange clicking language of the Khoisan.
But the only success she achieved was as an exhibit before the general public.
•
Contemporary descriptions of her shows at 225 Piccadilly, Bartholomew Fair and Haymarket
in London say Baartman was made to parade naked along a "stage two feet high, along which
she was led by her keeper and exhibited like a wild beast, being obliged to walk, stand or sit
as he ordered". People paid one shilling to gawk at her, where she was depicted as a wild
animal in a cage, dancing for her keeper. For several years, working-class Londoners crowded
in to shout vulgarities at the protruding buttocks and large vulva of the unfortunate woman.
•
The aristocracy were no less fascinated at what they saw as a sexual freak, but they had
private showings. Baartman was supposed to earn half of the proceeds from her
performances, but in fact she saw little of the profits. In 1814, after spending four years being
paraded around the streets of London, Baartman was taken to Paris and, according to the
archival accounts, was handed to a "showman of wild animals" in a travelling circus. Her body
was analysed by scientists, including Baron Cuvier, one of Napoleon Bonaparte's surgeons. A
number of pseudo-scientific articles were written about her, testimony at the time to the
superiority of the European races.
•
Her anatomy even inspired a comic opera in France. Called "The Hottentot Venus" or "Hatred
to French Women", the drama encapsulated the complex of racial prejudice and sexual
fascination that occupied European perceptions of aboriginal people at the time. It appears
Baartman worked as a prostitute in Paris and drank heavily to cope with the humiliation she
was subjected to. Sad and homesick, she died a lonely alcoholic on January 1 1816, probably
of pneumonia. But even then she was to suffer indignity. Less than 24 hours after her death
she was carved up by Baron Cuvier. He had her body cast in wax, dissected and her skeleton
articulated. Her genitalia and brain were pickled and displayed at the Musee de l'Homme
(Museum of Mankind). They were finally withdrawn from public view in 1974, and her
remains were assigned to a storeroom and forgotten.
•
But some Africans never forgot Baartman. Nelson Mandela made a request to France in 1994
for her remains to be handed back. Her cause gained momentum amid post-apartheid South
Africa's new awareness of tribal identity. All over the country, aboriginal peoples are
asserting their heritage rights, claiming not only political and cultural recognition, but also
the restitution of ancestral land and the protection of intellectual property rights. The San,
once known as the bushmen of southern Africa, have successfully reclaimed historic tribal
land and won a share in the proceeds of internationally marketed drugs made from their
traditional medicinal plants. And now Baartman's Khoisan tribe, which has been recognized
by the United Nations as an indigenous "First Nation," has won a victory for tribal recognition
by securing the return of the 'Hottentot Venus' to South Africa.
Ota Benga
Class debate: There is substance for
these theories?
Eugenics
• "Eugenics is the study of the agencies under social control that
may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations
either physically or mentally." Sir Francis Galton, 1904
• Eugenics, meaning "well born," was introduced in the 1880s by Sir
Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin and the father of
modern statistics.
• Galton pioneered the use of pedigrees, twin studies, and statistical
correlation for the purpose of using that knowledge to improve
"the breed of man.“
• the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of
the human species or a human population, especially by such
means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic
defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits
(negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons
presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
Francis Galton
Eugenics in Australia
Colonisation of Australia
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aborigines – 70 000 years
Hunter-gatherers
Beliefs
1788 – Sydney – Originated from a penal colony
Penal Colony – Convicts
Industrial revolution and lack of opportunities in
Britain
• Fear of the French
• Increase of Settlers
Australian
Federation
in 1901
Conditions for the Aborigines
• No longer hunter gatherers
• Dependent on the settlers for the livelihood as
their land was redistributed.
• Many died because of the diseases introduced by
the Europeans, due to lack of immunity,
especially smallpox. (trend throughout the world
due to colonialism)
• Guerilla warefare in Tasmania
• Some historians argue that it was a genocide,
even though it was not a formal British policy.
Debate of race in Australia
• 1 million Aborigines originally, but down to 60
000 by the early 20th century!
• Racial Decay – Settlers used Social Darwinism to
reason that the Aborigines were unable to adapt
and were inferior. Therefore the decline.
• Racial Suicide – If Aborigines refused to adapt to
the new social structure and means of
production.
• What should be done?
• 1. Isolation. 2. Integration/ Assimilation.
1.
2.
3.
Government
Intervention:
Laws
4.
Aborigines and half castes moved
to reserves against their will.
Not allowed to vote, drink
alcohol, carry guns or own dogs.
Marriages between white people
and Aborigines needed special
permission from a government
minister.
Superintendants had control
over reserves and all aspects of
Aborigines lives. Eg. Read letters,
dormitories for children,
confiscate property, ban
traditions and customs,
expulsion. “Protectors of
Aborigines”.
White Immigration Policies
• Favoured English speaking
immigrants, exclusively.
• Mostly from the USA, Canada
and Britain.
• There was a need for farm
workers and domestic workers.
• These were not popular jobs
and most immigrants moved to
town in the hope of better
jobs.
• This was another form of
discrimination
The Stolen Generation
• 100 000 half caste children moved from their parents. Most
had an aborigine mother and white father. 1910-1970.
• Removed from mothers and sent to live with white families,
missionaries or orphanages.
• Forced to assimilate and not allowed contact with the ‘real’
families.
• Trained as domestic workers and farm workers.
Missionary schools
When Ruth was 4 years old, she was separated from
her mother on Cherbourng mission in Queensland.
Ruth was 6 months old when she first arrived at
Cherbourg. Times were tough; it was during the
Depression, and Ruth’s mother had gone to
Cherbourg seeking help for her ageing parents.
Ruth’s
Story
But once she arrived at the mission, Ruth's mum was
prevented from leaving. What was intended as a
temporary visit became years of separation and
control. “People would say it was for your own good,
but my own good was to stay with my mum,” says
Ruth.
At first Ruth was allowed to stay with her mum in the
women’s dormitory. But eventually every child was
removed to a separate dormitory. Ruth was 4 when
she was taken from her Mum. “Once you were taken
from your parents, you had no more connection with
them,” she explains.
For a short time, Ruth still saw her Mum from a
distance. But when Ruth was 5, her mother was sent
away from Cherbourg and forced to leave her
daughter behind.
Ruth’s Story
https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australianhistory/stolen-generations#video-1
The Aim of Eugenics, Eugenics Society. 1934.
THE AIM OF EUGENICS
•
The aim of Eugenics is to study the laws of heredity as they apply to human beings, with the
practical purpose of using this knowledge for improving the physical and mental quality of
the race. Eugenists believe that no child should be born into the world who is unlikely to have
a fair chance. They affirm, therefore, that anyone, man or woman, who undertakes the
serious responsibility of parenthood, must be free from any disease, mental defect, or other
disability that is likely to be passed on by heredity and so impair the quality of future
generations. Most intelligent people now share this view; indeed, many have too few
children, because they wish to give the best care and attention to each child. But the nation
is endangered when fit people refuse to have children for selfish reasons. Our country needs
the best citizens it can produce.
•
Positive Eugenics: But if it is agreed that people who are sound in body and mind should have
as many children as they can afford to bring up, it follows that people who are ill endowed in
body or mind, and whose offspring are liable to be unhealthy or subnormal, should avoid
having children.
•
The next generation should be recruited from good stocks rather than from bad. But exactly
the opposite is now happening, for it is among the fittest stocks that the birth rate is lowest
and among the unfit that it is highest. We should not be content to allow this to continue. We
should encourage the fertility of persons likely to produce healthy children, and at the same
time prevent the waste and misery caused by the birth of children who are healthy neither in
mind nor in body.
•
These policies deserve the serious consideration of every citizen and especially of young
people who are entering on adult life and beginning to realize its responsibilities.
“Breed blackness out”
• Two government officials: Cecil Cook (Northern
Territories) and Auber Neville (Western Australia).
Protectors for decades.
• Forced removals of mixed-race children from their
mothers. Ruthlessly.
• Insisted that these children be allowed to marry white
Australians. Children from such marriages would be
classified as white.
• Close control by both men, administratively. Education,
clothing, etc.
• Especially girls, who would not be allowed to marry
Aborigines, but only white men or other mixed races.
Eugenics in the USA
Eugenics plan for the USA Follow link.
• Reservations
• Segregation
• Scientists – Charles Davenport and psychologist –
Henry Goddard - Encouraged government to
promote genetic improvement
• Migration of African-Americans to northern
states cities.
• Sterilisation of criminals (Indiana the first state 1907)
• 60 000 forcibly sterilised in the space of 50 years
Ellis Island
Eugenics in South Africa
•
•
•
•
•
Apartheid
Segregation
Experiments
Homelands
Poor white phenomena
Homosexuality
•
•
•
•
•
The Aversion Project in South Africa (1970s-1980s)[edit source]
In a project headed by Dr. Aubrey Levin South Africa’s apartheid
army forced white lesbian and gay soldiers to undergo ’sex-change’
operations.
It was part of a secret program to purge homosexuality in the army.
This was supported by psychological treatment by army
psychologists. Many had to undergo to chemical castration, electric
shock, and other unethical medical experiments if they could not be
'cured' with drugs.
An estimated 900 forced ’sexual reassignment’ operations may have
been performed between 1971 and 1989 at military hospitals.
Many of these experiments were conducted at the Military Hospital
at Voortrekkerhoogte.
Many of the victims were young, 16 to 24-year-old white males
drafted into the apartheid army although a few women did have to
undergo experimentation.[
Dr. Aubrey Levin is now Clinical Professor in the Department of
Psychiatry (Forensic Division) at the University of Calgary’s Medical
School and a member at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Alberta.
Nazi German
Germany
• 1933
• Reichstag and
communists
• President and
Prime Minister
• Gestapo (Secret
Police) and SS
• Concentration
Camps
Propaganda
•
•
•
•
•
•
Teachers had to join the Nazis Teachers League.
Anti Nazi books burned. Only pro Nazi media.
Hitler Youth – Children motivated to join.
Gestapo (secret police) crushed opposition.
SS (Hitlers personal bodyguard) brutal acts.
A branch of the SS controlled the concentration
camps.
• Structure, discipline and patriotism demanded
from all, especially from soldiers who swore an
oath to Hitler.
• Every schoolbook was an illustration of
Hitler with one of his sayings on the front
page.
German Schools
• "Learn to sacrifice for your fatherland. We
shall go onwards. Germany must live. In your
race is your strength. You must be true, you
must be daring and courageous, and with
each other form a great and wonderful
comradeship."
German Nation,
Aryan Race
•
•
•
•
Master Race and Ubermensch.
Separation, sterilization and
extermination
Negative and Positive Eugenics
Specific groups targeted. Black
people, homosexuals, Slavs,
criminals, mentally ill, Roma and
the Jews.
•
•
T4
•
•
•
In the fall of 1939 the German
government established, under the Reich
Chancellery, the Euthanasia Programme
under the direction of Philip Bouhler and
Dr. Karl Brandt.
The headquarters of the operation were
at Tiergartenstrasse 4, Berlin and the
code name for the program was derived
from that address—T-4.
The choice of terminology for the
program is consistent with the Nazis’ use
of euphemisms.
Euthanasia typically means "mercy
killing" and in the 1990's in the United
States and other western nations, it is
synonymous with "physician-assisted
suicide."
The kind of killing carried out through the
T-4 program bears little resemblance to
contemporary concepts of euthanasia.
The cost of
the disabled:
Nazi
propaganda
Final Solution
Boycott Jewish businesses.
June 1933, Jews dismissed from the civil service
1935 Nuremburg Laws.
Solution
Kristallnach, November 1938.
WW2 and the Ghettos of Eastern Europe, Warsaw in
particular. 450 000 people living in an area of 100 000
capacity.
Death camps.
1945-1949
13 Trials
November 1945-October
1946 – Main Trials
Josef Mengele – White angel
of death
Genome Project
• The Human Genome Project (HGP) was the international,
collaborative research program whose goal was the complete
mapping and understanding of all the genes of human beings. All
our genes together are known as our "genome."
• The HGP was the natural culmination of the history of genetics
research. In 1911, Alfred Sturtevant, then an undergraduate
researcher in the laboratory of Thomas Hunt Morgan, realized that
he could - and had to, in order to manage his data - map the
locations of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) genes whose
mutations the Morgan laboratory was tracking over generations.
• Sturtevant's very first gene map can be likened to the Wright
brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk. In turn, the Human Genome
Project can be compared to the Apollo program bringing humanity
to the moon.