DRAFT version 9: revised Summer 2000
original copyright @ 1996
Dr. Peter Kassebaum,
(Not to be copied,or quoted without the express
and prior written permission of the
author).
THE LEGACY OF SOCIAL DARWINISM AND CULTURAL EVOLUTION
Background:
One of the more important features to arise out of the 19th Century
was the emergence of Charles Darwin's publication entitled The Origin of
Species.(( 1 )
This book was published in 1859, its primary purpose was to
explain the origins of all species from a secular or scientific perspective.
The focus was upon the mechanism for change which over time modifies
populations into separate species if conditions exist which would reward a
change.
Darwin identified the mechanism which produces change as a so-
called natural force exerted by nature upon a living population.
The most important components of his theory revolved around the
impact of both force and struggle in nature... which ultimately allows those
within a local biological population who have favorable characteristics to
survive in larger numbers when compared to those who are not suited for
the same habitat.
The widespread distribution of Darwin's theory through
newspaper discussions,
responses
and debates led to an explosion of ideas, and
both favorable
evolutionary change.
and unfavorable
Darwin
regarding
the
proposed that nature exerted
concept of
continual
pressure upon biological populations, and that those life forms who were not
1
suited for the pressures
within a specific habitat would eventually be
eliminated if the traits they carried were not matched to those that were
needed for survival within a habitat.
The other component of his theory
illustrated that both pressure and adaptation could be used as explanations
regarding the modification of living populations over time. If the pressures
were deemed extreme...a new species might result or evolve if it had the
traits which were needed. The Key to Speciation resided in the degree of
divergence from the parent species which the modified progeny would come
to exhibit.
Thus, if the degree of difference were great or extreme in a
biological sense...it became likely that a new species would result.
This was in direct contradiction to the views of some scholars and
theologians who (at the time) believed that in nature, all forms of life had
been created at one time by God.
implied that
everything
was
The religious concept of Hologenesis
created
simultaneously,
and Monogenesis
described the belief in one creation. Most of these same theologians believed
that virtually 'NO' changes after Creation (Genesis) had taken place, except
for
the subtraction
of
some biological
life
forms
from
the original
populations that had been created by God.
In Darwin's day, before the publication of his work on the 'Origin of
Species' few scholars had attempted to look for theories or explanations
that were grounded in fieldwork within a natural setting. Darwin's publication
rocked a segment of the religious establishment in the West. It came almost
parallel to the rising impact of the Industrial Revolution; the latter had
2
caused changes in how existential questions were both posed and answered.
Secular knowledge became the dominant tradition within Western society,
while sacred or religious knowledge was moved over to the side in matters
that were generally considered pragmatic. Ironically, it was in institutions of
higher learning which were affiliated with religious institutions that the lure
of secular explanations first took hold. The overwhelming percentage of
colleges and universities within England and the United States in 1859 had
religious affiliations, the majority were Protestant .
Materialism:
The writings of scholars akin to Comte and others, e.g., Hegel, Marx,
and Engels had some degree of impact upon the developing social sciences of
the 19th century.
These individuals were concerned with using logic and
rationality to explain the world around them, they came to be known as
Positivists and/or Materialists, in that they required that explanations were
supposed to be grounded in objective social reality.
The materialist
movement in the 19th century was an attempt to correct a faulty set of
perceptions about the social world that were grounded in non-objective
reality.
The goal was to create a way of viewing the physical and social
worlds by using objective and/or factual information rather than relying upon
traditional methods of explanation.
The ultimate result was to be
the
uncovering of a set of universal laws which had their roots in reality not in
supernatural explanations of cause and effect.
Modernity and advancement
came to be equated with scientific
3
theories and explanation; pressure
to explain human behavior from
a
scientific perspective increased as both the level of education and the size
of the middle class and the non-aristocratic upper class increased.
What
Darwin had attempted in his work was to identify a universal and all
encompassing law of nature which described from a materialist standpoint,
the very mechanism by which species were formed.
SOCIAL DARWINISM
An essential element of Darwin's explanation was borrowed by some of
the early social philosophers of the time.
They used it to postulate on the
reasons for cultural and racial diversity and even the economic differences
among and between these groups.
The element that all these philosophers
identified was also linked to what Thomas Malthus had in a pre-Darwinian or
pre-Origin of Species work, put forth in a brilliant essay... on population, i.e.,
the struggle that exists in nature between competing groups.(( 2 )
The
proponents of the new social sciences were attracted to Darwin's concept of
Natural Selection and the work of Thomas Malthus
upon pressure
and competition and the factors
whose earlier emphasis
which impact human
population had caught the imagination of many scholars. Natural Selection is
the term which is used to describe the 'Best Adapted' or biologically 'Fittest'
surviving in larger numbers and reproducing in larger numbers as compared
to the unfit or less fit members of a biological population.
Over time, the
population becomes stronger,i.e., better adapted to its new habitat. The key
is the survival of better suited offspring and the weeding out of the weaker
4
elements of the population.
The 'Strong Survive and the Weak Die Off'...it was deemed the 'Law of
Nature' or words to that effect.
Darwin used the concept of Natural
Selection to explain how different species had arisen and how change could
be traced, particularly
mechanism
for
if the source of pressure could be identified.
speciation
and divergence, i.e.,
Natural
Selection
The
was
borrowed and applied by 19th and early 20th century social philosophers to
employ as
an
explanation
regarding
how differences
Eventually, it was used to explain differences
came to exist.
between rich and poor, the
developed world versus the lesser developed world, and different types of
economic systems.
The Social Darwinists tended to believe that the 'Poor' and
Non
Western Peoples represented a lower stage of Cultural and Biological
development.
The poor were described
by Social Darwinists as being
detrimental in regards to the evolutionary and biological progress of the
human population.
To impede progress, by standing in the way of nature
would go against the very Laws of Nature, according to the Social Darwinists.
These individuals were usually in opposition to any public assistance
and
most programs which were designed to benefit the poorer classes.
Therefore, welfare programs, medical treatment and care, schooling
and other such social programs should not be undertaken by government,i.e.,
if one believed in a strict interpretation of the Law of Nature. This was the
message of the Social Darwinists, who were drawn largely from the more
5
privileged classes. Social Darwinists contended that the Fitter members of
Society would rise to the top and that the weaker less evolved elements
should be allowed to die off.
They believed it would be against the
evolutionary tide and would ultimately weaken the very ability of the human
race to survive if weaker populations were given help.
Competition was
thought to have made the human species tougher and more progressive.
Anything to lessen the impact of competition was described as being
detrimental, except when it came to safeguarding the interests of their own
social class and culture.
Those cultures that were less complex from a material standpoint
were described as primitive holdovers from a bygone era. Out of the Social
Darwinian perspective grew the desire to create a ranking system regarding
cultural evolution.
It was a relatively simple concept,i.e., those who had
power, wealth and a Western education and who shared the traits of being
upper middle class and above, from northern European backgrounds, 'White'
males, and Protestant were generally considered 'fitter' than all the other
groups, classes, races, religions, and cultures.
Lineal Evolution:
Needless to say, social class was also a part of their model along with
racism and a lack of equality for women.
Those who were from other
religions and cultures were adjudged not as fit.
A Ladder of Evolution was
created with groups or other categories in vogue... stacked one on top of
another in a ladder of so-called progression. Closeness to the 'approved
6
traits'
meant
that a category was deemed 'fitter' or
more evolved,
conversely distance implied inferiority and biological primitiveness.
The
higher a culture was on the ladder, the more evolved. What developed was a
ranking system, using descriptors like: Superior and Inferior, Advanced and
Primitive, Evolved and Less Evolved.
The resulting
ranking system was
usually described as a 'Ladder of Lineal Evolution'.
The Social Darwinists
believed that they were the 'Fittest' and
therefore most highly evolved. Lineal Evolutionists usually took the view that
Cultures or groups of people could not change their positions on the Lineal
Ladder without going through all the evolutionary stages and changes to
move up the scale. This allowed those at the top to take comfort in the idea
that little likelihood existed in their minds that they would ever face
competition from those below. Placement on the top of the scale or ladder
of evolution implied a higher stage of fitness; therefore.. those below were
defined as being less fit. This influenced the Anthropological and Sociological
perspectives of the time.
Hunting and Gathering Cultures were ranked on
the bottom of the ladder with Industrial-Agricultural cultures ranked at the
top of the Lineal and Evolutionary scales.
Unregulated
Capitalism:
Those who were staunch supporters of unregulated Capitalism,i.e., let
the Capitalists do anything they want...no labor laws, no export/ import
controls, no pollution laws, no worker safety laws, no mandatory product
safety laws, little taxation or no taxation... used the concept of lineal
7
evolution to suggest that Western Capitalism was the highest stage of
evolutionary development. Many scholars went on to espouse the view that
Cultural Evolution was part of a grand plan of nature and was divinely
inspired. This created an interesting situation with some traditional religious
authorities happy to see their own institution,i.e., religion
playing a role in
explanations of the real world. While those who gravitated towards a secular
explanation could take comfort by merely concentrating upon the concept of
Natural Selection being applied to people and how this Struggle in Nature
shaped people in a variety of ways. While, others took both the Sacred and
the Secular and combined them.
It was not coincidental that the vast majority of these same scholars
and clerics exhibited a social status that was more powerful than the
average person in their own countries. To say that this era had a 'smugness'
about it would be to understate the degree to which these 19th Century and
early 20th Century scholars and their supporters believed in their own
cultural, biological and moral superiority.
Cultural Evolution and Prehistory:
Three of the early champions of Cultural Evolution and Lineal Evolution
as a theoretical perspective within Anthropology were Lewis Henry Morgan,
Sir John Lubbock and Edward Tylor. Examples of Cultural Evolutionary dogma
from the period can be seen in the writings of Sir John Lubbock... a brief
quotation follows:
...the Iroquois have no religion, no word for God, Fuegians
8
not the least spark of religion...the Hottentots are
d i s g u s t i n g , t h e A u s t r a l i a n s m i s e r a b l e s a v a g e s . . . (3)
Modern day Cultural Anthropologists would be horrified by the above
descriptions
if
they were
Anthropologists.
to appear
as
the work
of contemporary
However, it is an accurate reflection of the 19th century
cultural evolutionary
school or viewpoint that Lubbock and his fellow
Anthropologists embraced.
An additional factor
which influenced cultural evolution was the
development of Prehistory as a discipline in the 19th century parallel with
the development of Cultural Anthropology. In the minds of many of the early
Prehistorians,
contemporary
populations
which were
still
living
within
economic stages other than the Industrial-Agricultural phase, were described
as surviving relics of Prehistoric life.
Horticultural
societies
were
not
Hunting and Gathering, Pastoral, and
considered
as
developed
from
an
evolutionary standpoint. It was not an unusual leap for 19th century Cultural
Anthropologists, Prehistorians and Sociologists to attribute more primitive
Cultural and biological characteristics to these groups.
They noted the
connections between the types of stone tools that were uncovered through
Archeological excavations and their counterpart tools used in some in living
cultures of the 19th century. As more was learned about the distant past
many of the Prehistorians who had assumed a Social Darwinistic perspective
came to view the Material Culture (stone and bone tools) from their 'digs'
9
as illustrative of an era of less biological development or an evolutionary
period that was not on the same intellectual level when compared to modern
Populations.
When Ethnographers
encountered
living
populations
using
roughly the same types of bone and stone tools, they frequently described
the living peoples who made them as 'living Artifacts' of a more Primitive
Past. The stigma of 'Primitive' was attached, and led to a variety of
excesses on the part of Western Society when interacting with these
groups.
Ironically,
early
Anthropology
assisted
in
the
process
of
dehumanizing these societies.
Perhaps the fact that these societies were frequently located in lands
that were being exploited encouraged some scholars to emphasize the
Primitive aspects of life for these peoples.
Stigmatization and negative
labeling allowed colonialization to be painted as advancing the tide of
evolutionary progress.
Scholarship supported this theme.
There was little
distinction in most of Anthropology at this time,i.e., 19th century relative to
the difference between Prehistory and Cultural Anthropology.
Both areas
used each others materials to assert that Lineal and Cultural Evolution was a
scientific fact rather than a theory.
Lewis Henry Morgan:
Lewis Henry Morgan's contribution to the literature of Anthropology is
somewhat intriguing in that his work entitled Ancient Society
published in
1877, became a reader for the Socialist political movements of the time as
10
well as being read by those who were staunch defenders of unregulated
Capitalism.
The former
were attracted
alternative political structures
to it because it illustrated
and the promise of evolutionary change.
Morgan was not a proponent of the Socialist view of his work;
he saw
something quite different in his own writings.
After a great deal of research drawing heavily upon a variety of
scholarly materials he developed a method of classifying and ranking cultures
relative to their stage of material and cultural complexity.
Morgan divided
society into three major stages:
1. Savagery was considered to be the period before
pottery existed.
2. Barbarism was the period associated with ceramics.
3. Civilization was the period associated with writing
or a written language. (4 )
His evolutionary stages were further subdivided by using subsets or
items based upon elements of material complexity.
idea of slow evolutionary progress through stages.
Morgan embraced the
Some modern day
Anthropologists have been critical of his distortion of the Ethnographic
record regarding Native American, and Oceanic-Pacific Islander societies. He
believed that 'Victorian' society was the high point of cultural development.
Unfortunately, while Morgan meant to merely describe the level of material
culture and a corresponding stage of development, the terms, 'savage' and
'barbarian' became a part of common argot associated with negative labeling
within the popular culture.
11
Morgan's Ancient Society was read by Karl Marx and F. Engels who had
it translated and encouraged its publication and distribution by Socialist
bookstores.(( 5 )
This was quite distinct from
the presses
Morgan's work available to the more traditional audiences.
that made
What impressed
Marx and Engels was Morgan's model of evolution for they saw in it a model
for what they perceived as a force in nature for progress or in their terms
the ultimate progress which would lead to revolution and the victory of the
Proletariat or the masses. To Marx and Engels, this type of victory was part
of the continuation of a struggle in nature which would result in a more
perfect society.
Here we see two widely different perspectives which were diametrically
opposed, drawing strength and examples from Morgan's writings. These two
camps or philosophical positions can be described as consisting of those who
were interested in the status quo and viewed 'Victorian' society as being on
the top of the evolutionary ladder; in direct opposition were those who were
equally positive that evolutionary forces would contribute towards a radical
restructuring
of society resulting in the triumph of
Communism over
'Victorian' and 'Capitalist' societies.
Edward Tylor:
Another proponent of Cultural Evolution was Edward Tylor. He wanted
everyone to know that he had not been influenced by Charles Darwin or
Herbert Spencer.
Mr. Tylor developed his own theory of Cultural Evolution
12
and a much looser lineal format by applying scientific principles to the study
of culture.
product
Tylor contended that the resulting evolutionary model was the
or the result
of what the data created.
Tylor is generally
acknowledged as the founder of modern Cultural Anthropology and is often
singled out as a researcher
who created specific
categories for
the
organization of ethnographic materials.
However, to his credit he did not believe as most of the strict
constructionists or Lineal Evolutionists did... in the idea of innate cultural and
racial inferiority or superiority.(( 6 ) He embraced the idea that Culture was
learned and that anyone could learn traits if exposed; this was in opposition
to the (supposed) biological limitations which most of the Lineal Evolutionists
placed upon non-Western societies and the populations within those same
societies. It was his latter viewpoint on the importance of cultural grounding
and exposure that stands out in stark contrast to his peers in Anthropology
and Sociology at the time.
The traditional Social Darwinian model of Cultural Evolution,i.e., from a
strict Lineal sense was discarded by most American Cultural Anthropologists
by the 1940's. The Legacy of Cultural Evolution and Lineal progression along
with versions of Social Darwinism are still alive within the popular and political
cultures of the present time.
They can be seen at the core of most
conservative movements in America and in some other societies.
these
social
movements
believe
that
to
interfere
with
Many in
biological or
evolutionary destiny through the application of social programs and planning
13
is akin to thwarting nature from its unyielding course. Then again, there are
those who suggest or state that some individuals or groups are chosen by
'God' to succeed or to fail.
This theme is frequently a part of the same
conservative perspective. Sometimes, it is linked to Cultural Evolution, while
at other times it stands on its own. What follows will be a concise overview
of several social philosophers who espoused Social Darwinistic positions.
Herbert
Spencer:
One of the single most important figures from the 19th century to
emerge as an advocate for Social Darwinism was Herbert Spencer.
He
actually came out with a theory of social change some years before Darwin's
publication introduced natural selection. Spencer in 1852, noted that natural
pressures acting upon human populations had a positive impact upon the
human race.(( 7 )
He advocated that
it encouraged development and
advancement and allowed the best of each generation to survive therefore
steadily increasing the march towards progress.
Spencer was generally in
opposition to social movements or government programs that would attempt
to help the poor. Richard Hofstadter's classic work on Social Darwinism in
American Thought cites a passage from Spencer related to his perceptions
about the poor or lower socioeconomic groups:
...the whole effort of nature is to get rid of such, to clear
the world of them, and make room for better. Nature is as
insistent upon fitness of mental character as she is upon
physical character, and radical defects are as much causes
of death in the one case as in the other. He who loses his
life because of stupidity, vice, or idleness is in the same
14
class as the victims of weak viscera or malformed limbs.
Under nature's laws all alike are put on trial. If they are
sufficiently complete to live, they do live, and its well
they should live. If they are not sufficiently complete to
(8 )
live, they die, and it is best they should die.
Spencer does not mince words, he states his view that society is akin
to nature...and that the weak should die off. His perspective influenced social
policy and other scholars of not only his era but served as backdrop for the
development of the Eugenics movement in Europe and the United States.
William Graham Sumner:
William Graham Sumner's perspective can best be described as an
historical analysis of the development of society. Sumner embraced a form
of what has been termed by Sociologists as the Protestant Ethic and the
Calvinist Ethos,i.e., a view of the world which illustrated the 'chosen' or
'preordained' position of what he termed the more successful members of
society and the value of hard work. He also believed in the dogma of
conservative economics and in Darwinian Selection...the elimination through
competition of the weak and the advantages to society by emphasizing the
survival
of the fit.
These
were two of the primary
components of
unregulated Capitalism. Here we can view his perspective of the world...
...They do not perceive that here the strong and the weak
are terms which admit of no definition unless they are
made equivalent to the industrious and the idle, the frugal
and the extravagant. They do not perceive, furthermore,
that if we do not like the survival of the fittest, we have
only one possible alternative, and that is the survival of
15
the unfittest. The former is the law of civilization, the
latter is the law of anti-civilization. We have our choice
between the two, or we can go on, as in the past,
vacillating between the two, but a third plan-- the
socialist desideratum-- a plan for nourishing the unfittest
and yet advancing in civilization, no man will ever find. ( 9 )
As one can see, Sumner and Spencer were not exactly advocates for
social equality or intervention on behalf of the weaker segments of society.
Nor did they see anything amiss with the elimination of the weak through
what they termed the Laws of Nature.
The works of Sumner and Spencer
became valued by the Power Elites who championed the writings of these two
men and issued their own versions of this philosophical perspective.
The
themes which they championed were that the strongest Western Capitalists
are biologically and morally suited to rule and that the poor and others who
were deemed not as biologically evolved or advanced should be discouraged
from over breeding and should be subject to the control of those who knew
better what was best for society.
Education and social programs
directed towards those who were poor
or of minority status were thought to hinder overall Evolutionary Progress
for those at the top of the ladder by wasting resources on the less evolved.
They wanted government and society to invest in the Elites not in the
masses; millionaires were considered the most valuable members of society.
These were the themes which were extracted from the writings of Sumner
and Spencer and used by other social philosophers and people in the popular
media or popular culture.
Needless to say, those who were in power liked
16
what Sumner and Spencer had to say.
Ironically, members of the middle
class were also caught up in the movement and could always look down at the
poor or those from the colonies.
Max Weber:
Another
20th century
Social Philosopher
who touched upon the
importance of ideas in shaping society was the Sociologist MAX WEBER. He
wrote extensively on the subject of what types of social themes were to be
found in Western Society at the time of the Industrial Revolution. While not
cited in most Anthropology textbooks, his scholarly work is invaluable in
gaining insight into how themes and ideas influenced society. He refined the
notion of the Calvinist Ethos-Protestant Ethic and how they had played a
major role in both Protestant theology as well as furnishing part of the
ideological base for the Industrial Revolution.(( 1 0 )
Weber's analysis suggested that many of the successful Capitalists of
the 19th century Industrial Revolution were guided by their own belief in that
they had been selected for greatness and success by some type of divine
selection.
They tended to embrace the concept of modernism by an
attraction towards modern technology and modern ways of accomplishing
tasks.
At the same time, Weber noted that they were fond of using a
traditional institution,i.e., religious explanation as a vehicle to explain why
they were successful. Weber believed that a fundamental difference existed
between those who used a rational (materialist) view of the world and those
who relied upon more traditional perspectives.
17
In his mind, the rational view
was equated with real industrial progress and the development of society as
it was being influenced by Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution. A number
of the most powerful industrial Capitalists used the Social Darwinistic
perspective as one of the components for the scientific validation of their
higher position within society.
The embrace by the Social Darwinists of the
rich Capitalists was proof enough for these powerful folks to see themselves
as being the product of so called Natural Laws. Weber was not a proponent
of Social Darwinism but he did have the ability to see how these and related
ideas had a profound impact on the direction of society in the 19th century.
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
The world view of Western academics in the 19th and early 20th
centuries was marked by the common practice of linking biology, race and
culture to national destiny.(( 1 1 )
colonializing nations,e.g.,
This was particularly appealing to the
United States, England, Holland, Germany, and
France. The United States was no different. What developed in England and
the United States
was something known as the 'Anglo Saxon School'
stressing a common political and 'White' racial heritage at the expense of all
those who were not part of this group.(( 1 2 )
This social movement (Anglo Saxon School) contributed to part of the
justification for the war with Spain, the attempts to control the Pacific
basin, mucking around in Central and South America... all in the latter part of
the 19th century and some of the 20th Century.
The genocidal practices
against native peoples in the United States after Social Darwinism were
18
frequently explained as being part of a natural outcome of the law of nature.
This included the military operations in the Philippines, Nicaragua and China in
the early part of the 20th century.
The treatment of workers, minorities
and the poor within the United States was influenced in part by
Social
Darwinism, Lineal Evolution and Cultural Evolution.
Several factors
can be linked to a Social Darwinian perspective.
Competition and Struggle are the two primary components;
Individuals,
Groups, Races, Cultures and even religions were characterized as being in
intense competition with one another. The evolutionary role or obligation or
mission of Western Society was held up as being threatened by the nonWestern world. Western society in the eyes of lineal evolutionary scholars
and politicians was charged with upholding its favored position in the
world,i.e., to make sure that evolutionary progress would be continued or
maintained.
progress.
Colonialism was championed as a way to continue evolutionary
The belief that God had selected Western Society for this role,
joined the secular and sacred into a powerful argument for power to be used
against the weaker populations of the world.
genuine
Many scholars were of the
belief that the societies which had embraced Capitalism and the
Industrial Revolution had a destiny which was determined by both God and
natural laws. They willing embraced the idea that they had been chosen as a
group to fulfill destiny or God's will, and that they were of a superior form to
all other peoples, and cultures.
Women:
19
Women during this time, even if a member of the designated chosen
group were thought to have one primary purpose and that was childbearing
and the duties of wife and motherhood. To do otherwise in the minds of the
Social Darwinists would be to go against the very laws of nature. However,
they were addressing the women of their own class, they had no qualms
about women of lower classes engaging in labor in factories without employee
safeguards or rights.
Women were thought to have been ill prepared by
nature for serious intellectual tasks. In the same way, there was little regard
for the women both in Europe and the United States as well as the colonies
that were coerced or forced into labor on farms or plantations and looked at
as being disposable by these same embracers of lineal evolution. The lives of
these women and their children and families were not valued.
The sexual
exploitation of women both domestically and abroad was common and little
was done to safeguard or protect their rights.
Fear of the loss of power by 'White Christians' and Colonialists was a
popular theme; it led to the creation of 'fear based' social movements in
England, France, Germany and the United States.
These popular movements
created mass hysteria and were anti-immigrant, anti-non-Christian, antipeople of color and caused untold human misery. The fact that these 'Social
Darwinists' both scientific and popularist knew that 'White Europeans' were a
minority population compared to the rest of the world... caused them to
ponder what might happen if the table were turned by the sheer force of
numbers.
One scholar who promulgated a view of impending Anglo Saxon
20
racial and cultural doom was the Englishman Charles Pearson. He published a
little work in 1893 called National Life and Character Studies in it he goes on
to warn of the impending decline of the "higher races"...
...We shall wake to find ourselves elbowed and hustled,
and perhaps even thrust aside by peoples whom we looked
down upon as servile, and thought of as bound always to
minister to our needs...( 1 3 )
Teddy Roosevelt:
Theodore Roosevelt was an outspoken advocate for the racial and
cultural survival of the 'White Race' he wanted to see at least four White
children per family in England and the United States... he believed that this
would maintain
sufficient
numbers in the world for
the Anglo Saxon
population to continue their domination of other races.(( 1 4 )
He was not
unusual and was more representative of attitudes than many would like to
admit.
The absorption
with race
and biology by Western
scientists,
philosophers, government leaders, and clergy was not ignored by racist and
bigoted social movements. A climate of fear and intolerance was created in
some areas of the United States and Europe. It intensified between 1890
and 1945, and in the United States resulted in a major change in the
immigration laws in 1924.
Legal Immigration became largely limited to
Northern Europeans, until changes in the law took place after the Fall of
Vietnam in the 1970's. The Klu Klux Klan grew in numbers between the early
1900's and 1928 in the United States with millions of members from coast
21
to coast. It members were elected to government at both the Local, State
and National levels.
However, they were not the only Anti-Foreigner Racial
Supremacy based group advocating exclusion, deportation and segregation.
Franz Boas:
What is even more remarkable against this backdrop of history was
the courage of the American Anthropologist (a naturalized citizen), Dr. Franz
Boas who spoke out against the racism of the time. He embraced the idea
that cultures are the products of a variety of circumstances... and that no
one race has a premium on intellect, invention, discovery or growth. Boas
stood up to the Biological Determinists and lineal evolutionists in 1894 at the
American Association for the Advancement of Science meetings... and
characterized the White Anglo Saxon cultural movement of the time as
biased and unscientific.
He was opposed to the tendency to use Anglo Saxon
Cultural traits and Biological traits as the only positive traits for culture or
biology by many in science and government.
All others were considered of
lower value, with ranking usually based on the degree of difference compared
to the White standard.
Boas contended that this evolutionary scale was
unscientific. ( 1 5 )
Franz Boas went on to become the single most influential figure in
American
Anthropology
and
eventually
turned
the
tide
in
Cultural
Anthropology away from Biological Determinism, Lineal Evolution and Social
Darwinism to Learned Behavior and emphasized the impact that cultural
settings have upon the socialization process. In his own life, he felt the sting
22
of Anti-Semitism and faced several instances in his career where he was
labeled by powerful detractors within Anthropology as belonging to an
inferior race. His antagonists wanted those of the 'Hebrew Persuasion' to be
blocked from
gaining influence
within American
Anthropology and its
perspective.(( 1 6 ) Some went so far as to start their own professional
organizations within Anthropology to counteract what they considered to be
his unhealthy influence upon Anthropology and science.
Boas was a German Jew and feelings against Jews, Catholics, Italians,
Central
and
Eastern
Europeans,
Hispanics,
Native
Americans,
Asians,
Africans and Pacific Islanders were quite strong in the United States.
The
fact that he survived the personal attacks upon his scholarship and person is
a tribute to his courage and principles. He did not back down. While Boas was
known
for
having
mentored
many
of
the
most
famous
American
Anthropologists of the 20th century, he also became a figure who was
feared because of the strength of his arguments.
One of the more bizarre incidents in his life, took place at a distance
years after he immigrated to the United States. When the Nazis in Germany
began to take power in the early 1930's, they embarked upon a campaign to
remove so-called foreign or alien influences from their nation. The works of
many authors, artists,
German society.
and scientists were burned and
One of the
removed from
first major acts of the Nazi party in Kiel,
Germany was to remove the published works of Dr. Boas from the library at
the University of Kiel, because of his published record of opposition to the
23
Nazi theory of Nordic Racial superiority.
The fact that he was a Jew made
his books in the eyes of the Nazis...an alien influence which needed to be
removed from German society. Professor Boas at the time was a member
of n e a r l y
every
learned
society
in the world
that
deals
with
a n t h r o p o l o g y including, the A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l Society of B e r l i n , the
German
Anthropological
Society,
and the
Prussian
and
Munich
A c a d e m i e s o f S c i e n c e . ( 1 7 ) Boas when asked what he thought... stated:
...if they want to be crazy, let them be crazy. They gave
me the honorary degree of M.D. only last year, and when I
went there to receive it I was the guest of honor of the
university. Dr. Boas is a graduate of the University of
Kiel, with a Phd. earned from Kiel in 1881, and one from
Oxford in 1912,and Colombia in 1929. ( 1 8 )
In a later section of this essay, more materials about Professor Boas
will
expose
the
type
of
opposition
that
he
faced
within
American
Anthropology, in that Social Darwinism, Biological Determinism, and Racism
were very much alive within Anthropology during his career.
POLITICS AND STRUGGLE
Politically,
the
Evolutionary formats
concepts
of
Cultural
Evolution
and
were used by Communists, Socialists,
Proponents of Unregulated Capitalism.
the
Lineal
Nazis and
They were all drawn to the idea of
'Struggle and Survival of the Fit' as part of the justification for their own
ideological constructs as well as a serving as a rationale for what they were
doing to others...
Marx and Engels:
24
Marx and Engels were attracted to the model of Cultural Evolution.
They saw Communism as the pinnacle of evolutionary progress and 'struggle'
was a basic element of their theoretical perspective. Marx and Engels stated
that Capitalism was a stage which was necessary to bring about the collapse
of feudal societies.
Capitalists had changed the very social and technological base of
society. Marx and Engels admired Capitalism for the changes it had caused
but they did not identify it as the final and most advanced evolutionary
stage. Capitalism had eliminated feudalism in the West in a relatively short
period of time, it was living proof of the power of Struggle and for the
Evolutionary survival of a stronger or Fitter form of economic and political
organization.
However, their own model of Cultural Evolution featured a
violent struggle (competition) between those who owned and controlled the
means of production (Capitalists) and therefore controlled all the institutions
of the State including: government, military, education, communication, and
religion.
Marx and Engels foresaw a time when the masses would unite and
seek to gain control of the system.(( 1 9 )
The role of technology was examined in their essays... with some
attention being given to the fact that ultimately Capitalists will end up
exploiting to such an extreme, that the Masses or Workers become so
alienated that
they in turn
rise up and develop a Class
Unity and
cohesiveness while the Capitalists reach a point of having to consume each
other for profit.(( 2 0 )
They stated that at some point in time, technology
25
might do away with the need for workers...and that society was divided into
two
opposing
groups.
Production(Capitalists)
These
were
the
Owners
and the Workers(Proletariat)
of
the
Means
of
who made up the
majority of those in society.
While Marx and Engels saw Capitalism as valuable for an important
period in history and as the institution which did away with feudalism... they
believed that in most instances it would have to be done away with by Force.
They saw the Owners of Property as an obstacle standing in the way of
evolutionary progress and as such they would have to be eliminated through
struggle. The former communal nature of many non Western societies
appealed to both authors. They were avid readers of Ethnographic literature.
However, they did not judge the non Western way of life as inferior, but in
fact marveled at the way in which some cultures seemed to be able to make
decisions based upon the ultimate good for the largest number.
The revolution or ultimate result of a
Class Struggle which they
postulated, was in their minds a scientific dictum which could not be escaped.
They believed that a revolutionary struggle would include the elimination of
'ALL' those who could not support the revolution.
They also knew that a
period would exist where the revolution would have to be guarded to prevent
its being overthrown by elements who would try to wrest the cultural path
back towards
Capitalism.
Marx and Engels saw control of the 'Means of
Production' as the key element in their Social System.
Capitalists.
26
Ironically, so did the
The extent to which this 'Struggle' was acted out can be mirrored in
the number of deaths and killings which can be attributed to the ideas of
Marx and Engels and which were carried out under the name of Communist
revolutions or the mantle of protecting revolutions.
The total number is
impossible to ascertain, primarily because these killings have taken place in
societies where the magnitude of the crimes have been hidden from the
outside world. However, evidence exists to show that regimes in Cambodia
[Killing Fields], and the former Soviet Union [Gulags], were not above killing
millions of their own citizens. No figures have been published regarding China
and the cost of its revolutionary struggle, nor for North Korea.
Marx
and Engels
were
correct
when they anticipated
counter-
revolutionary attacks against emerging Communist revolutions. Historically,
it was the West who formed an expeditionary military force and invaded
Soviet/Russian
territory
and
attacked
the
'Reds'
shortly
after
the
Communists won power and then attempted to subvert the revolution from
outside for the entire history of the Soviet System. The United States was
supported in this episode by Great Britain, France and other Western
countries who deemed Russian Communism after the 1917, revolution as
being the major threat to world Capitalism and the status quo as related to
the
distribution
of
wealth
and
power
in
the
world.(( 2 1 )
Traditional
institutions,e.g., religion, government, and commerce were threatened with
elimination if the Communists were successful
in gaining power on a
worldwide stage. The Communists in China were opposed by the Capitalists in
27
the West and their own feudalists and Chinese Capitalists who were allied
with Western interests, and attempts were made to overthrow the Chinese
revolution.
In Cuba, after the victory of Fidel Castro decades of attacks against
Cuba were launched to try to bring down the government using a variety of
means.
Cuba and Nicaragua serve as modern examples of where counter-
revolutionary moves were made against two Communist countries by forces
in large part supported by the United States.
However, Communist forces also operated to overthrow or to seize
power from regimes based upon Capitalism around the world,i.e., after
coming to power in the era from Lenin until the late 1980's. For a period,
after the Second World War, much of the world stood on the verge of
becoming Communist.
China and Russia were Communist.
Eastern and
Central Europe were under Communist control and movements of National
Liberation were building in areas under colonial control,e.g., India, Indochina,
Africa,
Middle East,
Americas,
Philippines, and Indonesia, with strong
Communist parties present in Italy, and France.
Marx and Engels formulated a set of ideas and theoretical explanations,
their
concepts and ideas should be
distanced from
most of the
'Communists' who took power and then used terror as a means of controlling
a population,e.g.,
Stalin [Russia], Pol Pot [Cambodia] and their henchmen.
Many contemporary students are not aware of the fact that both Marx and
Engels died decades before the first Communist revolutions took power.
28
Their stated goal was to create a peaceful society where harmony was to be
the mainstay,i.e., the idealized form of society.
However, they were ready
to use violence and struggle to attain their goal. Particularly since, it had
been employed against their own followers in Europe. They were convinced
that Evolution and the Laws of Nature were on their side; plus there is 'NO'
doubt that they supported revolutionary violence to eliminate all opposition.
In their view, it was the action of Natural Selection which would lead to the
eventual removal of what they believed was the weaker system and its
supporters, i.e., the
eventual downfall of the Capitalists.(( 2 2 )
29
Notes:
* ( The use o f : i t a l i c s
within the body of the p a p e r or in the
N o t e s . . . d e s i g n a t e s ei t h er a quote or a heavily p a r a p h r a s e d set of
materials).
1. Darwin, Charles; The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,
England, November 24, 1859.
2. Kardiner, Abram; &Preble, Edward; They Studied Man, World Publishing
Company, Cleveland-New York, 1961, p. 19. (Acknowledgement of Malthus
and his influence upon Charles Darwin).
3. Lowie, Robert; The History of Ethnological Theory, Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, New York, 1937, p. 24.
(Acknowledgement of Sir John Lubbock and his works: Prehistoric Times &
The Origin of Civilization).
4. Lowie; 1937, p.56.
5. Harris, Marvin; The Rise of Anthropological Theory, Thomas Crowell
Company, New York, 1968, p. 229, p. 246.
6. Kardiner;1961, p.64.
7. Ibid.; pp.40-41.
Herbert Spencer in an essay published in 1852...years before Darwin's
treatise on Natural Selection noted that a:
'. . . U n i v e r s a l L a w a p p l i c a b l e t o a l l o r d e r s o f p h e n o m e n a :
whether it be in the development of the earth... society...
government ... language, literature, science, art, this same
evolution of the simple to complex through successive
differentiations holds throughout'.
8. Hofstadter, Richard; Social Darwinism in American Thought, Revised
Edition, Beacon Press, Boston, 1955, p. 41.
(Original quote from Herbert Spencer's Social Statics, Appleton Century and
Company, New York, 1864, pp.414-415).
30
9. Ibid.; p.57.
From a lecture given by William Sumner in 1879 on 'The Effect of Hard Times
on Economic Thinking...'
10. Kassebaum, Peter; 'Lecture Materials Introductory Sociology', Spring
1996.
Many sociology textbooks acknowledge Weber's contribution to the field.
11. Hofstadter;1955, pp. 170-200.
Contains excellent information on the subject matter.
12. Ibid., pp. 172-174.
Notes the role of the Anglo Saxon movement.
13. Ibid.; p. 186.
14. Ibid.; p. 189.
15. Ibid.; p. 193.
Original Source: Human Faculty as a determined by Race, the proceedings of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, XLIII (1894), pp.
301-27. Boas was addressing a hostile body within the Anthropology Section
of the Association.
16. Lowie; 1937, pp. 128-155.
see also: Television Documentary on the Life of Franz Boas; it contains
detailed background information relating to Boas and his research and the
trials which he faced during his professional career.
A copy has been
retained for scholarly purposes.
17. Knickerbocker,H.R.; Evening Post Foreign service, 1933; N.Y. Evening
Post. (Photocopy of a news clipping obtained from the Harry Laughlin
Collection at Truman State University). Laughlin saved news clippings and
placed them in files; frequently without the identifiers as to the author,
page, date or paper). Nonetheless, they are valuable in that they disclose
information that he had viewed.
18. Ibid.
31
19. Harris; 1968, pp. 222-223.
20. Louis, Paul P.; Readings in the History of Economic Thought, McCutchan
Publishing Corporation, Berkeley, 1971, p. 105.
Harris;1968, pp.223-225.
21.Appignanesi,Richard & Zarate,Oscar;
Books, New York, 1978, pp. 154-155.
(Britain, United States, Czech Republic,
forces in Russia which tried to overthrow
1917 revolution came to power).
Louis; 1971, p. 101. (Notes the struggle
22. Harris; 1968, p.222.
Violence and Struggle are noted...
32
Lenin for
Beginners, Pantheon
Turkey, France, and Poland had
the communists forces after the
against counter revolution).
NATIONAL SOCIALISM
& SOCIAL DARWINISM:
The National Socialists
(Nazis) of Germany were attracted to the
concept of a 'Struggle for Survival' with competing elements in nature in a
constant form of competition with one another...resulting in a stronger
society through the vehicle of Natural Selection. Nature's harsh removal of
the weak. They were psuedo-Evolutionists who wedded biology and culture
and stated that certain human cultural groups and races were biological
'fitter' and that those groups and individuals and nations who were not... had
to be eliminated.
Nazi ideology linked religion and biology and created a
cultural and scientific heritage which placed Germanic and Nordic peoples in a
position of superiority to all other groups.
The same period was marked by the distortion of the culture and
history and backgrounds of those individuals, groups, cultures and societies
who were stigmatized by the Nazis. The Universities and the Arts/Sciences
and the Professions were purged of those individuals and groups who did not
meet Nazi racial
criteria.
Universities
were one of the first
institutions to go over to the Nazi movement in the early 1930's.
incentive for some who were supporters
major
The
of the Nazi movement, was
pragmatic...when Professors were removed... new positions became open. It
was not uncommon for these 'new professors' to become supporters of the
ideology which had obtained work for them during a depression.
33
Racial Anthropology/Medical Anthropology in the Reich:
The Nazi's believed that it was essential to employ their version of
Darwinian Selection to guarantee the long term survival of their own society.
They had already decided to create one which would be deemed the most fit
of all human societies. The Nazis stated that Culture was genetically and/or
biologically influenced and was not solely the product of learned behavior. To
support their belief system they developed an elaborate body of information
known as 'Racial Anthropology' containing data about peoples and cultures of
the world. It was used to support the Nazi viewpoint. Most contemporary
scholars who have viewed their writings on race dismiss their findings.
The first race bureau in Germany was established
today in Dortmund, in the Ruhr district, by order of the city
commissioner. Its object is to build up a pure Germanic
race, free from Semitic influence. In pursuit of this aim,
laws will be passed providing for segregation and
improvement of races. The population will be divided into
two classes-families who representatives are acceptable
to the state and those whose members are undesirable, as
being a burden upon the nation. Dr. Brauss the Dortmund
physician who has been placed in charge of the race
bureau, announces that he has on file data concerning
80,000 school children of the city. ( 2 3 )
The Nazis were interested in physically and racially classifying every
single person in Germany and Austria.
Eventually, they expanded their data
base to occupied countries in Europe. The expressed purpose for the data
base and/ or its use by the State was to assign and to determine roles and
status for all members of society.
The State was looked at as the most
34
important institution and the people were likened to a living component of a
larger biological organism,i.e., the German State. Hence, if elements of the
organism were defined
eliminated.
by the State as harmful... they would have to be
Thus, the classifications regarding race, and overall physical
condition(health) became
elements which were examined and the results
were then employed in a number of State run programs which ultimately
resulted in the deaths of millions who were given a negative ranking.
During this same period the world's Medical and Social Sciences were
supportive of what has been termed the Eugenics movement. In 1933 Dr.
Josef Goebels, Nazi minister of Propaganda,...
...urged that the members in every German organization be
educated in the eugenic way of thinking. This was
essential for the future of the nation and in it was
involved the question, 'To be or not to be.' ...Dr. Goebels
suggested that the organizations reduce on a sliding scale
the dues asked from those of their members who have
children and that every member be required to acquaint
himself with the enlightening publications which are to
be distributed by bureaus of the National Socialist
Party....In this matter, Dr. Goebels declared emphatically,
the interest of the individual must be accounted
insignificant in comparison with the eugenic interests of
the nation. ( 2 4 )
Dr. Herman Lundborg
One such scientific leader who had a far reaching impact on the field of
Eugenics was from Sweden.
produced materials
It was pioneers like Herman Lundborg who
and who assisted
with the international
eugenics
movement and who caught the attention of the Nazis. They in turn adopted
35
various components into their ideological platform and in large part turned a
political ideology in the direction of their own version of an applied Eugenics
program.
Dr. Herman Lundborg (M.D.) wrote a two part article published in two
(early 1920's era) issues of The Eugenics Review. Professor Lundborg was
the director of the 'Swedish State Institute for Race-Biological Investigation'.
His perspective regarding race and biological value is quite straight forward.
We ought not to forget either that different strata of
society are of different race biological value, as a rule it
is greatest in the sound middle class and lowest in the
bottom stratum. The cultivated leading layer which forms
the upper class, is on account of its low birthrate of
decidedly less racial value than the middle class, although
contributions of the former to culture are greater.
The very best environment has no power in itself to raise a
based or unfit race of people, as for example, gypsies or
Negroes, and it is in the same way impossible to raise in
civilized societies the deepest sunken bottom layer,i.e.,
habitual criminals vagabonds, imbeciles. These often
suffer from defects, the result of hereditary conditions,
upon which improvement in the environment has no or very
little consequence. ( 2 5 )
The author attributed a variety of negative traits to heredity and
lashes out at two groups in particular...'Negroes' and 'Gypsies'.
In this
passage one can see the analogy between what became the views of the
Nazis and the earlier practioners of Eugenics. His views were not alone, they
were shared by many in the academic and scientific communities.
In a
manner somewhat reminiscent of Herbert Spencer...he notes the meddling of
36
individuals who place themselves between nature and its process of Natural
Selection, which allows the wrong types of people to reproduce at the
expense of society.
. ..contra selection (selection in the wrong direction). Good
hearted men and women often help forward without any
distinction persons who are both physically and mentally
feebly equipped, who afterwards propagate themselves and
pass on their inferior qualities in inheritance to new
generations, which in turn become a burden on society. ( 2 6 )
In the next passage, Lundborg argues for preservation
of racial
stock...and in others notes the decline of countries and civilizations where
too much admixture or race mixing has taken place. By the same token, he
underscores the problems of isolation for racial populations which he believes
if carried to an extreme can be unhealthy for any population that finds itself
in that situation.
It must be evident to everyone that a true national stock is
a country's greatest riches. How different things would
appear everywhere in all the civilized countries if this
principle was not only believed in but was also lived up to.
(27)
Professor Lundborg
advocated the need for the Scientific study of
race as an important part of the biological sciences.
He pointed out with
some pride that the Swedish Parliament granted the means to establishing
an 'Institute for the Study of Racial Biology'. He was of the opinion that
knowledge of race would in the long run strengthen a country by placing it
back within the laws of nature.
His position regarding the importance of
37
race,
was mirrored
in Eugenics organizations
around the world. The
professor downplayed the role of the habitat in forming behavior and
emphasized heritage as the most important element.
In the second and concluding part of the article, published in another
edition of the The Eugenics Review, he elaborated upon a number of points.
1. A good n a t i o n a l m a t er i a l is the greatest riches a country
can possess. The material of the people depends in the
highest degree upon the quality of the hereditary mass.
This is different in different nations.
2 . Heredity and selection are the chief influences which
govern life in this world.
3. Families an d n ation s are gov ern ed by strict laws in the
same ways as the private individual. One of the first tasks
laid upon every civilized nation is the careful
investigation of these biological laws of nature, and
afterwards the regulation and arrangement of the
conditions of society to suit these laws.
4. A glaring waste of the national material is to be found
at present among many of the civilized nations of the
world.
5 . Many reasons co operate in bringing this
about...(a).sinking birthrate among the middle
classes(among the peasant population)who possess
stronger race energy than the other strata of society; (b).
great industrial activity; (c). hasty race mixture between
nations; ....(d). ...worship of mammon with the destruction
of moral worth...
6. The system of having none, one or two children p r a c t i c e d
by the more valuable strata of the people, while at the
same time the lower and inferior strata increase relatively
quickly, must lead to the deterioration of the race and the
degeneration of the nation.
7 . I n d u s t r i a l a n d a g r i c u l t u r a l o c c u p a t i o n s d e m a n d , at least
at times, increased and new energy. Partly for this reason
land partly to defend the country from outward foes, owing
38
to a low birth rate in a country, foreigners belonging to an
inferior race must be called in. ...Race mixtures arise in
such cases causing a mixed nation of inferior quality. ( 2 8 )
The professor put forth a plan of action which he believed would
counter the trend towards the degeneration of the racial stock of any
nation. His plan consisted of the following elements.
1.An energetic work of enlightenment on the subject ought
to be carried on. ...Medical Men and teachers ought to be
specially educated in the science of heredity and race
culture. ...
2 . Race biological institutes for investigation with the
object of studying hereditary questions and eugenic
problems on all sides ought to be established in every
civilized country as soon as possible. ...
5. S o c i a l S w a m p s ought to be drained by means of wise
reforms and far sighted law making. ...
6. ...A sound agricultural population with a high birth rate
is a necessary condition of life for a nation that does not
wish to degenerate. An independent peasant class makes
the groundwork backbone of a nation. ...
7. E m i g r a t i o n , which has caused a considerable drain on the
life blood of the nation, ought, if possible, to be regulated
and kept within proper bounds. ...
8.We must also pay attention to i m m i g r a t i o n so that
inferior individuals belonging to foreign races cannot enter
the country and settle without any biological hindrance. ...
9. The science of Eugenics which is a real patriotic
movement ....
10. Widely spread national societies ought to be formed in
all the civilized countries with the object of working for
race culture, the health of the people and the improvement
of morality. ( 2 9 )
What is remarkable about his plan is that it could easily have been a
39
partial blueprint for the Nazi movement. They placed an emphasis upon most
of the components in Dr. Lundborg's plan. They were fascinated about the
mythical relationship between blood and the land. The Nazis went to great
lengths to bolster the symbolic linkage between traditional German Peasant
populations and the land, stating that this quality was the strength of the
nation.
Lundborg influenced the international eugenics movement and
the
development of Nazi racial biology and ideology through his publications in
Sweden and in the international community.
As will be illustrated in a later
section of this essay, numerous scholars from around the world were of the
same opinion as Dr. Lundborg in matters pertaining to race and biology.
Reichminister
Frick:
Reichminister of the Interior Dr. Frick presented an address before the
' E x p e r t C o u n c i l f o r P o p u l a t i o n a n d R a c e P o l i t i c s ' held in Berlin, 1933.
In his address, he outlined the problems facing Germany. A dwindling birth
rate, a possible 2 0 % of the German population defined by experts as
possibly being hereditary defectives. He goes on to state :
...the feebleminded and inferior produce twice and three
times as many children, on the average. This means that
the highly endowed and valuable stocks decrease from
generation to generation, facing complete extinction-with
their achievements and German culture-in very few
generations. ...Besides being threatened with increasing
hereditary and biological inferiority, we must carefully
watch the progressing race mixture and race deterioration
of our people, since the German man and the German woman
no longer are conscious of their blood and their race.
40
...it is only by examining the sums expended by the
government, the state and the communities for the
maintenance of the unfit, the antisocial, diseased,
feebleminded, insane, deformed (meaning only hereditary
deformities and not those acquired by disease or injuries)
and criminal, that we realize the disproportionate burdens
put upon a population already struggling for its
existence.
What we have practiced heretofore: personal hygiene and
the care of the individual, has been overdone and without
considering the principles of heredity, of selection and of
race hygiene. This sort of modern humanity and social care
of the diseased, weak and inferior individual must, when
we consider the nation as a whole, prove the greatest
cruelty to the people and finally lead to its ruin.
To increase the number of sound offspring, it is above all
our duty to reduce the expenditures for the anti social,
inferior and those suffering from hopeless hereditary
diseases and to prevent reproduction by hereditary
defective persons.
The Scientific study of heredity (based on the progress of
the last decade) has enabled us clearly to recognize the
rules of heredity and selection as well as their meaning
for the nation and the state. It gives us the right and the
moral obligation to eliminate hereditary defectives from
procreation.
To enlighten the people on the subject of heredity and
A n t h r o p o l o g y , these studies must develop into an E u g e n i c
education of the youth of the entire nation, as a
preparation for matrimony. In order to make this
knowledge available to all and to put appropriate
educational materials at the disposal of teachers and
educational institutions, I have organized a Public Health
Committee (formerly committee for hygienic education).
41
...it is up to the educated youth to recognize the value of
the German Hereditary constitution, to preserve race
purity, and to strive toward improvement of their own
family stocks by suitable matings. M i s c e g e n a t i o n must be
labeled for what it is: name the roundation for mental and
spiritual degeneration and alienation from the native
stock. Family pedigree study and A n t h r o p o l o g y should be
cultivated in a manner to stress the value of the blood
above wealth and comfort. We must have the courage to
rate our population according to its hereditary value, in
(30)
order to supply the State with leaders.
German Genetics:
Underlying the development of the world wide push in biology to explain
diversity in terms of a Darwinian model, was the growth of Human Heredity.
This field and related areas developed parallel to the political currents of the
time. Paraphrasing, and excerpting portions of the excellent essay by Benno
Muller-Hill, entitled: Human Genetics in Nazi Germany.
One learns ...that the first textbook on human genetics
appeared in Germany in 1921. It was called the B a u e r F i s c h e r - L e n z , after its authors. The text was divided into
four sections. The first written by Bauer, and was a
general introduction to Genetics; the second written by
Eugen Fischer, and dealt with races and genetic racial
differences. The last portion of the book was written by
Fritz Lenz and dealt with genetic diseases. In this latter
section, Lentz discussed Racial Hygiene or Eugenics. Racial
differences and ethnic differences were the primary focus
of this component, and the human geneticists who generally
dealt with such problems were Anthropologists and
Ethnologists by training. In general they had a medical
training as well. Eugen Fischer for example had training as
an anatomist who was interested in anatomy and race.
Muller-Hill goes on to elaborate that the Germans were
42
always interested in the large picture, population genetics
and not the individual... . They were looking for larger
patterns in a population. ( 3 1 )
Here, we have one of those
moments in history where a variety of
ideas come together and form the basis of an ideological movement both
within and outside of Germany which to some serves as a method of dragging
out the traditional scapegoats, and supposedly establishing one group as
being superior over others and at the same time creating a scientific
rationale behind the political rhetoric.
Eugenic
perspectives
with
Nazi
However, the blending of German
Anti-Semitism
was
bolstered
by the
popularized concept that the 'Jews' consisted of a racial group with an
inherited set of biological and social traits and that because of the supposed
scientific linkage of their genetic heritage to behavior...it would be impossible
to change Jews through religious conversion.
This posed some challenges, because significant numbers of the Jewish
population in Germany and Austria as defined by the Laws of the Reich, were
physically identical to the non Jewish population. Thus, as the Nazis created
their model of Aryan Supremacy...a significant number of Jews met the
physical criteria with blond hair and blue eyes and the appropriate physical
measurements.
However, many of these newly employed or soon to be employed
scientists were quick to see the advantages to forming alliances with a
political party...the Nazis... in that it led to employment and funds for
43
research and status. Their credo might have been....if Anti-Semitism is
required...then so be it...it was not an unknown aspect within Germany and
Austria and had even appeared in textbooks dealing with heredity before the
Nazis had seized power.
....Hitler discovered this link between Anti-Semitism,
general racism and science in 1924 while serving his one
year jail sentence for the failed Putsch in 1923. Julius
Lehmann, the publisher of this text an early and ardent
supporter of Hitler, sent him a copy of the second edition
of the textbook while in jail. Lentz later reviewed Mein
Kampf and claimed Hitler had incorporated parts of the
t e x t b o o k i n h i s b o o k . (3 2 )
...paraphrasing and excerpting from Muller's essay:
...the Human Geneticists were able to influence the law of
the land, allowing them to legally sterilize the feeble
minded, schizophrenics, manic depressives, genetically
deaf or blind, carriers of Huntington's disease, epileptics
and chronic alcoholics. This led to the legal sterilization
of 400,000 persons from 1934-39... Muller then makes a
distinction regarding illegal sterilizations in that he
includes 20,000 German children of color born to German
woman and soldiers of color of the French Army who had
(33)
been stationed in Germany...after World War I.
Muller draws attention to the legal and the illegal in that no law existed
which gave the right at that time to legally sterilize on the basis of
race...and that these 20,000 children of color were the victims of an illegal
act...
.
The Nazi courts did not choose to intercede in this illegal action
against these 20,000 children of color because of a tacit agreement by the
44
government and the Nazi party. While pointing out this action, Muller goes on
to elaborate the massive plans of these same Human Geneticists who tried
for a law that would have sterilized up to 1,000,000 individuals in Germany,
who were deemed to be genetically Anti Social. Anti social tendencies were
petty theft,serious
programs.
crime or opposition to the Nazis and any of their
(34)
Attention was paid to the supervision, monitoring and eventually to the
control of individual and societal biological activities....it
became the
obligation of the State to regulate; as a consequence a new set of courts
had to be created. In addition, a variety of activities were criminalized while
others involving the State were mandatory and legalized. Contacts across
certain racial categories were ended or limited by strict laws. Pressure was
place on so-called normal Germans to forego family planning and to produce
children. The elimination of the disabled from the population was encouraged
through
sterilization
laws
and
programs
to
Eventually, the disabled were killed by the State.
conduct
the
procedure.
Everything, and anything
that had a link to Human Genetics and Racial Hygiene was to be determined
by the State, according to the new laws. The State entered the private lives
of all of its citizens, in that it argued that the actions of the State were
necessary to preserve society.
Nazi Sterilization:
In order to supervise the sterilization of large numbers of
individuals specialized legal institutions were created.
45
Proctor notes that 181 genetic health courts and appellate
Genetic Health Courts were set up in 1934 throughout
Germany, and that they were usually attached to a civil
court. They were presided over by two doctors and a
lawyer, one of whom had to be an expert on 'genetic
pathology' ...At the same time that abortions,
sterilizations were instituted for individuals of inferior
genetic stock, sterilization and abortion for healthy
German women were declared illegal and punishable (in
some cases by death) as a crime against the German body.
...The Nuremberg Laws which Hitler ratified in the Fall of
1935, excluded Jews, from citizenship and prevented
marriage or sexual relations between Jews and non Jews.
A further measure the marital health laws required couples
to submit to medical examinations before marriage to
detect and avoid the possibility of racial pollution. ( 3 5 )
Racial Hygiene:
In Germany, Wilhelm Shallmayer and Alfred Ploetz have been identified
as two of the key founders of the R a c i a l
H y g i e n e movement.
They
stressed the need for the State or government to take an active role in
promoting evolutionary development, in that they believed that the human
population was being weakened and would eventually degenerate and no longer
contain fit members.
Racial Hygiene
Dr. Ernst Rudin and Ploetz created the S o c i e t y f o r
its expressed goal was to strengthen the human race.
Pre-Nazi Germany recognized racial hygiene as a valid aspect of German
medicine by the 1920's. ( 3 6 )
Nazi folk biology:
During the same time period, extremist groups in Germany were
46
captivated by the message of the Aryan or Nordic movement. Its platform
raised Nordics to the highest level regarding the evolution of the Human
Race, and all others were classified on the basis of supposed scientific
distance or closeness to the physical standard that resulted.
The Nazis
gained control over the primary journal which focused upon race the ( A r c h i v
fur
Rassen-und
Gesellschaftsbiologie).
Overnight, Nazi ideologues
began to use 'racial hygiene' materials in their appeals to the population and
just as importantly with each other.
The latter tended to reinforce the
importance assigned to racial matters for the Nazi party and its followers.
An extremist response to correct the health of the country through Nazi
ordered Social and Biomedical policies, resulted in genocide.
A brief listing of some of the types of papers published in the Archiv
fur Rassen und Gesellschafts Biologie illustrates the perspective of the
publication. Dr. Alfred Plotz was the founder and editor of the periodical, and
the articles listed below were from an edition which was published in his
honor in 1930.
Dr. Eugen Fischer reviews the activities of the German
Society for Race Hygiene during quarter of a century.
Professor Walter Scheidt, discusses the psychological and
biological tasks of Anthropology in Relation to
Civilization.
P r o f e s s o r M o l l i n s o n , Director of the Anthropological
Institute of Munich, writes on Orthogenesis, and its
importance for the Human race .
Professor Ernst
Rudin, of Munich, discusses the practical
results of psychiatric research on questions of heredity.
D r. O. von Verschuer examines the burden of hereditary
47
incapacity resting on the German People.
Dr. Paul Popenoe, Director of the Institute of Family
Relations, Los Angeles, writes a short article on The
Fecundity of the Feeble Minded.
Professor Johannes Lange of Breslau, contributes
Researches in a slum area,...this is an illuminating study of
a group of 'anti-social and ' a-social psychopaths'...of
unheard of fertility...
Dr. Kara Lenz von Borries, of Herrsching writing of the
importance of biology for Political Economy...If the race is
to be saved from decay, immediate steps must be taken to
promote Eugenic measures and inhibit dysgenic tendencies
(37)
in the life of the nation.
The Kaiser Welhelm Institute:
The Kaiser Welhelm Institute for Anthropology, Genetics, and Eugenics
was established in 1927; it became the focal point for this new science.
Courses on Racial Hygiene were taught in the medical schools of the major
universities.
A new medical speciality appeared, it was identified as G e n e t i c
and R a c i a l Care
and by 1934 the Kaiser Welhelm Institute had trained
1100 physicians in this field.(( 3 8 ) One of the interesting aspects regarding
the history of the Kaiser Welhelm Institute in Munich, was its owing of a debt
of gratitude to the Rockefeller Foundation.
It was responsible for part of
the funds which built the Institute. The Director, Dr. E. Rudin relocated from
Basle, Switzerland to oversee the Kaiser Welhelm Institute of Munich. ( 3 9 )
This institute occupied an extremely important position within Nazi
science and the medical community.
the Nazi party.
It was an arm of the government and
It was given the responsibility of taking care of the Racial
48
and Genetic Health of the Nation.
One can say, it enjoyed a most favored
status; it was able to use this status and power to obtain human subjects to
conduct experiments in the concentration camps using live human subjects
and
to have these human subjects killed for post mortem pathological
studies which were then used to determine how the subject had been
influenced by a particular
experimental procedure. (Examples of their
research: Operations without anesthesia; exposure to bacteria and disease;
subjects being placed in pressure chambers; subjects who were frozen and
thawed; used for ballistic tests; recipients of chemical weapons testing; cold
water immersion till dead; used for organ and limb transplant testing; used
for the development of sterilization data without anesthesia; drug testing;
routinely killed for body parts for anatomical illustrations and anthropological
and medical collections... these were
conducted by the Kaiser Welhelm
Institute's faculty and/or research staff).
Robert Proctor points out the
unique status of this institution.
The Kaiser Welhelm Institute for Anthropology in Berlin,
which trained Josef Mengele and others focused upon racial
hygiene as its primary goal. It performed research in the
field of criminal biology, genetic pathology, and human
genetics. ...helped to train S.S. physicians and helped to
construct the genetic registries later use to round up Jews
and gypsies. Twin studies, aimed at sorting out the
relative influence of nature vs. nurture, were among the
leading preoccupations of these and other racial hygiene
institutes.
(40)
F.K. Gunther/racial purity:
49
Another one of the leading ideologues for the racial purity movement,
which was ultimately based upon a form of Eugenics was F. K. Gunther.
A prolific writer, Gunther's work revolved around the
central theme of the superiority of the Aryan, or Nordic,
race. Like other race-scientists, Gunther believed that an
understanding of race provided the key to understanding
history, anthropology, psychology and all other academic
disciplines which have man as their subject matter.In
Gunther's, Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes (Race-science
of the German people), published in 1922. Gunther outlined
his theories about the worth of Nordic racial purity and the
perils of Jewish contamination:
... Gunther rose high in academic circles... elected a full
professor at the University of Jena in 1930, and later
moved to the University of Berlin... deputy editor of an
academic journal, Z e i t s c h r i f t f u r R a s s e n k u n d e , published in
Stuttgart between 1935, two years after Hitler came to
power, and 1944. He also contributed articles to Nazi
maga zines, for example N eu es V o l k , published by the Nazi
Party's Racial Politics Department. His work was admired
by leading Nazi politicians such as Alfred Rosenberg, head
of Hitler's Foreign Political Office and later Reich Minister
for the Occupied Eastern Regions. In February 1941
Rosenberg honored Gunther with the Goethe Medal, telling
him: Your work has been of the utmost importance for the
safeguarding and development of the National Socialist
Weltanschauung. ( 4 1 )
At its most elementary level 'Nazi Racial Anthropology, and Nazi
Biological Anthropology'
variety
of
identified
methods to prevent
transmitted within the population.
negative biological traits and utilized a
these
traits
from
continuing
to be
The Nazis took many of their ideas from
the larger European and American Eugenics movements and identified a set
of favorable and unfavorable racial-cultural-religious traits and linked them
50
to specific groups.
Whites from so-called Northern European 'stock' who
were non-Slavic, non-Asian (the Japanese as allies of the Nazis were not
defined as a negative racial group, nor were Indian troops), non-Jewish, nonGypsy, non-African and those groups defined as not-mixed with any 'tainted
race' were placed at the top of a Racial and Cultural ladder. Hitler had the
power to grant exemptions from the Nazi Racial Laws through exemptions
termed B e f r e i u n g e n . He did so in a very small number of cases.
The Nuremberg Racial laws of Sept. 15,1935 included the
Ordinance which classified Jews, into different categories.
Full Jews: Volljuden; V a l i d a t e d J e w s : Geltungsjuden; and
Mixed Jews: Mischlinge, who were subdivided into two
additional categories. Exemptions ...elevated those chosen
into a more favorable position or even equal standing with
'pure blooded 'German Nationals.
...there were a greater number of prominent personages in
politics, economics, art and the sciences whose Mischling
status rendered them less disadvantaged than those in
other categories. ...Quite obviously, the inconsistency and
contradiction of granting exemptions was in glaring
conflict with the absolutist racial Nazi doctrines.
...From the inception of the Ordinance of the Nuremberg
Laws of Sept. 15,1935 to April 1941, almost 10,000
persons had applied for an exemption. However, the actual
number of exemptions granted by Hitler remained small,
approximately 1300. (42)
Nazi ladders of evolution placed at the bottom of their scale, anyone
from one of the stigmatized groups or who was defined as part of an inferior
race, religion, or culture, or disability group. They enacted racial and
disability laws to isolate, segregate, expel and to strip
51
legal rights from
those defined as inferior.
The next step was to physically eliminate those
who were defined as less than human or unworthy of life.
Racial Vetting:
Racial vetting or the employment of a background investigation of
everyone's racial and health ancestry became the law of the land including
the territories occupied by Germany and its allies in World War II.
Racial
categories were created which dictated whether one lived or died, could
work, obtain an education, or hold special government jobs,e.g., membership
in the S.S., marry, have sexual relations with someone, or even live within an
area.
They went so far as to remove the legal use of family names from
groups that had been using their individual family names after generations of
residing within a cultural area and forced the use of names associated with
the Nazi view of the proper racial types.
Ironically, they had to resort to mandatory stigmata for Jews,i.e., the
wearing of yellow Stars of David... because most of the Jewish population
were not always physically distinct enough from the rest of German society
or the local populations of allied Nazi puppet states, and occupied territories
in regards to racial features. In addition, this step bestowed an immediately
visible negative stigmata upon the Jews. The population that was not labeled
as inferior,i.e., the German masses and their allies, and all those not defined
as being Jewish became culturally conditioned to the idea of struggle in
nature plus they could take some degree of comfort in the official dogma
that they were defined as superior to the groups who were being removed.
52
A massive indoctrination program was used in the movies, press,
theaters and rallies to create a popular culture which allowed and encouraged
both atrocities and genocide to take place. A 'Lock and Key' Relationship
between the ideology of the
party/state and popular culture helped to
develop a frame of reference which increased the potential for people to
obey authority or to ignore or overlook the genocide which was taking place.
(43)
Programs for Killing the Disabled:
The first groups to be killed in government run or sponsored Killing
Institutions were drawn from the whole of German Society,i.e., those who
were adjudged as being biologically unfit... the disabled, diseased... the senile,
and those who had mental conditions or physical conditions which were not
responsive to any treatment.
Special killing hospitals or facilities were set
up to handle this task.(( 4 4 ) In Germany, the first groups to be killed, after
the October decree enlarging the power of German physicians were the
disabled.
It began with children, of whom some five thousand were
killed in the first phase by Starvation, Exposure in
unheated wards, or the administration of cyanide,
chemical warfare agents, or other poisons. ( 4 5 )
The Euthanasia program also known as the T-4 program was supported
by the highest levels of the German government. As an example, Hitler's own
personal physician
Dr. Karl Brandt,
53
headed the Medical unit
of the
governmental department established to push the program. One estimate is
that 200,000 were put to death under this program. T h e t e c h n i c a l
arrangements
as to the method of killing was c a r r i e d
the d i r e c t i o n
of a c o m m i t t e e
that
that included
out under
a number
of
physicians. ( 4 6 )
The killings increased in scope, and eventually all the psychiatric
facilities were emptied of their patients as the war created a greater strain
relative to the shortage of bed space in hospitals. The psychiatric, (including
neurologically impaired/injured) and the developmentally disabled patients
patients were killed. ( 4 7 )
At least six killing centers were established, including... Hadamar, and
Brandenburg. Each killing center contained a crematorium. The relatives of
the victims were usually sent a post card or a letter informing them that
their loved ones had died of natural causes. They were never informed as to
the method of death. The death certificates were signed by doctors and the
cause of death were listed as being of the natural type,e.g., heart attack, or
stopped breathing. ( 4 8 ) More than one author has suggested that the killing
of the disabled was a practice run for developing techniques which would then
be employed in some of the concentration camps. It is logical to extend the
idea that some within the government used information gleaned by first hand
observations of the ways in which the disabled were killed, to serve as a
basis for perfecting more efficient strategies and devices for killing larger
54
numbers of people at a later time.
Concentration Camp genocide:
Afterwards,
came
mass
genocide
sometimes
employing
modern
technology and the principles of management for complex organizations to
kill off those who were 'Defined' as inferior.
What resulted was the
Concentration Camp system. Within the concentration camps, assembly line
or factory produced genocide was supplemented with low technology such as
mass killings or individual killings by trained squads of willing executioners
using firearms.
None of the concentration camps relied exclusively upon
gassing. Firearms, and the gallows were also common methods of killing
inmates.
Breeding
In
Programs:
addition, breeding
establishments
(Lebensborn
program)
were
organized and established to breed 'Pure Aryan Stock' through a process of
matching married and unmarried S.S. men with racially pure unmarried
women for the express purpose of creating a 'pure-race' to replace the
populations of so called 'inferior racial stock' that were being eliminated in
Germany and Nazi held countries.. ( 4 9 )
The children from the Lebensborn
unions were taken from the breeding mothers by the State and were given to
German couples who volunteered to raise these children for the State. This
was a system was built upon Nazi breeding principles and the cultural
application of the Nazi view of natural selection. Not unlike what breeders do
with domesticated animals or plants.
55
... H i m m l e r s t a r t e d t h e L e b e n s b o r n p r o g r a m , t o
populate the Reich with pure-blooded Aryan men and
women - while the government through the pograms and
camps were disposing of those who were defined as
subhuman by the regime. Young women who displayed
regular Aryan features, and could prove their descent over
generations, were encouraged to bear children of members
of the S.S. it did not matter whether they were married or
not. The births took place in secret Lebensborn homes. ...
When the Germans invaded Poland, Himmler's S.S.
discovered many blonde blue-eyed Polish children - the
image of the ideal Aryan. Himmler had an estimated
200,000 of them stolen as they walked home from school or
played in village squares. They were transported to camps
and tested to gauge their racial quality. If they passed
they were first 'Germanized' and then placed with good
Nazi families; those who did not measure up were used
as forced labor or sent
to camps that specialized in
killing children. ( 5 0 )
Dr. Ernst Rudin:
Nazi racial theory was based upon a strict lineal constructionist view of
Social Darwinism and Nazi versions of Natural Selection along with ample
sprinklings
of
cultural
establishment.
scientist/physician
Dr.
mythology
Ernst
backed
Rudin's
up
by the
perspective
was somewhat typical
as
Nazi
a
scientific
leading
Nazi
of the period; it has
been
preserved by the research of Dr. Jay Lifton in his work entitled the Nazi
Doctors. Rudin was an advocate of Racial Hygiene, who praised Hitler and the
Nuremberg Laws for preserving the true German population. He was a
supporter and advocate for the S.S., it stood as an institution which was
composed
of a special group of medically
56
healthy people of the German
Nordic type.(( 5 1 )
In 1930, at a conference of International Eugenists held in England, Dr.
Rudin delivered a paper which was an indicator of what lay in the years ahead.
Dr. Rudin was head of the Hereditary
Section of the Kaiser
Welhelm
Psychiatric Institute in Munich. Rudin defined heredity as the r e a p p e a r a n c e
of the same c h a r a c t e r
in several generations. ( 5 2 )
He went on to
state...
Humanity must not go so far as to permit a human being to
transmit his diseased heredity dispositions to his
offspring. Knowing and acting in accordance with Eugenics
is just as important and useful for us all as the many other
things we teach and learn in our educational institutions...
(53)
Rudin suggested that Eugenics should be taught in educational
institutions and that society must not allow those with diseases that are
diagnosed to have a basis in heredity the opportunity to reproduce.
These
were prophetic words...on Rudin's part. In that in later years, he was to
become
associated
with
the
killing
of
the
disabled
and
compulsory
sterilization.
S.S. :
One of the groups that was singled out for special assistance and
support by the Nazi State were the S.S..
The stated goal was to create a
nucleus of a population that would exhibit the biological traits which were the
most highly valued.
The S.S.
recruited and retained based upon this
standard. While Himmler is generally credited with the formation of the S.S.,
57
it is also true that Hitler was interested in the idea as well.
The architect
of some of the original ideas of racial selection and breeding was:
Hitler; he ...held out to the World War I generation of
soldiers the prospect of the formation of a racial
aristocracy, an ideological elite. In the late 1930s, he
ordered the RuSHA (Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt = Race
and Settlement Main Office) to compose new and more
stringent criteria for S.S. candidates. S.S.
H a u p t s t u r m f u e h r e r (Captain) Professor Bruno K. Schultz, a
Physical
A n t h r o p o l o g i s t , transmitted a set of criteria to
the RuSHA Racial Commission, before which all prospective
S.S. members had to appear for their final examinations...
Schultz... aimed his set of values to favor the Nordic type.
He listed five racial groupings: pure Nordic,
predominantly Nordic or Falic [Falic = Brunn], harmonious
bastard [cross-breed] with slight Alpine, Dinaric or
Mediterranean characteristics, bastards of predominantly
East Baltic or Alpine origin,and bastards of extraEuropean origin. Only those in the first three categories
were eligible to join the S.S.. Schultz also composed a list
of nine categories of physical proportion as a guide for the
physical examination of S.S. candidates. ( 5 4 )
Physical Anthropology and S.S. standards:
Physical Anthropologists from Germany were involved in the formation
of the S.S. and Professor Shultz served as the Anthropological authority
regarding the traits
which were developed to vett potential candidates. All
candidates for the S.S. had to be racially examined and screened, and pass a
background check which included a social as well as a medical aspect.
Candidates for the S.S. had to have their pictures taken to demonstrate
that their bodies were of the proper proportion, this took place after they
58
were measured.
In addition, S.S. members could only marry a racially
approved partner who had to undergo the same type of social and physical
vetting.
It has been said that Himmler himself studied the pictures with a
magnifying glass in order to make the final selection regarding suitability for
membership.
In another sense, all of German society and the occupied territories in
Europe were subjected to the Racial Hygiene Laws and Eugenic Programs. The
goal was to accentuate the traits which were culturally and biologically valued
and to eliminate those traits that were defined as 'Unhealthy' to the Organic
Body of the State. The Nazis gave the highest priority to this killing for so
called racial and ideological reasons and in effect hindered and undercut their
own military logistics in the last years of the war because of the resources
expended in this direction. ( 5 5 )
The killings of racial groups, and the
disabled were backed up by the State, Scientists and the Medical profession.
Many, of the executioners believed that they were promoting not only
the health of the nation but the very preservation of the human species as a
higher life form.
To not understand the relationship between this form of
Nazi science and Nazi ideology would be to miss the major impact that 19th
and early 20th century Social Darwinism and Natural Selection had upon the
molding of the ideological perspective of the Nazis and how it justified the
killing of millions in their minds. ( 5 6 )
The purpose of war from their vantage point was to enlarge the sphere
of cultural and racial influence for what was termed the Germanic-Race and
59
Culture.
They embraced the idea that they were biologically superior, and
that foreign and diseased influences had corrupted it, therefore
treatment...was
harsh
employed to rid the body of the State of those influences
which were defined as negative. The result was to be a 'Healthy Biological'
population, which when freed from its 'corrupting' influences would control
the world.
Josef Mengele, Doctor of Anthropology/M.D.
Dr. John Weiss in his work on the ideology of death has written
the following about one of the leading figures of Nazi Medicine and Nazi
Anthropology:
Dr. Josef Mengele has too often been singled out as an
aberrant, singular monster. The true horror is that Dr.
Mengele, like others who committed similar horrors, was
simply a scientist and researcher, an assistant professor
at the famed Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Genetics. When
he selected victims for death or fatal experiments at
Auschwitz, he worked with other academics as a faculty
member of the Institute, where faculty not only trained the
S.S. (Schutzstaffel) but participated in all phases of the
destruction of Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals.
Mengele's sponsor and the head of the Institute, Prof.
Otmar von Verschuer, also helped select candidates for
death, and, along with professors from various
universities, competed for research grants to study death
camp victims. Mengele's Auschwitz research was also
sponsored by the Berlin-based Institute for the
Advancement of Science, which funneled Nazi funds into
academic research. Moreover, various universities
requested and received the body parts of murdered victims
for research. Academics thanked Mengele when their
learned papers were composed with the help of his
60
research data.
It was all quite normal. Prof. Hallervorden, head of a
respected institute, collected the brains of children killed
in death camps. The head of the University of Strasbourg,
Prof. Auguste Hirt, wrote Heinrich Himmler, commander of
the S.S., about the need to preserve the skulls of 'subhuman Jewish Bolsheviks' for research. In Auschwitz,
Mengele was once asked, When will all this killing cease?
His answer: Never. My friend! It will go on and on and on.
As a specialist in racial purification, Dr. Mengele, the
holder of degrees in anthropology and medicine, knew that
after the Jews, gypsies and homosexuals were gone,
millions of Slavs would remain, and a constant stream of
German babies would have to be selected out for mental and
physical disabilities. ( 5 7 )
Barondess notes that the research on twins which Mengele is most
closely associated with, was done in association with Otmar von Verschuer,
an internationally renowned recognized genetic researcher who was...
affiliated with the Kaiser Welhelm Institute for
Anthropology and who became director of the Institute for
H e r e d o b i o l o g i c R e s e a r c h in Frankfurt the largest institute
of its kind in Germany, von Verschuer enjoyed
international esteem before the war. In June 1939, he was
invited to read a paper at the Royal Society in London on
the subject of Twins research. His first assistant in
Germany was Josef Mengele. The latter had studied under
Dr. Rudin in Munich...in Anthropology and Medicine. (58)
Josef Mengele studied with Dr. Ernst Rudin, an advocate for the
concept that doctors should terminate Life which was deemed to have 'No
value'.
The English translation from German of this
was called: ' L i f e
U n w o r t h y o f L i f e ' . Rudin is acknowledged in a number of sources as having
61
been active in the world wide Eugenics movement. Mengele earned his first
doctorate in Anthropology, while working for a doctorate in Medicine.
doctoral study for
His
Anthropology was entitled: Racial and Morphological
Research on the Lower Jaw Section of Four Racial Groups. He received the
doctoral degree in Anthropology in 1 9 3 5 ,
and in 1936 p a s s e d
his
medical examinations for the doctorate in Medicine. ( 5 9 )
Gerald Posner and John Ware, identify some of the areas which Mengele
was involved in, such as, his work for Verschuer.
There is additional
verification of the closeness of Verschuer to Mengele through the publication
of the following document. It was a letter authored by Verschuer, reporting
on the progress of the grant which he had helped to secure which used
Mengele as one of the primary researchers.
My co-researcher in this research is my assistant the
anthropologist and physician Mengele. He is serving as
Hauptsturmfuhrer and camp doctor in the concentration
camp of Auschwitz. With the permission of the
Reichsfuhrer S.S. Himmler, anthropological research is
being undertaken on the various racial groups in the
concentration camp and blood samples will be sent to my
l a b o r a t o r y f o r i n v e s t i g a t i o n . (60)
An example of one of the types of research which Mengele engaged in,
was described in the next passage from the same authors. It noted that
Mengele emphasized the study of phenotypic physical characteristics.
...Mengele had already made a bizarre start in his attempt
to perfect the ideal German specimen by seeing if he could
change the pigmentation of eyes by injecting different
62
colored dyes. Thirty six children from one barrack in
Birkenau were used for the eye tests, which resulted in
painful infections and sometimes blindness. After, the
tests the children served no further use, and so they were
gassed. The results of this research, which began in the
summer of 1943 and was supplemented with funds from the
German Research Council in Sept. of that year, were
witnessed by a Jewish inmate Doctor, Vexler Jancu. ( 6 1 )
The
following,
portrays the detached manner in which human body
parts were displayed and initially labeled and sorted, before being sent on and
preserved
for some future use as artifactual
evidence of an extinct
population which had been subjected to experimental procedures such as
those described.
In June 1943, I went to the Gypsy camp in Birkenau. I saw
a wooden table. On it were samples of eyes. They each had a
number and a letter. The eyes were very pale yellow to
bright blue, green, and violet. (62)
In Mengele's case there were witnesses who survived the camps:
Another witness , Vera Kriegel, said she saw a wall
covered with eyes in one of Mengele's laboratories. They
were pinned up like butterflies, she said, I thought that I
(63)
was dead and already living in hell.
Here again, is another example of the type of living hell that inmate
doctors found themselves in:
Coming across a report on eye pigmentation being drafted
by one institute researcher toward the end of the war, the
co-editor of a medical publication noted that one set of
guinea pigs---grandparents, parents, and children----had
died at the same time. One could assume that they had been
63
killed in the concentration camp. ( 6 4 )
This is an example of the type of so-called research which Mengele was
engaged in; suggesting that he was sometimes spurred on by situations as
they arose rather than any carefully planned scientific probe. It was common
for Mengele to have subjects put to death and to participate in the process.
He was fond of injecting solutions into the heart.
...After spotting a hunchbacked father standing next to his
fifteen year old son, who had a deformed right foot, he was
impatient to learn if there were further common
abnormalities. He selected them from the ramp and gave
them a last meal, which they ate ravenously, unaware they
were soon to die. ...Half an hour later Mengele had them
shot and ordered their skeletons to be prepared by boiling
their bodies in water so the flesh could be easily stripped
from the bones. The skeletons were then immersed in bath
of petrol to make them dry, odorless, and white...
The skeletons were wrapped in strong paper and again
forwarded to ....the Kaiser Welhelm Institute in Berlin. ( 6 5 )
The Nazi scientific establishment believed that they were creating a
fitter society and that Struggle and Selection were integral elements. Their
views of race, sterilization, elimination of the disabled, laws pertaining to
restrictions on marriage, immigration restrictions, and a belief in Northern
European Supremacy were aspects shared with social movements in others
areas of Europe,
North America and the world which in some instances
preceded even the arrival of the Nazis on the scene in Germany.
Some of
what the Nazis propounded and placed into action had been discussed or
64
acted upon in one form or another in countries that were influenced by
Western Eugenics, including the United States.
65
N o t e s : * ( The u s e o f : i t a l i c s within the body of the paper or in the
N o t e s . . . d e s i g n a t e s ei t h er a quote or a heavily p a r a p h r a s e d set of
materials).
23.New York Herald Tribune, May 4,1933; Nazis Open Race Bureau for
Eugenic Segregation. (Photocopy of a news clipping obtained from the Harry
Laughlin Collection at Truman State University). Someone, has written in
cursive writing: " H i t l e r s h o u l d b e m a d e a n h o n o r a r y m e m b e r o f t h e
E u g e n i c s R e c o r d s O f f i c e ! ! " ) It looks like Laughlin's handwriting.
24.New York Herald Tribune,Sept. 6,1933; Nazi Manifesto Starts Eugenics
Propaganda. (Photocopy of a news clipping obtained from the Harry Laughlin
Collection at Truman State University).
25.Lundborg,Herman;The
Danger
of
Degeneracy,I.;
Review,vol.XIII,No.1 April-January 1922,p.532.
The
Eugenics
26. Ibid.; p.532.
27. Ibid.; p. 535.
28.Lundborg,Herman;The Danger of Degeneracy,
Review,vol.XIV,No.1 April-January 1923,pp. 41-42
II.;
The
Eugenics
29.Ibid.; pp.42-43
30. A typed translation of a Speech entitled: 'German Population and Race
Politics' by Dr. Frick, the Nazi Reichminister for the Interior, 'before the
first meeting of the Expert Council for the Population, and Race Politics' held
in Berlin, June 26,1933; the translation was done for 'the Eugenical News'.
(Photocopy of the translation obtained from the Harry Laughlin collection at
Truman State University). Handwritten cursive note at the top, " P u b . M a r (pp.1-3,5-6,10 of the translation)
Apr 1934".
31.Muller-Hill, Benno; Essay Human Genetics in Nazi Germany, published in
John Michalczyk's Medicine Ethics and the Third Reich, published by Sheed &
Ward, 1994, pp.27-28. Michalczyk's anthology contains interesting materials
from a variety of authors, it emphasizes the moral and ethical implications
66
of the materials within.
32. Original Source: Lenz, F.; Die Stellung des Nationalsocializaismus zur
Rassenhygiene. Archiv fur Rassenun Gesellschaftbiologie 25; 1931) pp.300308. (Cited in Muller-Hill, Benno; Human Genetics in Nazi Germany, published in
Michalczyk's, Medicine, Ethics and the Third Reich, Sheed & Ward, 1994,
pp.29.
33. Muller-Hill;1994, pp. 30-31.
34.Ibid.
35. Proctor, Robert N.; Racial Hygiene: The Collaboration of Medicine and
Nazism', in Michalczyk;1994, p37.
36.Original Source: Proctor, R.N.; Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis,
Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press; 1988, p.17. Cited in Jeremiah A.
Barondess, M.D.; Medicine Against Society, lessons from the Third Reich',
JAMA, November 27,1996-Vol. 276, No. 20),p. 1658.
37.Lorimer,E.O.; 'Periodical Review' (A review of the Archiv fur Rassen und
Gesellschafts Biologie, August 1930, Vol.24 special edition. (Printed in honor
of the founder and editor, Dr. A. Plotz). The Eugenics Review,vol.XXII,No.4
January 1931, pp. 314-317.
38. Barondess;1996, p.1658.
39.Report of the Annual Meeting, International Eugenics Federation; The
Eugenics Review,vol.XX,No.3 October 1928, p.187.
40.Michalczyk; 1994, (Proctor's essay on Racial Hygiene) , p .36.
41.Billig, Michael; Searchlight Magazine, A dead idea that will not lie down-A
brief History of Race Science, A special issue on Genetics and Eugenics, July
1998. No. 277. (London) (downloaded a copy of the article from a link on Dr.
Barry Mehler's home page at Ferris State).
67
42. Nuremberg Laws (1935) Nazi Laws that specified racial and religious
restrictions within Nazi Germany. They were added and enlarged as the
power of the Nazi State grew.
Taken from Dr. John M. Steiner and Freiherr Jobst von Cornbrg's abstract
of an article published in Germany in a journal of contemporary history. The
authors a s c e r t a i n e d , t h a t ( w i t h t h e r e c o r d s a v a i l a b l e ) , o n l y t w o
e x e m p t i o n s for full J e w s , i . e . , p e r s o n s with three or four Jewish
g r a n d p a r e n t s were made.
Only p e r s o n s c l a s s i f i e d as V a l i d a t e d
Jews and Jewish M i s c h l i n g , e s p e c i a l l y when they were m a r r i e d to
t h o s e d e f i n e d a s A r y a n m e n o r w o m e n , c o u l d b e e x e m p t e d . Most
were not granted exemptions.
Dr. Steiner is a Professor Emeritus of
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California and a concentration camp
survivor. Baron von Cornbrg was a member of the Hitler youth during the
war. The two are close friends and have worked on several projects over the
years. The resulting article was the culmination of rigorous on site research
in official archives in Germany.
S t e i n e r , D r . J o h n M . , u n d C o r n b r g , F r e i h e r r v o n J o b s t ; Willdur
Inderwillkur, Hitler und de Befreiunge von der Antisemtischen Nurnberger
Gesetzen (Vierteljahrshefte fur Zeitgeschte; edit. Dietrich-Brachter, Karl;
Schwarz, Hans-Peter; Moller, Horst; Munich, R. Oldenbourg, Verlag V.461998) pp. 143-187.
43. Lifton, Robert Jay; The Nazi Doctors, Basic Books, New York, 1986.
Contains references to the social climate which was created in Germany
which allowed groups to be stigmatized and then killed... popular media, and
professional groups including university professors were used to create an
in-group versus an outgroup mentality.
The social climate is covered in Lifton's excellent work... for it details the
support of the traditional institutions... . Dr. John Steiner, a Holocaust
Author of International Note has identified the cultural stages for defining
members of a society as members of an out group and the potentially lethal
consequences of such actions when carried to the extreme. When the social
key fits the lock, the behavior is expressed.
43. Lifton ;1986, pp. 22-144.
Contains detailed information on the scientific and medical establishment and
their combined roles in the Nazi Eugenics movement which included the killing
of those who had disabilities both adults and newborns, and compulsory
sterilization programs in Germany which were modeled in part on the
68
sterilization laws in the United States.
See also: Video Documentary: Titled: The Killing Films of the Third Reich,
which was shown on commercial television, a copy has been retained for
scholarly purposes.
44. Ibid.
45. Original Source: Proctor,1988, p.17. Cited in Barondess,1996, p.1659.
46. Original Source: Aly, G.; Medicine Against The Useless. In: Aly G, Chroust
P, Pross C. Eds; Cleansing The Fatherland, Baltimore, Md., The Johns Hopkins
University Press; 1994:p.38). Cited in Barondess, 1996, p.1659.
47.Proctor, R.N.; Nazi doctors, racial medicine and human experimentation.
Original cite in Annas, GJ, Grodin MA, eds.; The Nazi Doctors and the
Nuremberg Code. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press; 1992)pp.17-31;
Cited in Barondess 1996, p. 1659.
48.Video Documentary: Titled: The Killing Films of the Third Reich, which was
shown on commercial television, a copy has been retained for scholarly
purposes.
49.
a. Lifton, 1986; (p.43) contains a very concise paragraph on the topic of the
Lebensborn program, it also notes the practice of kidnapping "Aryan
Children" to improve the Reich...
b. Graber, G.S.; The History of the S.S., David McKay Company, New York,
1978. (p.81)& (p.105) Contains information as to the funding of the program
and notes that unmarried S.S. as well as unmarried vetted German women
were encouraged to have children...interesting background materials.
b. Video Documentary: Titled 'of Pure Blood' which was shown on commercial
television, a copy has been retained for scholarly purposes. (Lebensborn
movement is one of the topics).
c. 'SS' Time Life Series, illustration of children from Poland being taken by
the Nazi's to special camps for racial selection for use in Lebensborn.
69
50. Paraphrased excerpts and quotes selected from a publishers abstract
of Catrine Clay and Michael Leapman's book, The Lebensborn Experiment in
Nazi Germany). Obtained from a copy of the abstract.
51.Lifton; 1986, pp. 27-28.
This item was included to illustrate the concurrence of members of the
scientific and medical communities of the time with the ideology of the Nazis
and their policies.
52. A photocopy of the page proof of Professor E. Rudin's speech delivered
at the Conference of the International Federation of Eugenic Organizations'
at Farnham, Dorset,England,1930. The document is in the Harry Laughlin
Collection at Truman State University).
53.Ibid.
54. Hoehne;1971, p.166.
55. The Holocaust; Keter Publishing House Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, p.
91. (no author cited)
The desire to exploit prisoners as a source of crucial labor was in direct
opposition to the extermination program of another sector of the German
war effort... the latter became more important.
Kassebaum, Peter (author's note), Many works on the Holocaust note that
the Germans and their Allies diverted trains and troops away from front line
combat and hindered the resupply and movement of troops to concentrate
on killing Jews and others in the territories under their control. These
actions continued until the war came to an end...up through the time that
defeat was inevitable. The Nazi movement was built in part on the idea that
killing off populations that were defined as inferior was the purpose of the
war...
56. Holocaust; 1972, p. 22.
The theme of killing off populations that were defined as inferior and applying
Darwinian principles was alive in Germany long before the Nazi's came to
power. An example of one such work is seen in the writings of Paul De
Lagarde in his Program for the Conservative Party of Prussia in 1884 quoted
in the above source.(Kassebaum's translation of the title).
70
We have to break with the idea of humanity...
characterization of humanity as sheer silliness, and the
extension and active application to human society of the
Darwinian Principle of Natural Selection in Justification
of the killing off of human beings deemed as inferior...
57. Lehman College Professor of History John Weiss has published
Ideology of Death: Why the Holocaust Happened in Germany,(Ivan R. Dee).
The materials in the cite were paraphrased and quoted by Dr. Kassebaum
and were drawn from an essay released on the world wide web.
58.Barondess;1996, p.1660.
59. Posner,Gerald and Ware,John; Mengele the Complete Story,
publishing company, New York, 1986,pp.10,11.
Dell
60.Original citation in Muller-Hill,Benno; Todliche Wissenschaft: Die
Aussonderung von Junden, Zigunern und Geisteskranken 1933-1945.
Hamburg; Rowohlt, 1984., p.23), published in Posner, and Ware;1986.p.35.
61.Original citation from a personal statement given to Judge Horst von
Glasenapp, Frankfurt Prosecutor's Office file on Josef Mengele, March 13,
1973 by Mr. Jancu Wexler. (Cited in Posner and Ware; 1986)p.36.
62.Ibid.; p.37
63. Ibid.; (interview with Vera Kriegel).
Wissenschaft:
Die
64.Original
citation:
Muller-Hill;1984.Todliche
Aussonderung von Junden, Zigunern und Geisteskranken 1933-1945, p. 164.
Cited in Posner, and Ware; 1986 p.37.
65.Original citation: Miklos Nyiszli; Auschwitz,: A Doctor's eyewitness
Account, translated by Tibere Kremer and Richard Seaver. London: Granada
Books, 1973, p. 54. Cited in Posner, and Ware;1986 p.44.
71
72
Legacy of American Eugenics:
Another area which is closely related is the topic of Western
Eugenics as practiced in: England, France, Germany, and the United States.
Eugenics called itself a science, it has been largely ignored by scholars
because of its close association with Nazi ideology. However, Anthropology in
North America and Western Europe and other disciplines, such as, Medicine,
Psychology and Sociology were influenced by Eugenics and its practioners. In
the world of Eugenics... Biological and Social
Darwinian concepts
and
perspectives were combined. Racial fitness and biological fitness were two
of the cornerstones of the Western Eugenics movement.
Francis Galton:
E u g e n i c s was first introduced by Francis Galton the cousin of Charles
Darwin, Galton believed that it would be possible to create a fitter class of
humans using scientific knowledge gained from
the study of heredity.
Selective breeding, superiority of races and the inferiority of others, and
biological explanations of complex social problems came to be the nexus or
the core of the Eugenics movement. As can be illustrated in the section on
the Nazi movement, Galton's viewpoint had a major impact on the world
outside of England.
Professor Michael Billig in Searchlight, July 1998, in an essay entitled:
73
A dead idea that will not lie down,
makes the following comments about
Galton.
The pseudo-science of eugenics was founded in the midnineteenth century by Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles
Darwin. Galton, like many Britons of his class, was worried
that the masses were breeding faster than the middle
classes and were endangering the racial strength of the
British nation, making it unfit for its imperial role. His
proposal was to apply the principles of horse-breeding to
human beings, in order to make a stronger race which would
not be overwhelmed by inferior races....
...In 1904 Galton founded Th e E u g e n i c s L a b o r a t o r y, later
renamed the E u g e n i c E d u c a t i o n S o c i e t y . It was to have a
considerable influence on policy, in particular the Alien
Act of 1905. Galton's ideas became immensely popular.
Even intellectual socialists such as H G Wells were drawn
to eugenics, proposing that the healthy and intelligent
should be encouraged to have children, while the unfit and
feeble-minded should be prevented from doing so.. . . ( 6 6 )
John Harvey Kellogg:
John Harvey Kellogg created the Race Betterment Foundation in 1906,
it was Michigan's largest Eugenic organization. The Galton Society was
established by Madison Grant, Charles Davenport, and Henry Fairfield Osborn
in 1918, ostensibly to be an A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y t o c o u n t e r
influence
Museum
the
of F r a n z B o a s . ( 6 7 ) In the f a l l of 1921, the A m e r i c a n
of
Natural
History
hosted
the
Second
International
C o n g r e s s o f E u g e n i c s . ( 6 8 ) By the time of the conference, the American
Eugenics movement was already the largest in the world and was financed by
the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Rockefeller Foundation in New
74
York, and Kellogg's Race Betterment Foundation
in Battle Creek, Michigan.
(69)
Anthropological Supporters of Eugenics:
The committee which organized the above Congress included the noted
Anthropologist, A r l e s H r d l i c k a . ( 7 0 ) The latter was a leading figure within
Physical Anthropology who had an M.D. from the Eclectic Medical College of
New York, earned in 1892.
He was identified by Mehler as belonging to a
subcommittee of the A m e r i c a n
E u g e n i c s S o c i e t y on A n t h r o p o m e t r y
together with E. Hooton another well known Physical Anthropologist of the
time.
Hrdlicka became interested in the physical differences of races and
body types after becoming part of an American Museum of Natural History
expedition to Mexico.(( 7 1 ) He is best known within Anthropology for founding
and serving as the longtime editor of the American Journal of Physical
Anthropology and was the first President of the American Association of
Physical Anthropologists 1 9 3 0 - 3 1 .(( 7 2 )
E. A. H o o t o n
is described by most authors as a rather legendary
figure in Physical Anthropology, he earned a doctorate in Anthropology. He
was a member of the American Eugenics Society, and by 1926...was on one
the Society's subcommittees dealing with A n t h r o p o m e t r y . Hooton was a
member of the American Genetic Association, the Galton Society, and was on
the Advisory Council of the American Eugenics Society between 1 9 2 3 - 3 5 .
( 7 3 ) He became interested in Anthropology while at Oxford as a Rhodes
75
scholar.
Dr. Hooton was given an appointment at Harvard University in
Anthropology and remained there in association with the Peabody Museum
for the rest of his life. ( 7 4 )
His areas of expertise revolved around the
identification and analysis of racial traits, the biological results of race
mixing, and the study of the relationship of crime to race and nationality in
the United States.
Clark
Wissler
obtained
his
doctorate
from
Colombia,
and
is
remembered as being an A n t h r o p o l o g i s t a n d C u r a t o r o f t h e A m e r i c a n
Museum
of
Natural
H i s t o r y . He was a member of the A m e r i c a n
E u g e n i c s S o c i e t y A d v i s o r y C o u n c i l f r o m 1 9 2 3 - 3 5 . (75)
Wissler was an extremely active and dedicated eugenicist.
He was the chair of the A.E.S. subcommittee on
Anthropology, a member of the Executive Committee and
the Nominating Committee of the Eugenics Research
Association, a member
of the Galton Society. He was
Secretary of Section III(human racial differences), for the
Second and Third International Congresses of Eugenics.
He became curator of Anthropology for the American
Museum of Natural History in 1905. In 1924 he became
Professor of Anthropology at Yale's Institute for Human
Relations where he conducted research concerning the
impact of race crossing. In 1925 at the instigation of the
Galton Society, Wissler and Edwin R. Embree of the
Rockefeller Foundation traveled to Australasia and Hawaii
to explore the possibilities of Anthropological research in
these regions. Wissler was President of the American
Anthropological Association 1919-21, New York Academy
of Sciences 1930-31, American Ethnological Society
1915,1916. ( 7 6 )
Documents secured from the Laughlin collection at Truman State
76
University, illustrate that Clark Wissler was also active in the National
Research Council. He served on the N. R. C. which was established by the
National Science Foundation. Wissler was listed as being a member of the
N.R.C. committee on H u m a n h e r e d i t y for 1 9 3 0 a n d 1 9 3 1 . In 1 9 3 0 ,
Wissler was listed as the c h a i r o f t h e c o m m i t t e e o n F a m i l y R e c o r d s .
A subcommittee
of Human
Heredity
was
formed
of
Ellsworth
H u n t i n g t o n , 'Chair' Yale; H.H. Laughlin, Cold Spr in g H a r b o r ;
W i s s l e r , A m e r i c a n Museum of Natural History
Clark
to w o r k w i t h F a m i l y
R e c o r d s .(( 7 7 )
Other figures of note, who were related to Anthropology/Medicine or
the study of evolution and Archeology were active proponents of Eugenics.
In a Conference of the International Federation of Eugenic Organizations
in
England given in 1930, the following views were put forth.(( 7 8 ) Sir Arthur
Keith presented a paper entitled The Urgency of Eugenic Reform at a
meeting organized by Captain G.L. F. Pitt-Rivers.(( 7 9 ) To those familiar with
the history of Anthropology-Archeology, Pitt Rivers and Keith were well
known figures. Keith stated that r a c e p r o d u c t i o n h a d b e e n s a c r i f i c e d
t o e c o n o m i c n e c e s s i t y . ( 8 0 ) He went on to describe the coming era of
humans taking control over their own evolutionary destiny with Eugenists
leading the way. Keith spent time acknowledging the contributions which he
believed Charles Darwin made to the Eugenics movement.
...the ninth annual meeting of the International Federation
of Eugenic Organizations, is particularly fortunate in
77
having in its midst Major Leonard Darwin, the Nestor of
English Eugenists. Seventy years have come and gone since
his father published the Origin of Species. That book has
moved the world towards Eugenic reform more than
any other. Darwin realized what selection could do for the
advancement of human races. His son has devoted the
greater part of his life in seeking to make his father's
theory a practical policy in the modern world. Like his
kinsman, Francis Galton, he has sought to introduce reform,
not by the advocacy of violent measures, but by persuasion
and by appeal to reason. ( 8 1 )
Two of the papers that were delivered at the 1930 conference, and
the
session
entitled
Measurements
of
Race
Hybrid
Crossing:
Professor
C h i l d r e n .; and Dr. J o n
Eugen
A.
Fischer,
Mjoen, Race
C r o s s i n g and G l a n d s , S o m a t i c M en t a l d i s t u r b a n c e in H y b r i d s . ( 8 2 )
Dr. Fischer went on to become one of the major leaders of the T4 program,
the killing of the disabled during the Third Reich. Dr. Mjoen was a Norwegian
who was respected in the Eugenics community and whose actions had
assisted the American Eugenics movement. His work was frequently cited by
Eugenists as being of a pioneering nature.
Dr.
Mjoen published a paper
entitled:
Harmonic
and Unharmonic
Crossings, (Race types and Race crossings in Northern Norway).
My opinion is that not only tuberculosis but also many
other diseases and many social evils, for instance, the
growing criminality from mentally disturbed racial
elements, is partly due to unharmonic race crossing. Not
only the crossing of one race with another ought to be
avoided, but of course also certain crossings within the
same race. Some crossings are in fact constantly removing
undesirable characters, and some crossings are constantly
78
creating new miseries for mankind. To find out why is the
most urgent work for race biologists. It is a fact that
during the last decades the unfortunate mingling of race
has increased to an enormous degree as the result of
philanthropic measures and immigration.
Until we have more definite knowledge in the effects of
race crossings it will certainly be best to avoid crossings
between widely different races. ( 8 3 )
.
Dr. Arthur Keith
delivered a speech in the 1930's at the University of
Aberdeen, Scotland. His speech was entitled:T h e P l a c e o f P r e j u d i c e i n
Modern
Civilization.
( 8 4 ) Dr. Keith championed the idea that R a c e
P r e j u d i c e was a means to promote racial development. The quotes which
follow illustrate a Social Darwinian Perspective, replete with the analogy of
'nature being a garden where pruning is necessary'.
This was a somewhat
popular metaphor for many of the Social Darwinists...and in one form or
another tends to show up in their writings.
Keith stated in his speech that
the League of Nations by trying to prevent war was acting against the forces
of
nature. ' T h e
Leaguist
movement
dominance of the good or altruistic
seeks
for
the
universal
side of our tribal nature.(85)
What Keith was propounding...was the argument that war and racial
prejudice serve an important purpose and that it is impossible to limit
nature.
He believed that society gained from the competition and struggle
which was the result of racial discrimination and prejudice. To him, it was a
normal part of the struggle and fight for survival.
Race Prejudice, I believe works for the ultimate good of
79
mankind and must be given a recognized place in all our
efforts to obtain natural justice for the world. The price
to pay for racialism, he said, is the continuation of
Natures's old scheme of intertribal rivalries and eternal
competition. Always in the past it has been demanded that
a people seeking independence as well as peace must be
ready to pay with blood. 'Nature keeps her human orchard
healthy by pruning and war is her pruning hook'. We cannot
dispense with her services. This harsh and repugnant
forecast of man's future is wrung from me. The future of
my dreams is a war less world. As a gardener, Nature has
two sides, a good side and a bad. She plants and she also
prunes. If we accept her we have to accept her altogether.
Sooner or later she brings the false prophet to book.
...My ominous forecast of man's future is not based solely
upon my studies of the prehistoric world or on my analysis
of the inheritance which has come down to us from that
world. It is supported by what is now happening in every
part of our globe. ...Self-determination, on the other hand,
encourages the power to hate as well as the power to love.
It seeks to resuscitate the tribal heart with all its
prejudices; its likes and dislikes. This
separatist
(self-determinist) movement is stirring the blood at the
present time....It encourages the development of a local
spirit and of native talent. A people which assumes
nationality and sets out to develop it own mental, moral ad
materials resources, strengthens it self-reliance, its faith
in its destiny, its
belief and pride in the tradition,
customs and literature of its country...Prejudice has a
place, a very important
place in the development of
peoples; it binds...nationalities together... ( 8 6 )
Keith was a respected figure within Anthropology. His pronouncements
were undoubtedly read and digested by the Nazis and others...including
racists within the United States and Great Britain as additional validation for
their racial and medical policies. Experts like Keith, emboldened the more
80
extreme elements of some of these political movements to believe that like
minded individuals in positions of power and responsibility were supportive of
their programs. This was at a time that National Socialism and Fascism were
billing themselves as proponents of war and as the saviors of the world.
Their message was to eliminate the weak through the triumph of the strong.
Eugenical policies within these societies were based upon the same premise.
Any well known and respected Western expert who spoke out on the so
called helpfulness of struggle...if they were of an approved caste...could
count on their musings being widely publicized.
contributor
to
advertisements
a
publication
were
carried
called
by
the
The
Sir Arthur Keith was a
Eugenics
American
Review,
Journal
of
whose
Physical
Anthropology. Another Anthropologist of some note was also a contributor
to The Eugenics Review being none other than the imminent
Dr. B.
Malinowski.(( 8 7 ) The latter had a reputation as favoring the study of
biologically linked human activities as the best methodological starting point
when developing
ethnographic materials.
However, his direct support of
Eugenics is not generally well known within modern Anthropology.
The American Journal of Physical Anthropology lists Dr. Clark Wissler,
Dr. E. Hooton, and Dr. Charles B. Davenport as three of the associate
editors.
In the same edition Dr. Franz Boas is also listed. However, it is
obvious that the majority of the fourteen person editorial board were inclined
to favor 'biological determinism' over socialization and learning. The presence
81
of Charles Davenport from the American Eugenics movement as an editor
illustrates the continuing penetration of Physical Anthropology in 1936 by
one of the most well known leaders and founders of the Eugenics movement.
One well known critic of Keith's position was Dr. Franz Boas of Colombia
University. Boas in an article in Science, July 3,1931 made a comment about
Sir Arthur Keith's speech.. ( 9 0 ) In his rebuttal of Keith's position, he notes
the importance of social stratification and what is taught...or learned as the
key attributes which determine whether antagonism is present.
He notes
that some groups that are homogeneous invent their own standards for
competition within the group...and that these are not based upon race.
On this subject I take issue with Sir Arthur Keith, who the
address already referred to is reported to have said that
Race Antipathy and race prejudice...Nature has implanted
in you for her own end--the improvement of mankind
through racial differentiation. I challenge him to prove
that race antipathy is implanted by nature and not the
effect of social causes which are active in every closed
social group, no matter whether it is racially
heterogeneous or homogeneous. The complete lack of sexual
antipathy, the weakening of race consciousness in
communities in which children grow up as an almost
homogeneous group; the occurrence of equally strong
antipathies between denominational groups, or between
social strata--as witnessed by the Roman Patricians and
Plebeians, the Spartan Lacedaemonians, and Helots, the
Egyptian castes and some of the Indian castes--all these
shown are social phenomena. If you will, you may
call them implanted by nature, but only in so far as
man is a being living in closed social groups, leaving it
entirely undetermined what these social groups may be.
82
No matter how weak the case for racial purity may be, we
understand its social appeal in our society. While the
biological reasons that are adduced may not be relevant, a
stratification of society in social groups that are racial in
character will always lead to racial discrimination. ...As
long as we insist on a stratification in racial layers, we
shall pay the penalty in the form of interracial struggle.
(91)
San Blas Indian Study:
The American Journal of Physical Anthropology in 1926, published an
article by Grace Allen of the Department of Genetics, of the
Carnegie
Institution...the parent organization for the Eugenics Record Office.(( 9 2 )
In
an attempt to amass scientific data regarding the intellectual ability of the
San Blas Indians a series of psychological tests were given to a group of
eight. The article noted that two members of the group spoke only very
broken English and that the rest of the group were not speakers of English.
The researcher described the psychological tests that were employed and
commented upon the inability of the subjects to grasp the object of each
type of test.
A table was given where the mental ages of the adults were
ranked at between 6 and 9.5 years of age. ( 9 3 )
... t h e m e d i a n m e n t a l a g e s o f t h e m e m b e r s o f t h e g r o u p a r e
low....Reason and Judgment seemed poorly developed in
them. Trial and error and chance appeared to be the
outstanding methods of solution. ...They did not profit from
experience and would repeatedly try the same combinations
which were obviously wrong. ( 9 4 )
This was another example of poor research where the researcher
83
developed documentation illustrating that Indians were intellectually inferior.
The absurdity of the research design was flawed from the start,
one should
not administer tests to individuals who don't have a grasp of the language
of the test or the language in which the examiner tries to communicate. The
resulting linguistic and cultural barriers should have been obvious to anyone
with common sense. Physical Anthropology as a discipline through its primary
publication the American
Journal
of Physical
Anthropology, helped to
reinforce a set of inaccurate and racist beliefs about Indians from the
popular culture and from the Eugenics movement. Indians were frequently
described in the popular culture as being in a perpetual childlike state with
profound limits to their intellectual capabilities which were preset by
heredity.
The author of the article on the San Blas Indians downplayed the
significance of language, and seemed to be critical of the Indians because
they did not know what the researcher wanted.
It is obvious that Eugenics at this point was exercising its hold upon
the field of Physical Anthropology and the editor of the American Journal of
Physical Anthropology...
proponents of Eugenics.
Dr. Ales Hrdlicka.
He was in fact one of the
Data from 'bogus' studies like the San Blas article
were used to justify a variety of measures against Native Americans.
Including sterilization
programs,
forced acculturation,
isolation and as
scientific data for laws to restrict interaction both biologically and socially
between Native Peoples and White populations.
84
Dr. C. B. Davenport in a paper read at Amsterdam circa 1920,
discussed the concept of Race Crossing in Man. Davenport subscribed to the
isolation
of
races
and
the
interaction
of
the
habitat
in
different
environments as prime determinants of what he called racial groups. E a c h
race
will
have come to f it its e n v i r o n m e n t
as a key f i t s
the
l o c k . ( 9 5 ) He went on to comment that modern vehicles for travel,e.g.,
planes, trains, cars, ships of various sorts have opened up the world, and
with that opening up... came race mixing. Davenport was not a believer in the
equality of racial groups. In addition he unleashed a broadside of inaccurate
generalizations, along with cliches that are racist in nature. His wording was
inflammatory and have enraged those groups and individuals who were the
recipients of his biased perspective and distortions which were generally
framed in a pseudo scientific manner . The following is a selection of quotes
which give a flavor of the real beliefs of Charles Davenport towards racial
groups. He was not an impartial observer and used his considerable prestige
for years afterwards to block immigration and the interaction of races. The
fact that he served on the editorial board of the American Journal of
Physical Anthropology
for years....serves
as another reminder of how
Anthropology was influenced by individuals who had extremist and racist,
biological explanations for behavior.
...Especially Europeans are settling into the territories of
primitive peoples and mating with them. All barriers are
being thrown down. Race mixture is occurring as never
before in the history of mankind. Is it strange that
85
statesmen, biologists, eugenicists, are aroused to demand,
What can be predicted as to the consequences of such
crossing? Should it be welcomed as tending to produce a
higher type of man or should steps be taken to prevent
immigration to any country as a menace to its culture?
...Each race of man that has long persisted in a distinct
environment has gained, by preservation of useful
mutations, certain adaptations to that environment. The
useful phenotypical adaptions have enabled their
possessors to survive and the genotype that produced them
continues the characters of the race. Sexual selection
tends to maintain the special standard, or norm, in each
place.
...In the mixture of races which is now taking place there
are combinations of genotypic conditions which sometimes
lead to disharmony in the phenotype.
...Mental and temperamental incompatibilities may also
arise as we see in the mulattos of North America which
combine something of a white man's intelligence and
ambition with an inefficient intelligence to realize that
ambition. This leads in the hybrid to dissatisfaction a
feeling that he is not getting a fair deal.
...Mankind is not without experience as to the consequences
of race crossing. ... The past century has witnessed the
migrations of millions of all the subraces of Europe and
not a few of the Asiatics into North America; the almost
complete hybridization of the Indians of the Untied States,
both with whites and Negroes; the production of the
Eurasians in India and extensive mongrelization of
oceanic
islands....Anthropology faces the prospect of
becoming no longer the study of races but the study
of race mixtures, the science of human
hybridization.
...It is probable that, where our own race is involved, deep
86
seated instincts are aroused especially the instinct of
'race purity'. It is often called pride of race. Apparently
this race purity is a complex instinct, made up of a number
of more elementary impulses.
...There is no single rule that applies to all racial hybrids.
Some of them like the French Canadian Indian hybrids and
the Chinese Hawaiian hybrids seem to show hybrid vigor.
Others like the Eurasians, show an enfeeblement. Some are
devoid of beauty of form and grace while others are
regarded by the whites as particularly attractive. The most
wide spread., physical defect would appear to be the
liability to tuberculosis, although it is not quite certain
this is not due to the persisting lack of resistance
inherited from the more primitive race and contact with
the Europeans. The most serious defect found is bad
behavior due to conflicting instincts. Perhaps we can
only say that apart from the greater variability which the
hybrid people show as compared with purer stocks. The
result of race crossing depends upon the particular nature
of the cross.
...Thus, my conclusion is a pragmatic one; where a race
cross is the one to produce physically mentally and
temperamentally superior stock, it may be encouraged;
where it produces stock that is below the average in these
respects it may well be discouraged. In case of doubt one
should play safe by discouraging it. ( 9 6 )
In a listing of the charter members of the Association for Physical
Anthropology...Davenport's name is to be found along with the names of such
prominent Anthropologists as: Franz Boas, Melville Herskovits, Ernst Hooton,
Ales Hrdlicka, A.L. Kroeber, Harry Shapiro, and Clark Wissler.
In a review of the 'literature' section in the American Journal of
Physical Anthropology 1928, the published proceedings of the Third Race
87
Betterment Conference were discussed.. ( 9 7 )
The review states that the
'Third Conference' has 'u n i t e d t h e S o c i o l o g i s t , t h e E u g e n i c i s t , a n d t h e
A n t h r o p o l o g i s t ' for the discussion of many topics pertaining to man's
welfare.(( 9 8 ) The subjects were divided into the following categories:
Heredity and Eugenics; Crime and Sterilization;
Immigration and Man...papers with titles such as, The
Control of Heredity, Oscar Riddle; Race Deterioration and
destruction with special reference to the American people,
by Ales Hrdlicka; the practical application of eugenic
principles, by Luther S. West; The Menace of the half Man,
by Judge Harry Olson; The Evolution of the American
Population, by Louis Dublin... ( 9 9 )
This is one more illustration of a connection between Eugenics and
Physical Anthropology of the period.
The reviewer of the above anthology
from the Conference was Dr. Ales Hrdlicka.
He was favorably inclined
towards the conference and the larger publication which resulted.
presence
His
at the conference; his ties to Eugenics and his position as the
editor of the first major journal for Physical Anthropology...helped to set the
tone for the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology for a number of
years.
Hrdlicka wrote a review of E.S. Gosney and Paul Popenoe's: Sterilization
for Human Betterment. He used a direct quote from their manuscript
the first major paragraph within the review.
The human race has developed through countless ages
under the laws of heredity by the survival of the fittest.
The weak and defective have perished. Only the physically
88
as
strong and mentally alert could withstand the severe
conditions of early life, reach maturity, and become the
father and mothers of the next generation. Modern
civilization, human sympathy, and charity have intervened
in Nature's plan. The weak and defective are now nursed to
maturity and produce their own kind.
...they range from the moron to the born criminal, the
insane, and the idiot. They breed in many cases; the
progeny is abnormal and retards progress of the rest; it is
also costly economically. It is the direct interest of
society to limit as far as possible such breeding. ( 1 0 0 )
If one did not know who the author was,it would sound as if William
Graham Sumner or Herbert Spencer had penned the commentary noted
above. In the last paragraph of the review , Hrdlicka stated that t h e b o o k
discusses
in e x c e l l e n t
form the h i s t o r y
r e m e d y and all a s p e c t s of the c a s e .
the p r o m o t i o n of the c a u s e . (101)
of this e f f e c t i v e
social
It is bound to aid g r e a t l y in
Again, the links between Hrdlicka,
Eugenics and the discipline of Anthropology were present.
A further example of the relationship between Physical Anthropology
and Eugenics is to be found in a review of Race Crossing in Jamaica by
Charles B. Davenport and Morris Steggerda.(( 1 0 2 ) In a somewhat unorthodox
move, the reviewer for the American Journal of Physical Anthropology was
'no other' than Charles Davenport...one of the authors.
A brief quote from
his review ... is illustrative when he states that 'Blacks' are usually inferior
when measurements are taken comparing their performance on standardized
tests when compared to Whites. ' T h e i n f e r i o r i t y
89
of B l a c k s to plan and
put through
a composition
like the drawing of a man;
also in
c e r t a i n f o r m b o a r d t e s t s , in c r i t i c i s m o f a b s u r d s e n t e n c e s , a n d to
make a certain practical judgment.
(103)
...There are other instances where, though the adult whites
are superior in psychological tests to the adult blacks, the
adolescent blacks are superior to the adolescent whites.
There seems to be a precocious attainment of their
maximum achievement on the part of the Negro children;
the white children continue to improve to the adult state.
(104)
Here we see Davenport making a case for race based developmental
limits.
He slips in the 'alleged' scientific fact that biological limitations
regarding intellectual ability are present for 'Black' adults. While 'Black
Adolescents' scored higher on one test, he attributed that to a supposedly
faster but limited maturation cycle. Here again, a gross generalization with
'No' basis in fact...cited in his review or evidently in the original work.
No
mention in the review was made of the fact that minimal schooling was
available for 'Blacks' after grammar school, and that Whites had access to
additional education based upon the privilege of their race.
access to education was present.
90
A
differential
Notes:
* ( The use o f : i t a l i c s
within the body of the p a p e r or in the
N o t e s . . . d e s i g n a t e s ei t h er a quote or a heavily p a r a p h r a s e d set of
materials).
66.
a.Billig;1998.
b. For more background regarding Eugenics...see the following:
The Discovery of the Fittest, A Eugenic Problem,Herbert,S; Westminster
Review, Volume 175: January 1911, pp.39-45.
Herbert put forth the idea that if one wanted to better society by being a
reformer, then one must... a v a i l h i m s e l f o f t h e m e t h o d o f s e l e c t i o n ,
substituting for 'Natural Selection' as D.G. Ritchie so finely put it,
'Rational Selection.
He expressed the viewpoint of most Eugenists, that social classes are tied
to...biological and intrinsic civic worth. He refers to Galton:
...in his E n g l i s h M e n o f S c i e n c e , t h a t t h e u p p e r c l a s s e s o f a n a t i o n
l i k e our own, which a r e l a r g e l y and c o n t i n u a l l y r e c r u i t e d by
s e l e c t i o n f r o m below, a r e by f a r the m o s t p r o d u c t i v e of n a t u r a l
a b i l i t y . Herbert goes on to quote another...academic...Dr. Karl Pearson, in
his Grammar of Science who speaks of the e x c e p t i o n a l l y d e g e n e r a t e ,
i s o l a t e d i n t h e s l u m s o f o u r m o d e r n c i t i e s . (Herbert; pp.39-40)
67. Mehler, Barry; A history of the American Eugenics Society, 1921-1940,
doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana, 1988. p.24
An outstanding piece of work, full of excellent references for a variety of
disciplines including Sociology and its ties to Eugenics.
68. Ibid.; p.36.
69. Ibid.; p.40.
70. Ibid.; p.37.
71. Ibid.; p.373.
72.Ibid.
91
73.Ibid.; p. 370.
74.Ibid.
75.Ibid.; p.445.
76. Ibid.; p.444-446.
77.
a . Photocopy of a letter from C.E. Allen, Chair of the Division of biology and
agriculture, National Research Council, dated May 23,1930. Addressed to
Members of the committee on family records, National Research Council.
Obtained from the Harry Laughlin Collection at Truman State University.
B . Photocopy of a letter from W.C. Curtis, Chair of the Division of biology
and agriculture, National Research Council, dated May 21,1931. Addressed to
Members of the committee on Human Heredity, National Research Council.
Obtained from the Harry Laughlin Collection at Truman State University.
78. Keith, Sir Arthur; A photocopy of the page proof of the speech delivered
at the Conference of the International Federation of Eugenic Organizations'
at Farnham, Dorset,England,1930. The document was obtained from the
Harry Laughlin Collection at Truman State University.
79.Ibid.
80.Ibid.
81.Ibid.
82.Ibid.
83.Mjoen, Dr. Jon; Article entitled: Harmonic and Unharmonic Crossings,
(Race types and Race crossings in Northern Norway);The Eugenics
Review,vol.XIV,No.1 April-January 1922), pp. 38-39.
84. A photocopy of a newspaper article; New York Times, Wireless to the
92
New York Times, June 6,193?. Sir Arthur Keith: 'Holds War Helpful', British
Scientist Says: Nature will not Permit Mankind to Abolish Holocausts'.
Defends: 'Race Prejudice'. , p.12. The document was obtained from the
Harry Laughlin Collection at Truman State University.
85. Ibid.
86. Ibid.
87.American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. XXII, No.1 OctoberDecember,1936); (advertisement
for
the Eugenics Review listing
contributors to the Review) p.1.
88.Ibid.
89.American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. XXII, No.1 OctoberDecember,1936; cover page.
90.Original sources: Race and Progress, Professor Franz Boas; reprinted
from Science 1931, Vol. 74, No 1905, pages 1-8. Address of the President
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pasadena,
June 15, p.7. (Photocopy obtained from the Harry Laughlin collection, Truman
State University). Dr. Laughlin requested a copy from Boas in a letter, dated
July 16th, 1931, which he addressed to him at Colombia University. ( Copies
of both were retained by Laughlin).
91.Ibid.
92.Allen, Grace; 'Department of Genetics, of the Carnegie Institution',
article: San Blas Indian Study, American Journal of Physical Anthropology,
vol. IX, Washington, D.C., 1926, p.82. (The Carnegie Institution was the
parent organization which founded the Eugenics Records Office, see later
section of paper).
93.Ibid.
94.Ibid.; p.85.
93
95.Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor laboratory/Eugenics site; (downloaded
March 2000)document:
(Race Crossing in Man)
A paper by Charles
Davenport, circa 1920, given in Amsterdam.( Original from the collection of
the American Philosophical Society).
96. Ibid.
97. In a review of the 'literature' section in the American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 1928, the published proceedings of the 'Third Race Betterment
Conference' were discussed. Cited in the: (American Journal of Physical
Anthropology, vol. XII,No.3, January-March 1929 )pp. 487-488
98.Ibid.
99.Ibid.
100. Hrdilicka, A.; A review of Gosney,E.S., and Popenoe, P., Sterilization for
Human Betterment in the literature section of the (American Journal of
Physical Anthropology, vol. XIII, April-March-July-September, OctoberDecember, 1929 ), pp. 104-105.
101.Ibid.
102. Davenport, Charles; A review of 'Race Crossing in Jamaica' authored by
Davenport, Charles & Steggerda, Morris in the literature section of The
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. XIII, April-March-JulySeptember, October-December, 1929 ),pp. 105-106. What makes the review
suspect, is the fact that Davenport was a co author of the book which he
reviewed for the American Journal of Physical Anthropology!!
103.Ibid.
104. Ibid.
94
The Goals of
American Eugenics
The Goals of American Eugenics were outlined in a pamphlet (undated)
published by the C a r n e g i e I n s t i t u t i o n o f W a s h i n g t o n , D e p a r t m e n t o f
G e n e t i c s , and the E u g e n i c s R e c o r d s O f f i c e , Cold S p r i n g s H a r b o r ,
L o n g I s l a n d , N e w Y o r k . ( 1 0 5 ) The E.R.O. was founded by the late M r s .
E.H. Harriman and was established in 1910. (106)
Mrs. Harriman was the wealthy widow of one of the richest men in the United
States at the time. She was an advocate of Eugenics.
Two of the leading
figures in Eugenics are listed on the pamphlet along with their titles. Charles
B. Davenport is identified as the director and Harry Laughlin as the assistant
director.(( 1 0 7 ) The first paragraph in the pamphlet states that:
...the office is devoted to the study of the biological forces
which determine the natural capacities and limitations of
mankind. It looks forward to having a good pedigree index
of the natural traits of a large portion of the families of
America. ...Every marriage is an experiment in heredity.
The principle business of Eugenics is:
1. ...find out what matings are fittest for society...
2. ...disseminate the facts of inheritance...
3....to secure ...social ideals which will facilitate the
mating of the fittest...and a knowledge among all of the
hereditary traits carried by each...
4. ...educate organized society, ...especially state
governments... where it will act with an eye to racial
progress, encouraging reproduction of the best blood, and
discouraging or preventing the reproduction of the worst
strains.Eugenically improvement means the diversification,
95
purification, and conservation of highly effective and
talented human families.
5....encourage every...intelligent... patriotic family to
establish an Eugenically Archive...recording traits...
In a few words, then, if race is to make progress along the
lines of natural abilities, those in control must see to it
that there shall be fit matings and many children among
those most richly endowed by nature, and that hereditary
defectives and degenerates shall not be permitted to
reproduce at all. ( 1 0 8 )
E.R.O. (Eugenics Records Office)
The Eugenics Records Office (E.R.O.) wanted to become the repository
for all genetic related records for the entire United States. The purpose of
the records was for research and reproductive control to influence the
biological direction which the population was taking. It was common to believe
that beyond plotting out disease...and obvious genetic traits which were
defined as negative...that other traits were also thought to have a biological
basis at the time. Here are some of the other items that were of interest
to the point that E.R.O. established a separate recording schedule or form .
Special Traits:
1. musical talent
2.Tuberculosis
3.Harelip and Cleft Palate
4.Hair form, eye color, complexion
5. Stature
6.Weight
7.Physical Measurement Record
8.Twins
9.Mathematical Ability
10.Special trait sheet for recording any special trait
96
shown in the family... ( 1 0 9 )
Examples of so-called Special Eugenic traits...those displaying m u s i c a l
a b i l i t y , s t a t e s m e n , i n v e n t o r s , a t h l e t e s , or the l i k e , n e ' e r - d o - w e l l s ,
outcasts,
criminals...
these
were
thought
to
have
a
biological
basis.(( 1 1 0 )
The proposition was to gather as much information as possible about
families and individuals. While they note the need to keep private the family
records they were soliciting...they were working to have both the State and
Federal government restrict the reproduction of entire groups.
A call for
others to do the research was part of the strategy, not only self reporting
from individuals conducting their own monitoring of their immediate and
extended family but others were encouraged to participate.
Physicians, teachers, ministers, lawyers, lecturers,
women's clubs, social students, biologists, family
genealogists, and archivists, biographers, and all other
persons interested in studying, recording, publishing and
bettering the natural qualities of their own family or of
mankind at large, are invited to keep in touch with the
Eugenics Record Office. ( 1 1 1 )
The initial meeting of the Scientific Directors of the Eugenics Records
Office was held at the Carnegie Institution of Washington,D.C.
The goals of
the new organization were t o m a k e r e s e a r c h i n e u g e n i c s t h a t s h a l l b e
of u t i l i t y to the human r a c e , to the i n d i v i d u a l in the s e l e c t i o n of
m a t e s , t o t h e s t a t e , t o t h e n a t i o n . An important aspect was identified
as the n e e d t o b r i n g h o m e t o t h e g o v e r n m e n t t h e d e s i r a b i l i t y
97
of
more careful
consideration
of the f a m i l y
history
of p e r m a n e n t
i m m i g r a n t s . Mention is given regarding the funding of research s t u d i e s o f
f e e b l e m i n d e d n e s s , a n d i n s a n i t y along with a study of immigrants and
the budget for a statistician. On page two of the minutes is a notation that
the committee... v o t e d t o r e c o m m e n d t o M r . J o h n D . R o c k e f e l l e r t h e
s u p p o r t o f t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s ... ( 1 1 2 )
Charles Davenport installed Harry Laughlin of Missouri to run the
Eugenics Records Office.
Under Laughlin's direction, the E.R.O. became the epicenter
of the American Eugenics Movement, amassing hundreds of
thousands of family pedigrees, case studies, and indexed
records. The ERO sponsored summer courses to train
aspiring eugenics caseworkers and actively lobbied for the
passage of state sterilization and national immigration
restriction. In the face of mounting evidence of serious
flaws in eugenics research in the 1930's, Laughlin's misuse
of data and almost religious belief in his version of
Eugenics became an embarrassment. Knowledge of the
horrors of the Nazi application of Eugenics sealed the fate
of the American movement, and the ERO was closed in
1939. ( 1 1 3 )
However, during its active phase the E.R.O. was extremely influential
both at home and abroad...and should be identified as one of the institutions
that led to massive Immigration Restrictions based upon spurious data
pertaining to: Race. They encouraged Miscegenation Laws, which were
supported by a form of Medical and Anthropological Racism, plus programs
which culminated in the sterilization of large groups of individuals.
enough to say that the
It is not
Eugenics movement and its believers within the
98
United States...saw the light...they did not...it became politically incorrect
for proponents in the United States to espouse their beliefs during the
Second World War and its immediate
aftermath.
Thus,
causing the
movement to close the E.R.O., because of political, social and personal
pressures.
It was closed because many of the viewpoints of its members
placed them in jeopardy. However, the viewpoints expressed under scientific
guise by some... are illuminating in that they show the underlying attitudes
of some of the supporters of Eugenics towards any form of deviation from
what they defined as normal.
Harry Laughlin:
Harry Laughlin in a manuscript entitled: T h e C o n t r o l o f T r e n d s i n
the
Racial
Composition
of
the A m e r i c a n
People
described the
changes between the first census in 1790 and 1920 regarding the American
population and its r a c i a l s t o c k . ( 1 1 4 )
In a section
of
this
paper,
he
discusses N o n - W h i t e S t o c k s .
. . . T h e r e a r e , h o w e v e r , in t h e c o u n t r y c o n s i d e r a b l e n u m b e r of
each of three non-white racial stocks whose differential
fecundity concerns the nation. These stocks are: first, the
African Negro, about one-third of a million of whom were
imported into the United States as slaves. ...There is a
tendency in State Legislation to define a colored person as
any one with any trace of Negro blood. This definition is
one of the principal features of the new 'Racial
Integrity Laws enacted by several states.
The second non-white element in our racial makeup is the
Oriental. This is represented by the Chinese, the Japanese,
the Filipino, and the Hindu Stocks. ...But as a whole-except
99
for the Filipinos-Oriental immigration, like the slave
trade, has ceased.
...The third of these problems is more recent and pressing.
This is the Mexican immigration into the Southwestern pat
of the United States, which has grown so greatly during the
last few years. The dearth of labor has attracted almost a
mass migration to fill the labor demands in the Southwest
quarter of the country. The average Mexican is descended
mostly from the Indian and only slightly from Spanish
blood. ( 1 1 5 )
Laughlin was concerned about the impact of non-White immigration and
fecundity, in regards to what he believed would be negative
eugenical
changes of the American population if non-Whites became greater in overall
numbers and percentages. He was opposed to non-Whites becoming a larger
segment of American Society, nor did he favor
other
categories of
Europeans outside the northern zone as being suitable for immigration to
America.
His attitudes are more apparent in the last portion of the above
paper, where he has a section entitled: A m e r i c a n P o l i c y .
...Present trends of the American people points to the
following policy as feasible for the American people in
their efforts to conserve their basic racial
characteristics, and to improve and specialize the
hereditary endowments of their constituent family stocks.
1. In all future international relations, particularly in
international cooperative enterprises, maintain as an
essential principle of international law, two present
attributes of sovereignty:
a. The absolute right of each nation to exercise emigration
authority over its own nationals who desire to leave, and
its own immigration authority overall all aliens who desire
100
to enter
b.The right and duty of each nation to maintain its own
population at optimum number, and to develop its own race
and culture in accordance with its own ideals.
2.Confine future immigration, in large degree, to
(a) assimilable races-that is, those most like the historic
American people.
(b) Within these races, limit immigration to a total number
which can be assimilated without destroying the economic
foundation and the institutional character of the country.
(c) Within the races and numbers thus limited, further
limit immigrants to persons who, both individually and in
family stock, are above the present average of the
American People in physical stamina, mental capacities,
and moral vigor.
3. Deport all aliens who are still potential parents who do
not attain to the immigration standard above stated, and
maintain the principle that every nation, state, community
and family which produces and inadequate must care for
him.
4.In connection with each future census, maintain a
permanent registry of the American People.
5. In all future census enumerations and analyses, provide
for a more thorough stock-taking of racial elements and
cultural capacities of the people.
6.Undertake research to restore as completely as possible
the history of the racial trend and cultural capacities of
the American People.
7. Undertake research to determine the optimum population
of the several countries, or natural geographic regions, of
the world under existing and possible economic, social and
political conditions.
8.Further investigate the biological, economic, social, and
101
political and religious forces which govern population
numbers and whose control can be invoked to maintain
optimum population numbers and to direct racial and family
stock development.
9. Among such studies emphasize research to determine the
facts, causes and consequences.
(a) of the realization between size of family and race,
family stock, occupation, education, religion, economic
status, density of population, national mores, and statue of
Laws.
(b) of mate selection among all sections of the population
(c) of international, interstate and country to city
migration
10. As the factors which determine population numbers and
quality are more perfectly understood, we should bring into
play, and should direct toward the maintenance and
development of the racial and family-stock ideals of the
American people, appropriate educational, economic,
social, religious and legal forces.
It requires patriotism, high intellectual capacity and fine
moral fiber for a nation to undertake the long-time and
laborious research, self-education, restraint and
constructive policy necessary to the ultimate control of
its population turnover from generation to generation.
(116)
Congressman John Box:
In a
Program
Memorandum
for
the
a
proposed
immediate
Immigration
American
Patriotic
Coalition
Congressional
Representative from Texas,
on
Mr. John C. Box an outspoken and well known
proponent for Eugenics outlined his perspectives regarding the need to limit
entrance to 'White's Only' to the United States.
102
The purpose is described
as... T o m a i n t a i n a n d f u r t h e r t o p e r f e c t t h e h i g h r a c i a l a n d f a m i l y
or recruiting by
s t o c k s t a n d a r d s s e t b y t h e J o h n s o n A c t o f 1 9 2 4 , fo
immigration
People.
to the human
seed-stock
values
of the A m e r i c a n
(117)
Be it enacted:
Section 1. That only white persons shall be naturalized as
citizens of the United States: provided, that for the
purpose of this act that a white person shall be defined as
one all of whose ancestors are of Caucasian stocks.( 1 1 8 )
Later in the same document, Congressman Box reflects upon the need
to limit
the immigration
of Mexicans
and Canadians
into the United
States,i.e., if they have any degree of non-White ancestry.
It would establish definite immigration standards which
would exclude (1) all Mexicans and other Latin
Americans, except a small fraction who are of pure
Caucasian descent. (2). All West Indian
Blacks and mixed
bloods, (3) all 'French- Canadian Half Breeds' who
carry a considerable portion of Indian blood, (4) many all
white French Canadians who do not speak English. (119)
Congressman Box was of the opinion that the (restrictive) Johnson Act
did not go far enough in limiting immigration to the United States. In regards
to the English speaking immigrant being given preference to the United
States, Mr. Box believed that speakers of English would be more easily
assimilated into American social and political institutions. While this might
have been true, in terms of the time required to learn English ...he was of
the opinion that biological differences
were the primary
reasons
for
restricting French Canadian Immigration. He added language to the set of
103
exclusionary
traits which would determine whether one would be able to
enter as an immigrant. He goes on to state...
Practically when applied to Canadian immigration this rule
would work to the biological benefit of the United States,
because, on the average, the English speaking immigrants
from Canada are, by heredity, better endowed than the
French speaking.( 1 2 0 )
While, Congressman Box does not state that he was opposed to
Catholics,
there
was
a
correlation
in
that
French
Canadians
were
overwhelmingly Catholic. This has some importance, in that extremist
organizations in the 1920's and 1930's placed the Catholic Church and its
adherents as belonging to a category that were defined as dangerous and
inferior. Catholics and the clergy were the victims of hate crimes. Thus, his
less than subtle use of mixed racial backgrounds and English speaking are
also a possible catch all for the anti-Catholic feelings of the period.
The restrictions against Mexicans and others from Latin America had
some degree of grounding in the racist mores of some Whites from the
geographical region that Congressman Box was from(Texas/South)...these
folks...wanted cheap labor but did not want the Hispanic laborers to gain
citizenship.
Thus, labor could be disposed of... or forced out ...when no
longer needed. The fact that most Hispanics at the time were Catholics, fit
in with the narrow constraints which these extremists were using to define
good and bad traits carried by populations. However, Box was opposed by
ranchers and farmers who wanted Hispanics to be allowed to come over the
border. Box also sponsored legislation which made the Border Patrol a more
104
permanent fixture on both the Mexican and Canadian borders.
Congressman
Box
was
in
league
with
Harry
Laughlin;
they
communicated through personal letters and telegrams regarding the coming
appearance of Laughlin in front of the House 'Immigration and Naturalization
Committee'. Laughlin's appearance was desired
in order to have him share
his expertise on the biological aspects of the 'immigration problem' with
particular reference to Mexico.(( 1 2 1 )
Harry Laughlin and the Eugenics
movement were using a set of spurious data to influence public policy. The
presence of experts in Eugenics gave a symbolic scientific backdrop to the
new National Laws which were restrictive
and exclusionary, and which
mirrored popular and widespread racial beliefs of the time.
Sterilization/Eugenics:
The first laws to restrict reproduction relative to the influence of
Eugenics were written and tested in court in the United States in the early
part of the 20th century. Lynchburg, Virginia was the site of the first test
of the State Law.(( 1 2 2 ) The irony of the first test case is that it is now
known that the legal case was a 'set up' to create an initial judicial opinion to
verify the legality of the Virginia law for compulsory sterilization.
The use
of the term a legal 'set up' is not without careful consideration; for what
happened was a distortion of factual evidence on the part of those acting on
behalf of the State of Virginia and those who were charged with the role of
protecting the rights of a citizen of the State of Virginia. The goal was to
bring a test case where the courts would rule that Sterilization was valid, in
105
order to do this... the case was rigged from the start so that the client's
attorney did his best to lose the case...with the resulting opinion setting a
precedent to affirm the use of forced sterilization. ( 1 2 3 )
In this instance, a seventeen year old girl who had become pregnant
was imprisoned at the Virginia Colony for the Feebleminded and Epileptic. It
was proposed to sterilize her, using as a legal basis her so-called condition of
hereditary
had p a s s e d
feeblemindedness,
a Eugenical
a n d p r o m i s c u i t y ... I n 1 9 2 4 , V i r g i n i a
Sterilization
Act based upon L a u g h l i n ' s
m o d e l l a w . .. i t f o c u s e d u p o n d e f e c t i v e p e r s o n s w h o s e r e p r o d u c t i o n
p o s e d a r i s k t o s o c i e t y . The Superintendent of the Virginia Colony, a Dr.
Priddy,
stated
untruthfulness
mother.
that
Carrie
exhibited
immorality,
prostitution,
a n d s y p h i l i s . .. which were also exhibited by Carrie's
Dr. Priddy described Carrie and her mother in this way: T h e s e
people belong to the s h i f t l e s s ,
ignorant,
and w o r t h l e s s c l a s s of
a n t i s o c i a l W h i t e s o f t h e s o u t h . ( 1 2 4 ) Harry Laughlin never examined
Carrie nor met her, yet he sent a letter of support for the use of
Sterilization against
remedy.
Carrie and affirmed Dr. Priddy's conclusions and his
A Sociologist,
Arthur
Estabrook
was a member
of the
E . R . O . s t a f f and testified that Carrie was:
b e l o w a v e r a g e , a n d n o t q u i t e n o r m a l . ... T h e V i r g i n i a j u d g e
for the case concluded that Carrie should be sterilized to
prevent the birth of other defective children. ( 1 2 5 )
What has come out in
modern reviews of the case...
106
is that Carrie
was r a p e d b y a c l o s e r e l a t i v e o f h e r F o s t e r f a m i l y ; she had not been
promiscuous. In addition, her elementary school report cards illustrated that
she earned h o n o r r o l l status and was therefore not of lower intelligence.
Carrie was victimized by a deplorable home situation, and then placed into a
foster home were she was sexually assaulted. After she became pregnant
from the rape, she was taken to the Colony and labeled and stigmatized...as
being feebleminded and sexually promiscuous. This was done in all likelihood
to protect the foster family or a close friend, at the expense of Carrie.
When the test case made it to the Supreme Court, it was heard by Justice
Holmes...who
delivered
imbeciles are enough.
the
infamous
line... T h r e e
generations
of
It was to be decades and tens of thousands of
sterilizations later ...until a legal opinion
was given which over ruled the
earlier test case. ( 1 2 6 )
Biological Determinism and Eugenics:
A number of scholars from the United States received awards from
the Nazi's because of the strong positions which they took regarding
compulsory sterilization laws and their advocacy of the elimination of those
who were defined as weak or biologically unfit. This included the passing of
laws opposed to cross racial marriage and immigration by Latins, Asians,
Eastern Europeans and those of African descent.
Terms such as congenital poverty or 'biological pauperism' came into
use, along with an attempt to link criminality to heredity.
been labeled
as
retarded,
or
mentally
107
unstable,
those
Those who had
with physical
disabilities stemming from birth, alcoholics and virtually anyone who was
labeled as unfit by government specialists,e.g.,
workers
could be sterilized.
judges, doctors, social
'Social Hygiene' programs and 'Fitter Family
contests' became commonplace.
E. J. Lidbetter discussed 'Pauperism and Heredity' and noted the
relationship between the two. He believed that a variety of traits were of a
biological nature.
It is to be noted finally that degenerate tendencies do not
manifest in transmission a single set of characteristics
but take on a great multiplicity of forms. A single family
stock produces paupers, feeble minded, alcoholics, and
certain types of criminals. If an investigation could be
carried out on a sufficiently large scale we believe that
the greater proportion of undesirables would be found
connected by a network of relationships, a few thousand
family stocks probably provide this burden which the
community has to bear. ( 1 2 7 )
Sadly, science in the early part of the 20th century as represented by
Psychology, Medicine,
Cultural Anthropology, plus many from
Physical
Anthropology and Biology came together to give impetus to the Eugenics
movement. They saw what they wanted to see,i.e., they were influenced by
both the cultural ideology of the time and their own prejudices they made
their scientific data fit what they were looking for... This was at an historical
moment when extremist
based organizations were recruiting
members
throughout the United States and Europe. The popular literature from the
period, and literature from the scientific establishment supported some of
108
the more rabid perspectives.
Criminology, Anthropology and Eugenics:
Here is an example of the type of rhetoric employed to describe those
who were defined as inferior by those who professed to know what was best
for humankind...long before any knowledge of genetics was really present.
In 1912 at a conference (London)...One criminologist told
the audience: Criminals are apes in our midst, marked by
the anatomical stigmata of atavism. He also included
disabled people and epileptics and claimed criminals were
born to evil, thus unable to change, and suggested it was
necessary to eliminate them completely, even by death.
(128)
One of the earlier documents of the Eugenics movement associated
with a position towards those labeled as criminals is associated with a draft
of a cover page for what is termed a G e n e r a l Q u e s t i o n n a i r e , put forth by
the E u g e n i c s S e c t i o n o f t h e A m e r i c a n B r e e d e r s A s s o c i a t i o n . ( 1 2 9 )
This was one of the pioneer organizations in the United States regarding the
Eugenics movement.
The committee included among its members C.B.
Davenport/ Secretary,
and Harry
Laughlin listed as a member.
The
subcommittee sent out the questionnaire with the original title for their sub
committee:
Committee
to
Investigate
the
proposed
treatment
Degenerates & Criminals by Sterilization and other methods.
of
This was
changed to Committee to Investigate the proposed treatment of Defectives
by Sterilization and other methods. ( 1 3 0 ) The language of the first version
of the committee's title was edited by an unknown individual, probably to
109
make the program easier to sell from a public relations standpoint. There is
little left to the imagination as to whom they believed should be the
recipients of a sterilization program. However, what is open to speculation is
their definition of degeneracy, a term which at the time... had a rather loose
interpretation.
One of the goals of the Eugenics movement was to create a scientific
basis for the study of criminality. However, the model was based on the
assumption that criminals were distinct in some way from non criminals and
that measurement could be used to describe the differences.. ( 1 3 1 )
It is
what modern day criminologists describe as the dualistic fallacy...in that
most modern criminologists state that there are 'No' appreciable differences
between criminals and non-criminals of a biological nature which would be
responsible for criminal behavior. This was the opposite of criminological
theory for a good portion of the twentieth century.
Eugenics of the period
embraced the two biological group model,i.e., criminals Vs. non criminals.
A
period in which specialists would be able to recognize and predict criminality
on the basis of phenotypic or biological traits was anticipated by those who
were proponents of nature over nurture.
In a chart entitled: State Criteria for Legal Eugenical Sterilization,
twenty eight states
are listed as having laws which permit Eugenical
sterilization. The label of at least one of the following: criminality, habitual
criminals, and criminal persons is found in nine of these states. There are no
definitions as to what the terms mean.
110
However, in this instance the
criminal is labeled as a patient. ( 1 3 2 ) In a report replete with bar graphs
entitled: Crime and Race Descent, Laughlin claimed that strict immigration
laws (Johnson Act of 1924, and deportation of certain aliens, along with the
right of U.S. Counsuls to refuse visas had cut crime by aliens in a dramatic
fashion. ( 1 3 3 )
Another
illustration,
with the title of:
New American
Criminals,
significant offense differences--native born and foreign purports to show a
differential of criminal behavior between various types of racial/cultural
groups who are immigrants.(( 1 3 4 ) The crime of forgery is rated as higher by
8 . 5 % for British American immigrants, with Irish American immigrants
exhibiting a rate of first degree murder some 1 8 % higher than the American
born population. Here, what is being put forth is the idea that even in crime
one group is inherently more violent than another. Burglary and larceny for
Irish American immigrants is shown as
are native born.
being 2 6 . 4 % higher than those who
The Teutonic is shown as exhibiting a crime rate of 8%
higher for burglary and 3 . 5 % for crimes against public welfare. What is more
intriguing about the illustration which is in the form of a bar graph is that
there is no indication as to how the figures were arrived at.
Visual images are replete with small prisoner figures who have small
liquor bottles, ladders to burglarize, guns to rob, pens to commit
forgery
and for the Teutonic group... Swastikas and goose stepping figures are
present.(( 1 3 5 )
The symbolic imagery was designed to produce in the minds
111
of the viewer a link between the specific type of immigrant and criminal acts
of a particular nature. To make sure the viewer of the chart knows they are
criminals, the artist has placed them in a type of clothing ...a striped shirt
and in some instances a type of small black eye mask. These articles were
well known to everyday folk who read the cartoon pages, in that it was the
custom to portray criminals in this type of garb. The illustrator also draws
upon ethnic stereotypes with elements attached to each figure which
represent a distortion of the culture. No dates are attached to the diagram.
The illustrator and the contractor for the cartoon made use of popular
culture to get their point across, a rather skillful element to employ while
propaganda is utilized.
Social Degeneracy
Harry Laughlin was concerned about the so-called inherent criminality
and
Social
Degeneracy
of
immigrant
populations.
He
devised
a
measurement of sorts, which has been critiqued by modern statisticians.
What he did was to identify the racial/ethnic groups who were counted in a
much earlier census.
Their representation as percentages of the total
population in the earlier census, was the baseline for expected frequencies in
the study that he undertook regarding the impact of immigration and a
measurement of what he termed as social degeneracy.. ( 1 3 6 )
The fact that he used an older study when immigration continued at a
high pace for a decade...in order to arrive at an expected outcome within the
general population, made his study invalid. He failed to identify the problems
112
of Social Class, Racism, and how they forced many in the newly arrived
populations to spend a period in less than desirable social conditions.
However, he does not give any mention of the terrible living conditions nor
the exploitation in the labor force
or exclusionary
and discriminatory
practices by WASPS towards those who were regarded as different.
The
conditions for Afro Americans at this time were deplorable with all the horrid
excesses of segregation including lynching being present. There were few or
virtually no judicial remedies for discrimination and hate crimes.
Modern researchers are aware...it is difficult to identify race and
ethnicity in that the labels or categories can sometimes be less than
accurate depending upon what category a person is placed in by the census
interviewer or how a respondent to a census question about race... is
identified. Laughlin used this index to arrive at what he called a 'quota for
social i n a d e q u a c y ' .
He identified the percentages for a specific ethnic
group relative to the general population by locating its representation in the
census of 1910; and then obtained the raw numbers for that specific group
in prison or another institution or social service program that he wanted to
examine.
He performed
calculations to determine whether the actual
percentage in prison had been exceeded or was less than the expected
outcome, and derived an index of social inadequacy. ( 1 3 7 )
The fact that his initial figures were skewed to under represent
immigrant populations during a high mark of immigration was enough to
invalidate his study.
However, Laughlin was trying to convert the
113
percentages of 'so called European stock' of the country back to earlier
census representations and to limit non European and non northern European
access to the country.
Rates of criminality, Intelligence, poverty, and
feeblemindedness tallies were all used to develop information to limit or stop
immigration.
It did not matter to these scientists, that intelligence tests were
based in English, and that reading skills of most newly arrived immigrants and
non-Whites were low. The impact that poverty had on 'feeblemindedness' was
traced by experts like Laughlin to a hereditary defect... never to the fact
that inadequate diet, exposure to negative traits in the habitat at work or in
the homes of these people increased risk factors.
Little was known at the
time of the risk of brain damage when exposed to lead pollution, mercury or
fetal alcohol syndrome.
All of these played a role. Yet, the immigrant
restrictors saw all 'Social Inadequacy' as being based upon an underlying
biological weakness in the group and the individual. The lack of education or
differences in language were ignored in order to obtain the desired (lower)
results when employing I.Q. tests.
Laughlin argued that 'Social Degeneracy' if truly random would be
distributed evenly among all the various populations.
higher percentage
of being incarcerated,
compared
If a group showed a
to their expected
numbers he concluded that they were a greater social burden, or if the
reverse was true then a group was less of a burden.
The percentage by
which a group exceeded or was below its expected quota determined the
114
Laughlin Standard of Degeneracy.
His perspectives and findings were written up in a U.S. government
publication
which recorded
his testimony
to the
The
Committee
on
Immigration and Naturalization, Sixty Seventh Congress, third session.
November 21,1922, Serial 7-C, Statement of Harry Laughlin. ( 1 3 8 )
One of
his questioners was the Congressman from Texas... John Box whose own
racist diatribes against Mexicans, Latin Americans, Non-whites, Indians, and
French Canadians were well publicized. Mr. Box was an active proponent of
Eugenics and sent drafts
of particularly
legislation to Harry Laughlin for his
discriminatory
suggestions.
proposals for
It was no surprise that
Laughlin's statements were met with appreciation and affirmation from the
members of the committee.
The following (table I.), illustrates the type of data that Harry Laughlin
produced for
Congressional
Testimony.
It purports
to illustrate,
the
percentage by which a group was represented in the expected percentage
within its Ethnic category. If it is lower than 100% it is below expectations
for 'Social Inadequacy', if it is higher than 100% it is above the expected
level.
Table I. ( Laughlin's Quota for Social Inadequacy)
Swiss 27%
Neth. 58%
Canada. 65%
Aust-Hung. 68%
So./East/Europ.141%
Rus/Fin/Poland 126%
Nat.White 115%*
Turkey 240%
Rumania 141%
Japan 143%
Portugal 153%
Amer.Negro 207%
Italian 218%
Asia 251%
Balkans 275%
115
Greece 293%
West Indies 318%
China 337%
Mexico 549%
Spain 660%
Serbia 1400%
Nat.White 81%**
Nat.White 91%***
Scand. 35%
N.W.Europ. 37%
Grt.Brit.43%
France 123%
Bulgaria 366%
Germ. 35%
Parents( one native born plus one foreign born);**Parents( both) native born;***Parents
(both foreign born)
*
(139)
C. M. Goethe:
C.M. Goethe a prominent philanthropist from Sacramento, California
was a follower and outspoken advocate of the Eugenics movement. He was
known for his vitriolic attacks against immigrants, and others who did not
meet his criteria for eugenical fitness.
Mr. Goethe commented in a letter
dated January 12th, 1935 about the French method for controlling aliens.
France, as you know has a marvelously efficient system of
registering aliens. Thru it, when a Frenchman loses his
job, an alien is sent over the frontier to make room for
him. As a result, France has practically no unemployment
problem. ...Watching these deportations, one is impressed
with the fact that the French weed out the Eugenically
low powered. The near moron tends to multiply without
restraint. The law of differential birthrates works with
tragic speed against the type that produces leadership.
...one is impressed that Germany, by Sterilization, and by
stimulating birthrates among the eugenically high powered,
is gaining an advantage over us as to future leadership. 30
years research, much of it overseas, into these problems
makes profound the conviction that we should (1st) pass a
Quota Act against Latin America, (2nd) register all aliens
(3rd) deport, like France, aliens to make jobs for the old
American stock. ( 1 4 1 )
116
Goethe in another correspondence dated March 21,1935 expressed the
viewpoint that there was something different
(fertility/rate
regarding the fecundity
of reproduction) regarding what he termed the 'Amerind'
populations. He implored the recipient of the letter to do what he could to
support Congressman Martin Dies (bill) in the House of Representatives,
which proposed to impose a quota regarding Mexican immigration to the
United States.
There is nothing left to the imagination as to Gothe's own attitudes
regarding Mexicans when he notes... I t i s t h e h i g h b i r t h r a t e t h a t m a k e s
the M e x i c a n peon i m m i g r a t i o n such a m e n a c e . P e o n s m u l t i p l y like
r a b b i t s . He also managed to take issue with French
'Amerinds' from
birthrate
Canada.
...it
is
well known that
Canadians and
the
very
of Quebec is due, in a g r e a t d e g r e e at l e a s t ,
Indian strain.
high
to the
(142)
Goethe carried on a correspondence with Laughlin over a lengthy period
of time. He influenced the Eugenics movement because of his personal
contact with Laughlin and financial assistance to the movement. One of the
indicators
of
Goethe's
document...where
he
perspective
praised
the
is
to
genocidal
be
found
actions
in
of
a
written
the
Turkish
government against the Armenians and Greeks.
Any observer who witnessed in Turkey the exchange of
Population movement could not help but be impressed
despite it tragedy, with its highly idealistic nationalism.
The Turks insisted that Turkey's future depended upon the
117
expulsion of what they called the trouble making Greeks
and Armenians. Already there are signs that the plan was
wise. Shrewd observers insist that, a quarter century
hence, Turkey will be a near Eastern Japan. (1 4 3 )
Goethe clearly associated himself as an admirer of genocide against
the Armenians; where Armenians were ethnically cleansed from Turkey with
millions killed and survivors scattered across the globe. He went on to note:
The Hitler program includes all that the Turks felt
necessary, all that we enacted in our quota acts. It goes
much further however. It is this advance of ideas that we
must consider to meet future German competition as long
as Nationalism remains dominant. These additional factors
are those which the Norwegian state has recently enacted
into law by its approval of the work of Dr. John Mjoen.
The two
elements herein of greatest possible potentiality
are probably (1) speeding up the high powers birth rate, (2)
sterilization of those undoubtedly socially inadequate.
(144)
Seldom has any propaganda ever been released more
convincing that the Nazi pictures of the imbecile, the
moron compared with the flower of German youth.
...If we study Hitler's methods, accept what is gold, reject
the dross, we may make America Germany's superpower
rival. Germany plans sterilization of 400,000 low powers
soon. We will not proceed with such speed. We can
however, commence to think of positive Eugenics, of
multiplying our high power strains, while we consider
working out a common sense sterilization program. ( 1 4 5 )
Goethe was an unabashed admirer of both Hitler, and Nazi Germany's
Eugenic programs. He was not an advocate for unlimited immigration to the
United States, and expressed a concern that the hybrid population which was
118
developing in the United States was no longer pure or Nordic enough for his
standards.
Thoughtful sociologists insist they (Negro) tend more and
more to become absorbed, making our people to some extend
Negroes. We have a polyglot mixture of perhaps 20 million
more of non-Nordics with elements like the Sicilian Black
Hand transplanted while our philosophy was dominated by
misplaced 'melting pot' foolishness. ( 1 4 6 )
His fascination
with physical traits, led him to conduct amateur
research regarding the distribution of racial traits and to send the results to
Harry Laughlin. In a letter he goes on to say:
If in data concerning the Italians, for example, one had
also the statistics of eye color and of height, one could
form a more accurate mental picture. Of course the census
enumerators ought to be warned to distinguish between
the hazel eye of the Nordic and the typical brown black
Mediterranean eye. In this connection, I am thinking of the
eye counts which I made in French Africa, and the mandated
territory for Syria. Had these men been classified as
Frenchmen, the description would have been worth little. I
confine myself to merely eye color. It was remarkable to
note the racial differences between officers and the men in
the ranks. In Damascus, Beirut, also at the posts in
Algiers, one observes that approximately 75% of the
officers were tall, ruddy faced, long skulled blondes,
generally with blue or gray eyes. The Alpine and
Mediterranean types of skulls represented the remaining
25%. Curiously the men in the ranks showed the reverse.
These were apparently composed largely of Mediterranean
and Alpines. The number of blue or gray eyed men
represented about 25%. There were many undersized men.
The tall blue eyed man was confined almost to the officer
class. If this appeals to you, perhaps a few of us might
119
write the Director of the Census persistently until he has
made such a change in his blanks. In my business I want to
know daily the rise and fall of the business thermometer. I
have to know what are assets, and what so-called assets
are liabilities. Is it not time that the United States
Government, in fact that all Governments, commence
planning for similar efficiency? ( 1 4 7 )
Goethe observed a difference between what he termed the 'Blue
Eyed' officers
and the 'Dark Eyed' enlisted ranks. He believed that the
difference in social status was the result of heredity, in that the 'higher
ranking' status group,i.e., the officers' had biological traits which set them
apart from the 'inferior status group,i.e., the 'enlisted ranks'.
The pseudo
scientific manner in which he purported to show a correlation between a
phenotypic trait,i.e., eye color and social class standing was common to the
followers of Eugenics. The use of head shape is but an additional expression
of this perspective.
No mention is made of the fact that large numbers of enlisted were
drawn
from
outside
of
France,
from
countries
with
high levels
unemployment. The French were quite willing to use men from
countries and racial groups to fight their battles.
of
other
The Foreign Legion was
well known for this aspect. Thus, it is likely that the byproduct of social
stratification and class exploitation had more to do with who was an officer,
and who was enlisted in the French colonies.
insisted
that
only French
Officers
The French Foreign Legion
could lead their
troops.
Thereby,
institutionalizing this biological and cultural divide that existed between the
ranks.
The division was created by men, and government who used cultural
120
and racial
factors
in opening and closing opportunities for groups of
individuals.
His analogy employed the phrase a s s e t s r i s i n g a n d f a l l i n g . Goethe
wanted to identify racial categories with more precision; he suggested using
physical traits to establish the race of a person within the Census in order to
ascertain which racial groups are going up or down relative to the census.
He viewed non-Nordic races as liabilities and Nordics as assets.
It is typical
of the type of unscientific and absurd commentary which is scattered
throughout most Eugenics materials.
In a postcard sent to Dr. Harry Laughlin from Europe by Goethe, the
latter remarks:
...the world has tragic need of your research work!!! We
must have an hour together to discuss the Marvelous
Eugenics Program of Hitler...This Valamo Monastery just
over the Finnish border has been saved from the Soviets. It
is a tragic example of the last stronghold of a real Church
exhibiting complete elimination of leadership through
hybridization. Two Friezes show the former leaders now
canonized to have been of Viking type. Compare the present
day monks, as hybridized as South Americans, mumbling to
them in meaningless ritual. ( 1 4 8 )
The racially motivated perspective of Goethe is apparent from the
preceding materials. He was not an objective observer, but was driven by his
own view of race and biology. He maintained a close personal and professional
friendship with Harry Laughlin who in turn influenced both Public and Medical
policies which exerted a major impact upon American Society and which were
121
borrowed in part by the Nazis as models for their system.
This closeness
between Laughlin and Goethe was exemplified in a letter to Mr. and Mrs.
Goethe from Harry Laughlin.
...Mrs. Laughlin and I enjoyed greatly our visit with the
Goethes. It was a multifold pleasure; we talked shop,
heard about Europe and California and joined in personal
acquaintance as well. We trust that the next time you go
through New York both you and Mrs. Goethe will plan to
come to Cold Spring Harbor and make your headquarters at
our house.
Our work here goes on as usual. Doubtless
within a few weeks we will have a definite information
concerning the permanent organization of affairs at Cod
Spring Harbor. I am sending you copies of a few papers
which we discussed at our New York conference. With
cordial regards to both of you in which Mrs. Laughlin
heartily joins. ( 1 4 9 )
Congressman Martin Dies:
America for A m e r i c a n s
was the title of a radio address given by
Congressman Martin Dies of Texas, March 6,1935. In it, Congressman Dies
went on to rail against all aliens both legal and illegal. He suggested, that if all
the 1 6 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 foreign born who had been allowed to enter earlier in the
century had been excluded...that the problems of not having enough jobs at
the height of the depression would be eliminated. He described the job
shortfall as being 1 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 for the depression.
Dies declares to the
effect... that if we had excluded the 7 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 aliens who were presently
living
in
the
country
the unemployment
impacted...and would be normal. ( 1 5 0 )
122
rate
would be dramatically
His argument revolved around the nexus that Foreign Problems were
being exported to America by Europe sending its surplus people; thereby
causing our high unemployment rate.
The pain of the depression was felt
throughout the country. It was not surprising that scapegoats were singled
out by the Congressman.
Dies went
on to
blame what
he termed
internationalists, sentimentalists, and greedy employers as the ones who
triggered the flood of immigration and who as a group would remain opposed
to restrictions presented by his bill. His bill proposed that employers would
not be allowed to hire illegal aliens and that measures would be taken by the
government against employers who do.
A number of foreign countries were cited in his address as being
totally closed to immigration... M e x i c o , S w e d e n , B e l g i u m , G r e a t B r i t a i n ,
France,
the N e t h e r l a n d s ,
and G e r m a n y .
He believed that Aliens
brought foreign ideas with them that were dangerous to the country.
Dies
remarked on being in New York on May Day, and how he had personally
witnessed a parade of 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 c o m m u n i s t s . ( 1 5 1 )
... I did not see an American in the crowd. Many of them
are aliens that should be deported and others are foreign
born who should have their naturalization papers
canceled."... "Our immigration policy introduced into our
midst alien political, economic and social ideas. ( 1 5 2 )
It is apparent that Congressman Dies had his own ideas as to what an
'American' should look like. He wa s not speaking metaphorically, but was
giving his literal interpretation of how he felt about entire groups of people.
123
It was not the accident of simple probability...in that he selected New York
as a social setting where he found people and ideas that were the symbols of
an alien or foreign influence. However, a few passages later...he went on to
vent his wrath towards the right. He condemns Fascism and Hitlerism in the
same breaths as Communism. Arguing that these were European ideas which
eliminated the individual and made the State all powerful, while they
destroyed freedom of thought, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech.
Later in the same speech he recites: T h e r e i s n o m i d d l e g r o u n d o r
c o m p r o m i s e . E i t h e r we a r e f o r or a g a i n s t A m e r i c a .
America,
If we a r e f o r
we m u s t be f o r the e x c l u s i o n of n e w - s e e d i m m i g r a n t s
and the deportation of those unlawfully here. (153)
Here Dies interjected the term new 'seed.' This was a common
metaphor within the Eugenics movement to describe the hereditary features
of a biological population by using the term seed. He communicated with his
listeners in a code of sorts.
described by many racist
In the period, New York was frequently
and reactionary
leaders
as the symbol of
everything that was wrong with American society. It had foreigners, foreign
ideas, and large minority/ethnic and racial populations, and religions that
were not Protestant denominations. These were people who did not look, or
act, or speak like those in rural Texas or the heartland. Differences were
'suspect' and frequently equated with a bestowal of a negative label for
those who were different.
Both the
inhabitants of large cities and
immigrants were frequently stigmatized as 'Sinful' and carriers of an 'Alien
124
Seed'. There were no shortages of sermons which looked down up New York
and its diverse population.
Martin Dies exploited verbal symbolism in his radio broadcast which was
designed to elicit a visceral reaction on the part of the listeners without the
use of overt racist wording... while nonetheless conveying the exact same
message. His closing comments say it all.
I
am
appealing
to
you
my
fellow
countrymen,
to
adopt
the
American slogan: 'America for Americans'. ( 1 5 4 )
B a c k g r o u n d to the Anti I m m i g r a n t
M o v e m e n t s of the 1920's and
1930's:
Anti-immigration movements in the United States grew at a time, when
during the period between 1900 and 1920 immigration to the United States
brought in millions of immigrants primarily from non Northern European
areas of the world. The short boom in the economy after World War I, did
not create full employment for all the returning veterans. In the Southwest,
large scale Hispanic immigration had taken place during the revolutionary
troubles in Mexico and was accelerated as the
agriculture
through water
projects.
area was opened up to
Then the depression loomed, and
employment rates fell to record lows. In the massive dislocation of the
period, there was no shortage of spokespersons for extremist movements
whether right wing or leftist in perspective.
Earlier when the Johnson Immigration Act was approved in 1924, it
instituted a quota system.
The
Johnson Act
125
based its quotas upon the
1890 census. The goal was more than simple racism; it was designed in a
very simplistic fashion to restore the 1890 percentages of ethnicity and
race.
There was a belief
among the Eugenical groups that most of what
ailed America could somehow be fixed by restoring its racial balance to the
old days.
Many of the followers of these racist social movements focused their
attention against ethnic and racial minorities in the United States, including
Native Americans, Oceanic Peoples,
Afro Americans, Asians,
Central Europeans, plus Jews and Catholics. The actions of
Eastern and
racist groups
were known to have deprived these populations of basic civil rights, and
protection.
The Klu Klux Klan was at its zenith in the 1920's in the United
States, and was a supporter of restrictive immigration and restrictions
relating to marriage based upon race. However, they were by no means alone
in regards to extremist groups nor was the population at large known for its
liberal perspective regarding diversity.
What gave them additional power,
was the support of the Eugenic and Scientific communities that produced
spurious data to justify restrictive immigration and more.
Miscegenation Law, Virginia:
In an Act of the Virginia Legislature to preserve R a c i a l I n t e g r i t y ,
approved March 20,1924...official steps were taken to restrict marriage
between certain categories of individuals on the grounds of race. ( 1 5 5 )
1....The State registrar of vital statistics may, as soon as
practicable after the taking effect of this act, prepare a
126
form whereon the racial composition of any individual as
Caucasian, Negro, Mongolian, American Indian, Asiatic
Indian, Malay, or any mixture thereof, or any other nonCaucasic strains, and if there is any mixture, then, the
racial composition of the parents and other ancestors, in
so far as ascertainable, so as to show in what generation
such mixture occurred, may be certified by such
individuals, which form shall be known as the registration
certificate. The State registrar may supply to each local
registrar a sufficient number of such forms for the purpose
of this act; each local registrar may, personally or by
deputy, as soon as possible after receiving said forms,
have made thereon in duplicate a certificate of the racial
composition, as aforesaid, of each person resident in his
district, who so desires, born before June 14,1912 which
certificate shall be made over the signature of said person,
or in the case of children under fourteen years of age, over
the signature of a parent, guardian, or other person
standing in loco parentis. One of said certificates, for
each person thus registering in every district shall be
forwarded to the State registrar for his file; the other
shall be kept on file by the local registrar.
Every local registrar may, as soon as practicable have such
registration certificate made by or for each person in his
district who so desires, born before June 14th, 1912, for
whom he he has not on file a registration certificate or a
birth certificate.
2. It shall be a felony for any prison willfully or knowingly
to make a registration certificate false as to color or race.
The willful making of a false registration or birth
certificate shall be punished by confinement in the
penitentiary for one year.
3.For each registration certificate properly made and
returned to the State Registrar, the local registrar
returning the same shall be entitled to a fee of twenty five
cents, to be paid by the registrant. Application for
registration and for transcript may be made direct to the
State registrar, who may retain the fee for expenses to his
office.
127
4.No marriage license shall be granted until the clerk or
deputy clerk has reasonable assurance that the statements
as to color of both man and woman are correct. If there is
reasonable cause to disbelieve that applicants are of pure
white race, when that fact is stated, the clerk or deputy
clerk shall withhold the granting of the license until
satisfactory proof is produced that both applicants are
'white persons' as provided for in this act. The clerk or
deputy clerk shall use the same care to assure himself that
both applicants are colored, when that fact is claimed.
5.It shall hereafter be unlawful for any white person in
this State to marry any save a white person, or a person
with no other admixture of blood than white and American
Indian. For the purpose of this act the term white person
shall apply only to the person who has no trace whatsoever
of any blood other than Caucasian; who persons who have
one sixteenth or less of blood of the American Indian and
have no other non-Caucasic blood shall be deemed to be
white persons. All laws heretofore passed and now in
effect regarding the intermarriage of white and colored
persons shall apply to marriages prohibited by this act.
6.For carrying out the purposes of this act and to provide
the necessary clerical assistance, postage and other
expenses of the State registrar of vital statistics, twenty
per cent of the fees received by local registrars under this
act shall be paid to the State bureau for the purposes of
this act.
7. All acts or arts of acts inconsistent with this act are,
to the extent of such inconsistency, hereby repealed. (156)
128
Notes:
* ( The use o f : i t a l i c s
within the body of the p a p e r or in the
N o t e s . . . d e s i g n a t e s ei t h er a quote or a heavily p a r a p h r a s e d set of
materials).
105.A photocopy of a pamphlet,entitled: Eugenics seeks to improve the
Natural, Physical, Mental, and Temperamental Qualities of the Human Family.
Published by: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Genetics,
and the Eugenics Records Office, Cold Springs Harbor, Long Island, New York.
The pamphlet notes that the E.R.O. was Funded by Mrs. E.H. Harriman in
1910. Charles B. Davenport is listed as the director and Harry Laughlin as
the assistant director. The photocopy of the one page fold over pamphlet
was obtained from Truman State Library, the Harry Laughlin Collection.
106.Ibid.
107.Ibid.
108.
a. Ibid.
b. Daggett,Mabel; Women Building a Better Race, The World's Work, Volume
25, December 1912, pp.228-234.
There was a push within the popular culture to examine living populations in
detail. The follow selection is illustrative of a theme that the Eugenics
movement
borrowed
from
county
fairs
and
the
judging
of
animals...paraphrased items and quotes which are drawn from the article:
...the example of the Iowa fitter baby contests, where
children were... 'judged like thoroughbreds...' 'by a board of
women physicians...who stripped the babies and... weighed
them , measured their height, weight, chest circumference,
and noted the quality of skin and muscle, bone structure,
size of head, formation of features, disposition, energy,
facial expression, and attention were among the traits
129
m o s t c a r e f u l l y n o t e d . . . . ' (p.229).
109. Photocopy of a pamphlet; see note#105 above.
110. Ibid.
111. Ibid.
112.Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory/Eugenics site (downloaded
March 2000)document: (Minutes of the first meeting of the Board of
Scientific Directors of the Eugenics Record Office, Carnegie Institution of
Washington, Washington D.C.), Charles Davenport, Secretary to the Board.
(Original from the collection of the American Philosophical Society)pp.1-3.
113.Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; (downloaded March
2000)document: Eugenics Records Office(ERO), it is located as a text page
link on the site under the category: History of the Organizations.
114.Laughlin, Harry; (Carnegie Institute), Photocopy of a manuscript
entitled: The Control of Trends in the Racial Composition of the American
People, pages pp.15-17. Document obtained from the Harry Laughlin
collection at Truman State University.
115.Ibid.
116. Ibid., pp.19-21.
117.Photocopy of A Memorandum on a proposed immediate Immigration
Program for the American Patriotic Coalition. Authored by: Congressional
Representative from Texas...Mr. John C. Box. (Document obtained from the
Harry Laughlin Collection, at Truman State University)p.1.
118.Ibid.
119.Ibid.; p.4.
120.Ibid.; p.6.
130
121.
a. A photocopy of a letter, informing Harry Laughlin about testifying.
Addressed to: Harry Laughlin, from: John C. Box and dated: Feb. 16,1928;
(Document obtained from Truman State University, the Harry Laughlin
Collection)
b. A photocopy of a letter, authorizing Harry Laughlin to come and testify.
Addressed to: Harry Laughlin, from: John C. Box and dated: March 5,1928.
(Document obtained from Truman State University, the Harry Laughlin
Collection)
c. A photocopy of a telegram. Addressed to: John C. Box, from: Harry
Laughlin and dated: Feb.23, 1928. (Document obtained from Truman State
University, the Harry Laughlin Collection)
Laughlin states: ' w i l l b e p l e a s e d t o a p p e a r o n B i o l o g i c a l a s p e c t s o f
the Mexican problem at your convenience'.
122.Lynchburg, Virginia (sterilization law)
A Video Documentary on the subject, detailed the case and its historical
significance, it was broadcast on commercial television. A copy of the
documentary has been retained for scholarly purposes. It addresses the
history of Eugenics, and the Carrie Buck test case which affirmed the right
of States to sterilize certain categories of individuals.
123.Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory;(downloaded March
2000)document: Eugenic Sterilization Laws. Author: Paul Lombardo;
University of Virginia. An interactive link under the category Sterilization,
pp.1-4. (A copy of the 1924 Virginia law is also available through the site).
124.Ibid.
125.Ibid.
126.
a.Ibid.
b. California was one of the States that practiced sterilization. In an article
titled Purifying the Human Race, LeBourdaris, D.M.; in the North American
Review, Volume 238, vol. 238, November 1934, p436. He wrote:
131
Doctor, when will I have my operation...the doctor
countered pretending not to understand... Oh, my
sterilization operation, she replied...your turn will come
pretty soon, he assured her as we passed on...As far as she
was concerned, sterilization was merely a routine
matter without which the period of institutional residence
was not complete.
Le Bourdaris goes on to write in glowing terms that the
sterilized individuals of limited intelligence do very well
at domestic household duties and routine manufacturing
jobs, where manual dexterity rather than intelligence is
required...and that well trained feeble minded person of
this type are often more reliable than persons of greater
intelligence, because they are satisfied to stick to the
things that they have been trained to do, and are not
tempted to move from one job to another...He contends that
Sterilization should be used against the feeble minded but
not against common criminals, and paupers...
127. Lidbetter,E.J; paper and article entitled: Pauperism and Heredity,
originally presented before the Eugenics Education Society in 1910, and
(revised for publication) The Eugenics Review,vol.XIV,No.1 April-January
1922) p.153.
128. Billig, Michael 'Searchlight Magazine', July 1998.(London)
129. Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; downloaded March
2000,document: General Questionnaire, Eugenics Section of the American
Breeders Association.(Original from the collection of the American
Philosophical Society).
130.Ibid.
131.Strother, French; Crime and Heredity, , pp.554-560 (photocopy of an
early article on Eugenics and crime in an unknown publication of the first
thirty years of the 20th century). It illustrates the perspective towards
criminality that was popular in this period.
132
approximately 90% of crime is committed by habitual
criminals and that they are members of a group that
exhibits abnormal emotion... the records of the
Psychopathic Laboratory of the Municipal Court of Chicago
bear out the conclusion according to the author...(Strother)
that the criminal type of mental defect is inherited...cites
in his article an address by a Judge Harry Olson, chief
Justice of the above court, delivered at the eleventh annual
meeting of the Eugenics Research Association at Cold
Spring Harbor, New York... the author goes on to state the
need...surely society has few more clearly defined tasks
before it than to breed out of the race, by humane methods,
such blood streams as this that are at once a burden to the
community and a scourge to the individuals who derive
their being from it.
132.Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; downloaded March
2000,document: State Criteria for Eugenical Sterilization, a lantern slide.
(Original from Truman State University, the Harry Laughlin Collection).
133.Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; (downloaded March
2000)document: 'Crime and Race Descent, Report of a first hand study on
Race Descent of inmates found in 242 state and Federal prisons in the
United States in Oct. 1931. (Original from Truman State University, the
Harry Laughlin Collection).
134. Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, (downloaded, March 20000
document: New American Criminals, significant offense differences native
born and foreign/graphical illustration (Courtesy of Garland Allen, Phd.,and
the American Philosophical Society).
135.Ibid.
136. Analysis of America's Modern Melting Pot, Hearings Before the
Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, sixty seventh congress, third
session. November 21,1922, Serial 7-C, Statement of Harry Laughlin, printed
1923, US government printing office.
133
137.Ibid.
138. Ibid.
139.Ibid.
140. Ibid.
141.
a. Photocopy of a Personal letter, from C.M. Goethe,to: Harry Laughlin,
dated: January 12,1935; obtained from Truman State University, Harry
Laughlin Collection)
b. Additional Note: Spring 2000 edition of Capital University Journal,
published by California State University,Sacramento; Morgan House to be
Restored; pp. 4,15. The article recounts the 1966 donation to the University
of Morgan House, a 6,000 square foot mansion by Sacramento Philanthropist
Charles M. Goethe. No mention of his connections to the Eugenics movement
nor his racist and Nazi embracing perspectives appeared in the article.
142. Photocopy of a Personal letter, from C.M. Goethe,to: Harry Laughlin,
dated: March 21,1935; obtained from Truman State University, the Harry
Laughlin Collection.
143. Photocopy of two page typewritten pages, authored by C.M. Goethe, 'no
heading or title ; obtained from Truman State University, the Harry Laughlin
collection.
144. Ibid.
145. Ibid
146. Ibid.
147. Photocopy of a one page typewritten letter; to :Harry Laughlin,
authored by C.M. Goethe, dated: 8-28-27, obtained from Truman State
University,the Harry Laughlin collection.
134
148. Photocopy of a postcard; mailed from Finland, to :Harry Laughlin,
authored by C.M. Goethe, date: not legible; obtained from Truman State
University, the Harry Laughlin collection.
149.
a . Photocopy of a typewritten letter; to :Mr. and Mrs. Goethe, authored by
Harry Laughlin, dated: 10-10-34; obtained from Truman State University,
the Harry Laughlin Collection.
b . The fact that Goethe was a well known and well respected businessman
and philanthropist in Sacramento, California played a role. A large mansion
was donated to Sacramento State University in 1966 in his name. The latter
was discovered in an Alumni Newsletter from Sacramento State University
while researching the subject matter, Spring 2000.
150. Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; (downloaded March
2000)document: Manuscript of a Radio Address, Honorable Martin Dies of
Texas, May 6,1935 (Courtesy of Harry Laughlin Archives, Truman State
University)pp.1-5.
151. Ibid.
152. Ibid.
153.
Ibid.
154. Ibid.
155. Web Site at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory;(downloaded March
2000)document: (Acts and Joint Resolutions, (Amending the constitution) of
the General Assembly of the State of Virginia, Session which commenced at
the State Capitol on Wednesday, January 9, 1924. Printed at Richmond:
Davis Bottom, Superintendent of Pubic Printing 1924) pp. 534-535.
156. Ibid.
135
E.A. Hooton and Colleagues:
The Harvard
Physical Anthropologist E. Hooton in, The American
Criminal: An Anthropological Study believed that he had isolated key physical
differences between the criminal and non-criminal populations. He reached
his conclusions after
an analysis of data that he had gleaned from
anthropometric measurements of thousands of criminals.
FINDINGS
1. IN 19 OUT OF 33 MEASUREMENTS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRIMINALS AND CIVILIANS
2. CRIMINALS ARE INFERIOR TO CIVILIANS IN NEARLY ALL THEIR BODILY
MEASUREMENTS
3. LOW FOREHEADS, HIGH PINCHED NASAL ROOTS, NASAL BRIDGES AND
TIPS VARYING TO BOTH EXTREMES OF BREADTH AND NARROWNESS, EXCESS
OF NASAL DEFLECTIONS, COMPRESSED FACES AND NARROW JAWS, FIT
WELL INTO THE PICTURE OF GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL INFERIORITY.
4. PHYSICAL INFERIORITY IS SIGNIFICANT PRINCIPALLY BECAUSE IT IS
ASSOCIATED WITH MENTAL INFERIORITY.
5. THE BASIC CAUSE OF THE INFERIORITY (PROBABLY) IS DUE TO
HEREDITY AND; NOT TO SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCE.
6. DARK EYES AND BLUE EYES ARE DEFICIENT IN CRIMINALS, AND BLUEGRAY AND MIXED EYES ARE IN EXCESS;...EYEBROWS THAT ARE THIN TO
VERY THIN OCCUR; MORE FREQUENTLY.;
7. TATTOOING IS MORE COMMON AMONG CRIMINALS THAN AMONG CIVILIAN
CONTROLS.
8. THIN LIPS AND COMPRESSED JAW ANGLES OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY;
MARKED; OVERBITE LESS FREQUENTLY AMONG CRIMINALS THAN
CIVILIANS.;
9. THE EAR OF THE CRIMINAL TENDS TO A SLIGHTLY ROLLED HELIX, AND
MORE; PERCEPTIBLE DARWIN'S POINT THAN THAT OF THE CIVILIAN; ALSO
MORE EXTREME; VARIATIONS OF EAR PROTRUSION, AND THE CRIMINAL EAR
TENDS TO BE SMALL.;
10. LOW AND SLOPING FOREHEADS, LONG, THIN NECKS, AND SLOPING
SHOULDERS, ARE; SIMILARLY IN EXCESS AMONG CRIMINALS IN
COMPARISONS WITH CIVILIANS. ( 1 5 7 )
Dr. Barry Mehler described the work of Professor Hooton in regards to
136
the latter's famous study of the physical traits of criminals; as t h e m o s t
e x t e n s i v e e x a m i n a t i o n o f c r i m i n a l s m a d e u p t o 1 9 3 0 . ( 1 5 8 ) Hooton
felt that criminals could be differentiated from the General Population
according to the type of crime that they committed and that different races
were prone to different types of criminality. He was an outspoken proponent
of heredity over nurture.
Professor Hooton, expressed concern that the
birth rates from those whom he described as "degenerates" exceeded socalled normal or healthier populations, in that the latter frequently had lower
birthrates.(( 1 5 9 )
He exhibited the classic
perspective of the Social
Darwinists in his commentary about certain types of social programs which
might increase the numbers of those who were defined as less fit, and which
would ultimately allow more of the 'less fit' to survive and reproduce.
E. A. Hooton in What is an American?
an article published in the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology declared:
... t h e p h y s i c a l a n t h r o p o l o g i s t a l o n e i s q u a l i f i e d t o a n s w e r
objectively the question of this discourse, because he
derives his data from caliper measurements, indices,
morphological observations and statistical analysis
pertaining to masses of the population.( 1 6 0 )
Hooton's attitudes towards non-Western peoples is observed in the
following quotation. A n t h r o p o l o g y i s a n i n n o c u o u s p u r s u i t o n l y w h e n
r e s t r i c t e d t o t h e s t u d y o f s a v a g e s . ( 1 6 1 ) Hooton was not particularly
interested in the rights of certain research subjects; in the language of the
lineal evolutionists he notes that Anthropology is not regarded with much
threat and is regarded as harmless as long as it confines itself to the study
137
of 'Savages'. However, if Anthropology wants to study modern populations
it might be regarded
as
threatening.
Hooton utilizes
the following
categories;
1) Old Americans,2) New Americans--both of whom have
been born to Americanism; 3) Immigrant Americans--those
who have achieved Americanism; and 4) Afro-Americans-or those who have had Americanism thrust upon them.
There are, in addition, Real Americans, but these are
called 'Indians and don't count. ( 1 6 2 )
Here we see Professor Hooton, laid bare by his own pen
'Indians
d o n ' t c o u n t '. He utilized a particular phrasing, which by the time the article
was published and the paper from which the article stemmed was presented
(1936) should have been obvious as to its symbolic meaning. Overt racism
again Native Peoples was intense in this period.
Hooton chose to ridicule
them. 'Savages' and 'Indians don't count', are not accidental misstatements
by Professor Hooton.
Hooton went on to credit Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, whose work The Old
Americans he singled out for praise. The term 'old American' was borrowed
by Hooton and modified slightly to include those who had two parents whose
ancestors had been in the United States for at least two generations in the
United States. The physical traits of those 'Whites' who met the physical
criteria and who came from the c l e r i c a l ,
professional
and l e i s u r e
c l a s s e s were described by Hrdlicka as having the following traits: ( 1 6 3 )
intermediate pigmentation, tallest stature,relative
shortness of arms, good size of head, large range of
138
cephalic index, relatively narrow face, rather long and
narrow nose with lower nasal index, moderate width of
mouth, moderate height of sub nasal portion of face,
moderate lower facial breadth, somewhat narrow hands and
feet. They differ little if at all from comparable whites in
relative weight, relative height of trunk and lower limbs,
height and breadth of forehead, dimensions of ears. They
show at a disadvantage in muscular strength in left hand
arms and shoulders. (164)
Hooton observed that these traits most closely a p p r o a c h t h e p e o p l e
of
Great
Britain.
Americans.(166)
Such
are
Hrdlicka's
upper
and middle
class
He disclosed that he had gathered data from 14,000
criminals who were the subjects for Anthropometric
introduced the topic in a
Measurement.
He
fashion which did little to convey any sense of
scientific objectivity. At this juncture in the article he used the following to
introduce criminals to the reader.
God must love criminals, because he has made so many of
them. Certainly in the study of the Anthropology of the
American people, criminals should not be neglected, not
only because of their numbers, but because they constitute
that class of the American population which costs the
country most (even more than veterans); they are tenderly
cherished by a host of humanitarians and
sentimentalists... ( 1 6 7 )
It is most unlikely that these research subjects (criminals) had the
opportunity to decline being measured for his study.
During the depression
era, many states had laws which allowed people to be locked up for not
holding a permanent address and/or being of the wrong social class, and/or
139
not having money on your person and/or being a Minority in a White area who
did not have permission to be in the White neighborhood or community. It was
not uncommon for
people to have no legal representation, and court
proceedings were not particularly fair.
Confessions were frequently known
to have been extracted after force was applied, or evidence was fabricated.
The fact that Hooton decided to study criminals who had no real power
or ability to say 'NO' to him... is an interesting aspect of his study. The rights
of research subjects in medicine, and other areas of science were not
regarded
as
being terribly
important.
Hooton was not alone within
Anthropology, Medicine, Sociology, or related fields.
People in institutions
were the subjects of research by Scientists who were given the right to do
things that would never be permitted today.
Hooton used two distinct samples in an attempt to represent a larger
population. One consisted of prisoners drawn from selected institutions. The
other was formed from volunteers who went to a major Exposition over a
two year period in the Boston area and who were measured for a Harvard
Scientific Study.
Hooton used Anthropometric measurements from both
groups. Data was gathered. There were enormous methodological problems
with his sampling techniques that would probably cause the data which
resulted to be rejected by most researchers today.
He spent much of his life trying to find the magic set of traits which
would differentiate a criminal population through morphological traits from a
normal law abiding population.
140
He also participated in research efforts to describe from a physical
sense,
success.
the elites and leaders within our own society who had attained
He was convinced that the elites of any society were distinct
regarding their morphology and that the latter could be linked to behavior.
The fact that he taught and did his research at Harvard gave him an instant
credibility and access to the elite of American Society. This in turn had and
impact not on the views of the masses who were treated to popularized
versions of his theories in the media.
Here
are
the racial
types
or
categories which he used in the study.
1.The pure Nordic type of pure blond long-head
2.The pure Mediterranean type of pure brunette long heads
3.The predominantly Nordic type of near blond long heads
4.The Keltic type of long heads with disharmonic pigment
combinations
5.The mixed Nordic Mediterranean type of long heads with
intermediate but darkish pigmentation
6.The East Baltic type of pure blond round heads with
medium to broad noses.
7.Alpine type of pure Brunette round heads--with medium
to broad noses.
8. The mixed Nordic type of round heads with
intermediate but lightish pigmentation and medium to
broad noses.
9. The mixed Dinaric type of round heads with intermediate
pigmentation and narrow faces. ( 1 6 8 )
These same racial categories were favored by some of the Nazi
Anthropologists as well as others who were not in the Nazi camp. He states
that the N o r d i c M e d i t e r r a n e a n
type of criminal...
...is remarkable because of its high ranking in first and
141
second degree murder, and its low ranking in burglary and
larceny. It occupational distribution among criminals is
fairly even, except that it is rather high in skilled trades
and transportation and decidedly low in clerical work.
Educationally its achievements are very low. ( 1 6 9 )
Here we have the linkage of a racial category to specific types of
criminal acts. The alleged connections between heritage and behavior were
important to Physical Anthropology. While by 1936, a number of Cultural
Anthropologists were emphasizing the habitat and learning as being the
primary determinant of human behavior.
What follows are excerpts from Hooton's rather lengthy article which
he used to illustrate the conclusions about race and criminal careers. Each
one of his racial types is illustrated in this series of quotes with concise
descriptors of the results.
In Hooton's N o r d i c A l p i n e
criminal category he finds that:
It is ranked high in robbery and low in burglary and
larceny.
Educationally it ranks fifth of the nine types of
races among criminals, two places above the Nordic
Mediterranean. ...
P r e d o m i n a n t l y N o r d i c , criminals are generally:
...found in prisons rather than in reformatories have
disproportionately
few previous convictions, and seem to
have no particularized offense propensities except a
marked disinclination to rape and assault, a ranking above
the mean in murder, and a high position in forgery, fraud
and bootlegging. In educational qualifications it ranks
third.
142
Criminologically the Dinaries r a n k second in forgery and
fraud, and second also in rape and bootlegging (offenses
against public welfare) . In all other offenses this type
is consistently low. ...Among the criminals the Dinaric
type is the best educated. ...The criminal Dinarics are more
largely of Teutonic descent.
The Keltic type of criminals is excessively married as
contrasted with most other types. It has a marked
predilection for assault with intent to do bodily harm, and
it is singularly indisposed to commit robbery. It is also
first in sex offenses other than rape, and in crimes against
public welfare (principally illegal manufacture and sale of
liquor). It is high in burglary and larceny. and in both kinds
of murder, but low in rape. As a matter of fact its mean
ranking for all crimes is first. ...educationally this type of
criminals ranks sixth of the nine racial types.
P u r e M e d i t e r r a n e a n , with an e x c e s s i v e n u m b e r d r a w n f r o m
It is
Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian backgrounds.
notably deficient in Old Americans and in PolishAustrians.
...the p u r e M e d i t e r r a n e a n type is outstanding for
crimes of violence against persons, being first in second
degree murder, first in rape, second in assault and robbery,
and third in first degree murder. It is last in burglary and
larceny and next to last in forgery and fraud.
...educationally the criminals of Pure Mediterranean type
rank eighth of the nine types.
The East Baltic type of criminals of recent European
origin shows excesses of persons of Russian and Polish
Austrian descent and is deficient in those of Italian
ancestry. ...The East Baltic criminals are notable for their
low average age and their high rate of celibacy. In offense
they are outstanding by reason of their primacy in burglary
and larceny, and their low rank in every other type of crime
except rape. Occupationally, this criminal type hold first
place in trade, but has no professional men, o public
143
servants, and few semi professional and transport
workers. ...In education it ranks second among criminals.
In the criminals the Alpine type has its greatest
excess in persons of Italian birth or parentage, but also is
disproportionally strong in French Canadians, Balkans,
Spanish, Portuguese, Polish Austrians, and persons of Asia
minor extraction. ... Among criminals this essentially alien
type is easily first in robbery and last in forgery and
fraud. It is high in assault, low in murder and rape, but
high in sex o f f e n s e s o t h e r than rape. ... N e v e r t h e l e s s a m o n g
criminals, it is the most poorly educated type.
The P u r e N o r d i c type ...is less common among criminals
than among civilians.... Ethnically, among criminals, the
pure Nordic type shows an excess of British Canadians and
a strong deficiency of Italians. ...This type among
criminals is notably youthful, celibate and distinct in its
offense proclivities. It is last in both kinds of murder,
assault, robbery and sex offense other than rape, in which
latter crime it is eighth. On the other hand,it is easily
first in forgery and fraud and a close second in burglary
and larceny. It is a type with which the pen seems
considerably mightier than the sword in a criminological
sense. This result hardly accords with popular impressions
of the characteristics of the Nordic blond.
.
..Educationally, it attains fourth rank in criminals. ( 1 7 0 )
Hooton in his conclusion states that ...these racial types show certain
similarities of a sociological nature.
However, Hooton by 1936 realized that
it was now politic to put something in about how... o n e s h o u l d n o t j u m p t o
c o n c l u s i o n s r e g a r d i n g r a c i a l t y p e s . This quote at the end of the article,
does not ring true...given the fact that he devoted almost the entire article
to a detailed listing of behavior attributed to each of his nine racial groups.
144
His summaries appear to be designed to lead the reader to the conclusion
that certain races engage in particular types of criminal acts.
There is no anthropological ground whatsoever for
selecting any so called racial group, or any ethnic or
national group, or any linguistic or religious group for
preferment or for condemnation. Our real purpose should
be to segregate and to eliminate the unfit, worthless,
degenerate and antisocial portion of each racial and ethnic
strain in our population, so that we may utilize the
substantial merits of its sound majority, and the special
and diversified gifts of its superior members.
Racial purity is desirable and attainable in one sense only.
Every racial strain in our country should be purified by the
sterilization of the insane, diseased and criminalistic
elements. The candidates for such biological extinction
would not be selected on the basis of Aryan or Semitic
descent, blond hair or black skin, but solely on the score of
their individual physical, mental and moral bankruptcy.
(171)
Hooton was a vigorous advocate for Eugenics, who defined criminals as
a biological cohort who needed to be excised from society...in a biological
sense.
A horrid piece of research and an equally poor article from one of
the respected figures in the history of American Physical Anthropology.
However he does not propound racial extermination for entire races...merely
a so-called 'enlightened elimination' of those who are defined by society as
criminals.
His data illustrates
that the sample populations which he
measured were assigned racial categories on the basis of morphological
measurement. Hooton was aware of the impact of genetic admixture... i t i s
p e r f e c t l y obvious that in such a racially mixed population as ours,
145
individual brothers
racial types.
m i g h t be a s s i g n e d to two or t h r e e d i f f e r e n t
(172)
What Hooton was really saying... was that true racial ancestry can only
be uncovered through measurement by scientists who make distinctions
which cannot be made in all cases by even the subjects themselves... It is
apparent, that the Professor embraced the dualistic fallacy that criminals
are in an identifiable biological cohort, and that successful individuals are in
another biological cohort and that it would be possible to select for fitness
by controlling the reproduction of those less fit,e.g., criminals.
Interestingly, much earlier in 1926
Hooton published an article
in
Science about the types of unscientific conclusions which were extant
regarding race. W.E. Castle of Harvard, in a rather provocative article in the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology took on the Eugenical viewpoint
and their followers and elaborated the reasons as to why the current vogue
of racial studies were not valid. To demonstrate the point, he used a quote
from Hooton's 1926 article in Science to highlight that much of what had
been written about race was based upon false assumption and not real
science.(( 1 7 3 ) Hooton spoke in 1926 against the use of race as an indicator
of behavior, and attacked those who were using it in the popular sense...plus
those who were
in the field of Eugenics.
When one compares this to
Hooton's later position, one finds that he sometimes employed racial
typologies that he established through measurement.
146
He also held on to
biological and deterministic viewpoints regarding heredity as being linked to
criminality and other forms of negative deviance. It is obvious that in the
period
after
1926,
Hooton
hardened
towards
a
more
biologically
deterministic perspective.
However, it is important to include Hooton's earlier quote, which Castle
cited...
A third group of writers on racial subjects, usually not
professional anthropologists, associates cultural and
psychological characteristics with physical types on
wholly insufficient evidence. These race propagandists
commonly attribute to the physical subdivision of mankind
to which they imagine that they themselves belong all or
most of the superior qualities of mankind, physical, mental
and moral. They talk of the psychological characteristics
of this or that race as if they were objective tangible
properties, scientifically demonstrated. Starting from an a
priori assumption that physical types have psychological
correlates, they attempt to refer every manifestation of
the psychological qualities assumed to be the exclusive
property of this or that race to the physical type in
question. Great men of whatever period are claimed to be
members of the favored race on the basis of their
achievements and sometimes with a total disregard of
physical criteria. In no case has any serious effort been
made by such ethnomaniacs to isolate a pure racial type
and to study either its mental qualities or its material
culture. The fact that most if not all peoples are racially
mixed is consistently ignored. While some conclusions of
such writers may be correct, none of them have been
scientifically established. ( 1 7 4 )
Castle went on to elaborate that race crossing was just as likely to
have produced a population which would be more variable and which could
147
adapt to a new situation.
Is it not possible that the racially mixed populations of
France, Germany, England, and the United States have been
one factor in their adaptability to social and economic
(175)
changes?
However, lest we come away with the idea that Castle was fully modern
in his viewpoint, the following quotation shows some reservations regarding
race crossing.
If all inheritance of human traits were simple Mendelian
inheritance, and natural selection were unlimited in its
action among human populations, then unrestricted racial
inter crossing might be recommended. But in the light of
our present knowledge, few would recommend it. For, in
the first place, much that is best in human existence is a
matter of social inheritance. That is one of its worst
features. ( 1 7 6 )
Wilson and Herrnstein
In more modern times,
James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein in
Crime and Human Nature published in (1985), put forth the proposition that
there
is
a
criminal
mesomorphic
typology. It
was
described
as,
"male,
young,
b o d y t y p e , a n d l o w i n t e l l i g e n c e . ....Additionally, these
same authors went on to cite a 1939, study where University of Nebraska
students where asked to identify the type of crime from pictures of twenty
criminals.. ( 1 7 7 ) It was not uncommon for labels to be attached to pictures
of criminals, by E u g e n i c s f i e l d w o r k e r s a t t a c h e d t o t h e i n s t i t u t e o f
criminology
in
New
York.
Descriptors,
e.g.,
inferior
looking
Irishman,... inferior looking Jewish boy...were commonplace. ( 1 7 8 )
148
PERSPECTIVES BASED UPON EUGENICS
The following quotes were selected from the New York Times, the
publication
responded favorably to the following statements made at an
international Congress of Eugenicists during the early twenties.
Severe restriction of immigration is essential to prevent
the deterioration of American Civilization, according to
students of race and biology now taking part the Second
International Eugenics Congress. The melting pot theory is
a complete fallacy, according to Eugenists, because it
suggests that impurities and baser qualities are eliminated
by the intermingling of races.. ... that the mixing of
inferior races with superior races does as much harm to
the superior race as it does good to the inferior race...
The theory held by some eminent anthropologists that all
races have an equal capacity for development and that all
race questions, even the Negro question, is to be solved in
the long run by race mixture, was vigorously combated.
Henry Fairfield Osborn, an authority on evolution noted:
....education and environment do not fundamentally alter
racial values. We are engaged in a serious struggle to
maintain our historic republican institutions through
barring the entrance of those who are unfit to share the
duties and responsibilities of our well founded
government. ( 1 7 9 )
The original author of these quotations was Henry Osborn,
a well
known figure in the American Eugenics movement. What is more intriguing is
the support for the above positions by the New York Times, in response to
Osborn's speech delivered to a major congress of Eugenicists given in the
United States in the early 1920's. It was at a time that anti-immigrant and
anti-minority racist feelings were rising in the country. However, Osborn was
tame in comparison to Madison Grant, who was infamous as a follower of so149
called Aryan or Nordic superiority and who was well known for his openly
'racist and anti-immigrant' views.
His most widely published book, The
Passing of the Great Race was printed numerous times and in many
languages.
Harry Laughlin & The German Connection:
Harry Laughlin in a paper entitled National Eugenics in Germany a paper
read at the 9th annual meeting of the Eugenics Research Association, Cold
Springs Harbor, New York, June 25th, 1920 expressed his appreciation of
G e r m a n i c b l o o d a n d c l a s s i c a l c u l t u r e . ( 1 8 0 ) He attributes the rise of
civilization to the impact of the Germanic migrations after the Fall of a
decadent Rome. The qualities of the Germanic population were lauded in his
paper.
He went
supplied
fresh
leading s t a t e s .
on to state how the T e u t o n i c s t o c k h a s c o n t i n u a l l y
fuel
to the dying s o c i a l
(181)
embers
of the world's
Laughlin then expressed an opinion that when
pressure by Germany's military leaders to not allow immigration took place;
Germany embarked upon a course which created an explosion,i.e., World War
I. He goes on to describe the Germans as a supplier of s e e d s t o c k .
If Germany survives as a nation, it will because of the
Germanic spirit of producing abundantly from sound and
educable family stock. ( 1 8 2 )
Laughlin listed a number of the Articles from the German Constitution
of 1919, which relate to family, obligations and roles.
The end of the paper
concludes with a call for action within America along Eugenic lines.
150
We must sort out, reject the innately unfit and admit only
the desirable among applicant immigrants, and must
Americanize the host of aliens already among us. ...In
addition, we like Germany, must conserve and proliferate
the best foundation stock of the nation. ( 1 8 3 )
His paper was illustrated with numerous examples which highlighted his
He used terms like G e r m a n i c
fondness for Germanic culture and heredity.
S e e d s t o c k , and G e r m a n b l o o d
to create a plan for action in the United
States by blocking certain types of immigrants, and reducing the numbers
and overall representation of existing members of the current population
through family planning, birth control, sterilization, and through a vigorous
encouragement of reproduction among those judged the most fit. This
message was to become the hallmark of the Eugenics movement over the
next two decades; in that this paper was presented in the early 1920's long
before the Nazis had loomed on the horizon in Germany.
Laughlin was quite
taken by German and Nordic science in that he tried to emulate what he had
observed in their literature and at conferences.
At the turn of the
century...in the early 1900's, Germany had what many considered the finest
medical and biological institutions in the world.
One can also demonstrate, that years later...when the Nazis came to
power...that he was an unabashed admirer of their policies and programs. In
a personal letter to Madison Grant, dated January 13,1934; Harry Laughlin
informed Grant that he obtained and translated a paper by Dr. Frick, the
Reichminister of the Interior for Germany.
151
Laughlin left no doubt as to his
own agreement with the Eugenical practices which were proposed by the
Reichminister.
He went on to laud the Reichminister and the fact that he
was able to carry out his Eugenical programs in a dictatorship...this gave him
options that were not available in a democracy.
...Dr. Frick's address sounds exactly as though spoken
by a perfectly good American eugenist in reference to what
ought to be done, with this difference, that Dr. Frick
instead of being a mere scientist,
is a powerful
Reichminister in a dictatorial government which is getting
things done in a nation of sixty million people.
Dr. Frick's speech marks a mile post in statesmanship.
The new German attitude and resolution mean that in the
future, regardless of nationality, every statesman, who
take the long view of his country's problems, will be
compelled to look primarily to eugenics for their solution.
I am anxious to print Dr. Frick's paper in full in the
Eugenical News, and if you approve, I should like to have
your moral support in thus publishing it under the
sponsorship of the Eugenics research association. ( 1 8 4 )
Here,
was another example of Laughlin's exhibiting the role of a
Germanophile. This letter left no illusions relative to Dr. Laughlin's promotion
of and support of the 'Nazi' government and its positions regarding Eugenics.
The following quotes have been selected to illustrate
that Laughlin and the
Nazis were in agreement about,i.e., the role of women and the family.
The mechanization of labor, the economic enslavement and
Marxian economy after the war completed the process of
destruction which led our nation to the brink of an abyss.
The moral decay of our people followed. It soul has been
poisoned by the liberalistic spirit, which also destroyed
152
its domestic life and it desire for parenthood. This
spiritual and structural change has been accompanied by a
transformation of our home life. Husband and wife go to
work and to their respective occupations, both striving for
education on the one hand and for work and a share in the
economic life on the other. Thus man and woman became
estranged to the family, while they believed to have found
equality in an unrestrained independent of sexes. Publicity
glorifies the masculine woman in sports and professions,
but no one has a word for the mother of a large family. So
the man of today, instead of looking upon his wife as the
mother of his children, sees in her nothing but a comrade.
It is, therefore, no wonder that birth control is the main
cause of our national suicide. What can be done to bring
about a change? ( 1 8 5 )
Herr Frick
produce
babies
industrialization
women from
called for women to leave work and to stay home and to
for
the
Reich.
He
had placed pressures
having
large
numbers
argued
that
society
through
on the family which discouraged
of children,
and downgraded the
importance of motherhood and childrearing. German society was described
as having been weakened by
liberalism and ironically through Industrial
development which downgraded the traditional role of women and the
expectations of men about their spouses.
...it is high time that we should energetically attack the
problem of balancing the family burdens. We must succeed
in bringing the woman back to the hearth and to her
household duties and the unemployed man back to work.
Such a balance would tend to increase consumption and
strengthen the market by encouraging the production of
domestic goods. ....therefore if we earnestly attempt to
restore the social structure, we must start by putting into
effect measures intended to promote the family, according
153
to social position and income. (186)
Harry Laughlin was interested in influencing German Eugenics programs
and asked in a personal letter to an American Judge in Illinois, that a copy of
a publication entitled: Eugenical Sterilization in the United States be sent to
Dr. Eugen Fischer, President, Population Congress, of the Kaiser Welhelm
Institute, Berlin, Germany. ( 1 8 7 ) The Kaiser Welhelm Institute became well
known as having been influential in forced sterilization,
T4 killing, and
experiments on concentration camp inmates, along with providing the pseudo
scientific papers which justified in the minds of Nazi ideologues the slaughter
of whole segments of the population.
Laughlin produced a circular around 1937, or so...which promoted the
use of a German motion picture film to teach principles of Eugenics. What
made the essay in the circular unique, was that Laughlin was employing one
of the films of the Third Reich entitled, E r b k r a n k ,
Defective)
(The H e r e d i t a r i l y
as a positive example for the United States to emulate.
Laughlin wrote an essay in the circular, which contained information that the
film was prepared in Germany by Eugenists and had a choice of German,
English or French captions. This film was one of the films used to soften up
and move the German population towards the eventual killing of the disabled.
The present subject is confined to the problem of
hereditary degeneracy in the fields of feeble mindedness,
insanity, crime, hereditary disease and inborn deformity.
As an introduction to the film contrasts the squalid living
conditions of normal children in certain German city slums
154
with the finer and costly modern custodial institutions
built for the care of handicapped persons produced by the
socially inadequate and degenerate family stocks of that
country.
If this film reflects accurately the policy of modern
Germany, that nation in this particular field of applied
negative eugenics has evidently made substantial progress
in its intention to act fundamentally, on a long time plan,
for the prevention, so far as possible, of hereditary
degeneracy.
This picture expounds the economic, moral and biological
costs of human handicap and inadequacy. (188)
The essay noted that the E u g e n i c s R e s e a r c h A s s o c i a t i o n o w n s t w o
copies of this two reel film and is p r e p a r e d
to lend a copy to
r e s p o n s i b l e s c h o o l s a n d s o c i e t i e s interested in its use. ( 1 8 9 )
Lest there be any remaining doubts about the possible sympathies of
Harry Laughlin, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine, by the
University of Heidelberg for his work in Eugenics.
It was awarded on the
550th year Jubilee... in 1936. By that time, Laughlin had collected numerous
articles from newspapers and magazines as to what was transpiring in Nazi
Germany. He had file folders marked with the label 'Jews' which contained a
variety of materials. Some of these, noted the discrimination and violence
which Jews were experiencing in Germany and in the United States. Ironically,
some had been sent by groups who were trying to convince him to soften or
change his stand regarding immigration in the Pre War period. ( 1 9 0 ) His
correspondence, illustrated that their pleas were n o t well received. ( 1 9 1 )
His eagerness to accept the honorary degree from an educational
155
institution in the Third Reich under Hitler was indicative of his perspective.
Laughlin's response to the letter which invited him to accept the degree was
very enthusiastic. He wrote to Dr. Schneider on May 28th,
1936.
I acknowledge with deep gratitude the receipt of your
letter of May 16th in which you state that the Faculty of
Medicine of the University of Heidelberg intends to confer
upon me the degree of Doctor of Medicine h.c. on the
occasion of its 550th jubilee year 27th-30th of June,
1936.
I stand ready to accept this very high honor. Its bestowal
will give me particular gratification, coming as it will
from a university deep rooted in the life history of the
German people, and a university which has been both a
reservoir and a fountain of learning for more than half a
millennium. To me this honor will be doubly valued because
it will come from a nation which for many centuries
nurtured the human seed-stock which later founded by own
country and thus gave basic character to our present lives
and institutions.
I regret more than I can say that the shortness of time
before the jubilee-date makes it impossible for me to
arrange to leave my duties as Cold Spring Harbor to visit
Heidelberg, to participate in the ceremony and to receive
this highly honored diploma in person. ( 1 9 2 )
If the reader needs more convincing as to Laughlin's desire to have the
Nazi (tainted) degree...In a letter dated August 11, 1936 to Dean Schneider,
(Faculty of Medicine), at the University of Heidelberg. Laughlin acknowledged
that he sent a reply dated May 28th, concerning the May 16th letter which
informed him of the University's desire to bestow upon him the honorary
degree.
He went on to state:
...Later the radio and the newspapers announced that your
156
faculty had duly conferred this honorary degree upon me,
but as a matter of written record, I have not yet had the
honor of an official notification by you that the degree had
been duly conferred and that the diploma had been sent to
me.
I consider the conferring of this degree upon me not only
as a personal honor but also as evidence of a common
understanding of German and American scientists of the
nature of Eugenics as research in and the practical
application of those fundamental biological and social
principles which determine the racial endowments and the
racial health-physical, mental and spiritual-of future
generations. With highest regards and with full
appreciation,Very faithfully yours.( 1 9 3 )
Laughlin saved clippings from
periodicals.
The following
article
declared that he was an awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine.
It was published in the 'Forum for Osteopathy' dated Oct. 1936, and was sent
to him as a courtesy by the same publication.
Harry Laughlin, S.D. of the Eugenics Laboratory at Cold
Springs Harbor, L.I., N.Y., brother of George M. and Earl H.
Laughlin Sr., Kirksville Mo., has been awarded the honorary
decree of Doctor of Medicine by the University of
Heidelberg on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of that
institution. ( 1 9 4 )
There are no doubts as to his deep rooted prejudices. He was
exceedingly influential and helped to formulate policy on both a Federal and
local level on a wide range of issues using a bogus form of science. His
presence was felt on the international stage, primarily because society was
sympathetic to the simplistic explanations which he touted. There were no
157
shortages of scholars who sang the same tune both here and abroad.
Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Medicine, and Biology were among the
academic disciplines that fell prey to the sirens song of Eugenics.
Laughlin set out the perspective of his beliefs regarding eugenics in a
variety of formats.
The following selection is drawn from one of his papers
written in 1935.
Every independent family group, racial stock and national
people has the inherent right to set up its own biological
standards, with the hope that, in the turn over of
population in the course of future generations, future mate
selection, and future size of family differential in favor of
the standard, will tend to breed towards the established
ideal of inherent qualities-physical, mental and spiritual.
...the Federal Government can forbid the admission of
certain races and other natural classes of individuals who
seek admission to enter its borders, either as visitors or
immigrants. ...in the case of aliens whom the sovereign
does not desire as additions to the reproductive stock
of the nation , be enforced by deportation by the Federal
Government. In the case of permanent residents, whether
citizens or aliens, if they are undesired by the state as
parents of future citizens, and if they have settled down
for the purpose of becoming the parents of future citizens,
then the State has the right to apply eugenical
sterilization. ( 1 9 5 )
This is classic Laughlin, urging the State to action against those who might
seek to enter, as well as those who are already here.
'Deportation' and selection for
'National Traits'
Sterilization,
are included as
valid
perspectives. It is easy to see how the Nazis gravitated toward his position
and he in turn toward theirs...
158
...In further reference to penology, eugenical sterilization
could be considered a long time factor in crime prevention.
Just as it is a long time factor in the prevention of the
several types of degeneracy and inadequacy other than
crime. To the extent to which studies show a definite
closeness of relationship between inborn degeneracy and
the chances of development of a criminal career by the
particular subject, eugenical sterilization of the parent
becomes a matter of long time crime prevention with no
penal motives or properties attached to it. ( 1 9 6 )
Here, we have Dr. Laughlin embracing the platform of eugenics as a
long term crime control strategy.
correlate crime with heredity.
He wanted scientific studies to link or
If the studies could support this link for a
family, individual or a biological cohort...he was in favor of sterilization.
A
rather unique approach to crime control. One that was favored by Professor
Hooton, and others.
Dr. Laughlin was aware of legal limitations regarding his proposed and
active policies.
...The only legal limitations are: The eugenical motive
must predominate-the determination by the State to
improve the inborn physical, mental and moral qualities of
its future population...The attribute of sovereignty permits
the people of the State to set their own biological
standards, and to move towards them. ( 1 9 7 )
Nothing in the above suggests that individual rights had value or were to be
considered. It was a viewpoint common to both the extreme right wing and
the left. The group was all important. Science was merely an extension of
the ideology of the State.
159
Notes:
* ( The use o f : i t a l i c s
within the body of the p a p e r or in the
N o t e s . . . d e s i g n a t e s ei t h er a quote or a heavily p a r a p h r a s e d set of
materials).
157.Hamlin, John; Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, University of
Minnesota, Duluth: (Sociological Theories of Deviance, lecture notes,
Permission to quote granted Spring 2000).
158. Mehler; 1988: p..371.
159. Ibid.; p.371.
160.
a. Hooton, E.; What is an American?. Harvard Anthropometic and Statistical
Laboratory, Peabody Museum. Cambridge, Massachusetts; (American Journal
of Physical Anthropology, vol. XXII, No.1 October-December,1936)pp.1.
b.Rosenbaum, Ron; The Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal, (New
York Times Magazine, January 15,1995)p.30. The following selection gives a
taste of what Hooton was thinking...in regards to Eugenics. It was obtained
by Rosenbaum from a personal interview with Professor George Hersey an
art history professor at Yale who was working on a book about the the study
and Dr. Hooton.
Hooton participated in a large study of Ivy League students,
where
thousands of nude photographs were taken of entering Freshman.
He
believed that he could describe the elite in such a way as to set them apart
from the other social classes that he was studying.
"...' T h e d a t a a c c u m u l a t e d , s a y s H o o t o n , w i l l e v e n t u a l l y
lead on to proposals to control and limit the production of
inferior and useless organisms'. Some of the latter would
160
b e p e n a l i z e d f o r r e p r o d u c i n g , o r w o u l d b e s t e r i l i z e d . But
the real solution is to be enforced better breeding--getting those Exeter and Harvard men together with their
corresponding Wellesley, Vassar and Radcliffe girls."
161. Ibid.; p.2.
162. Ibid.; p.4.
163. Ibid.; p.5.
165. Ibid.; originally printed in Hrdlicka, Ales; The Old Americans, Baltimore,
1925, pp. 407-408.
166. Hooton; 1936, p. 6.
167. Ibid.
168. Ibid.; pp. 8-10.
169. Ibid.; p.11.
170. Ibid.; p.13-22.
171. Ibid.; p.26.
172. Ibid.; p.25.
173. Castle,E.W; Biological and Social Consequences of Race Crossing Bussey
Institution, Harvard.
Cambridge Massachusetts; (American Journal of
Physical Anthropology, vol. IX, No.2 April-June,1926)pp.145-156.
174.Hooton,E.A.; Methods of Racial Analysis. (Science' 63), pp. 75-81, Jan.
22,1926).
175. Castle,E.W.; 1926, pp. 151-152.
176. Ibid.; p. 152.
161
177. Mehler,1988; p. 44.
178. Ibid.
179. Ibid. p.48; originally published in the New York Times, Sept. 25, 1921,
section II. p. 1 col. 8.)
180. Photocopy of: Eugenics in Germany, author: Harry Laughlin D.Sc.;
Reprinted from (the Eugenics Review January 1921) document obtained from
the Harry Laughlin collection, Truman State University)
181. Ibid.
182.Ibid.
183. Ibid.
184. Photocopy of a Letter; from: Harry Laughlin, to: Madison Grant,
date:January 13,1934; (Obtained from the Harry Laughlin Collection, Truman
State University)
185.Photocopy of a typed written translation of a Speech entitled: 'German
Population and Race Politics' by Dr. Frick, Reichminister for the Interior,
'before the first meeting of the Expert Council for the Population, and Race
Politics' held in Berlin, June 26,1933, the translation was done for the
Eugenical News; obtained from the Harry Laughlin collection at Truman State
University).( h a n d w r i t t e n c u r s i v e n o t e a t t h e t o p , " P u b . M a r - A p r
1 9 3 4 " )p.4.
186. Ibid.; p. 7.
187. Photocopy of a Personal letter to: Honorable Judge J. Sonsteby, Chief
Justice of the Municipal Court, Chicago Ill., from: Harry Laughlin, dated: July
9,1935,(Obtained from the Harry Laughlin Collection at Truman State
University).
188. Photocopy of an original primary source document from Truman State
University,Mo., A two page circular authored by Harry Laughlin, in response
162
to inquiries regarding the film 'Eugenics in Germany'. The film was purchased
in 1937).
189. Ibid.
190. Photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles, filed by Harry
Laughlin. The items were obtained from Truman State University, from the
Harry Laughlin Collection)
191. Laughlin was writing to others, and they in turn to him...the subject was
immigration and their obvious commitment was to n o t u n l o c k t h e d o o r to
more immigration in the period before the Second World War...when it was
obvious that refugees needed assistance.
192. Photocopy of a letter, dated: May 28th, 1936; to: Dean Schneider,
from: Harry Laughlin (Obtained from Truman State University, Harry Laughlin
Collection).
193. Photocopy of a letter, dated: August 11th, 1936; to: Dean Schneider,
from: Harry Laughlin (Obtained from Truman State University, Harry Laughlin
Collection)
194. Photocopy of an article; (Obtained from Truman State University, Harry
Laughlin Collection.
195. Laughlin, Harry; Photocopy of a paper, dated July 1935, entitled:
Further Studies on the Historical and Legal Development of Eugenical
Sterilization in the United States,(Obtained from Truman State University,
Harry Laughlin Collection)pp. 1-2.
196. Ibid.; 10,11.
197. Ibid.; p. 13.
163
Conclusions:
In the United States... Cultural Evolution, Lineal Evolution, and the
concept of Social Darwinism dropped out of favor during the Second World
War.
Here we see science, shifting away from Lineal Evolution and Social
Darwinism because of intense ideological pressure, not only because of the
lack of validity of the earlier explanations.
The positive economic growth
during World War Two, and postwar in the 1950's and 1960's in the United
States can be contrasted to the period of the Great Depression a decade
after the First World War.
In the early 20th century, the country was
impacted by unemployment and the large scale immigration of non-Anglo
Saxon groups. During the Second World War, the United States was opposing
the Nazi's and their race based ideological system, thus...opposition to
biologically
mainstream
deterministic
as
part
of
explanations
the
war
of
behavior
effort.
moved
Ironically,
as
into
the
the
War
ended...biological explanations were still the basis of many of the restrictive
laws attached to segregation in the United States.
Few of the disciplines within the Sciences,e.g., Anthropology, Sociology,
Psychology or
Biology and Medicine have been willing to confront the
164
antecedents of the past and to illuminate past practices
within their
respective fields. The area of Eugenics is for the most part ignored and few
within the above disciplines have any training or exposure to the impact
which this field had upon their own area. The excesses
of Biological
Determinism have been glossed over without any specifics as to what
transpired during the period when Eugenics was powerful.
The real search for answers to Social Problems would have required a
painful analysis of Social Structure, and the distribution of wealth and power,
i.e., Social Stratification.
Instead what was offered was a simplistic solution
that science put forth through the discipline of Eugenics.
It sought to
reduce social problems by eliminating over time, the ability of certain
populations to reproduce or to have access to a country or to remain alive.
A number of authors within popular culture are propounding the same tired
theme in an attempt to link heredity to behavior. While, social movements in
the developed world are trying to limit immigration once again.
This essay attempted to cover a broad area and made no attempt to
discuss the reality that cultures undergo change and that evidence from the
past suggests that humankind has gone through a variety of stages where
material complexity and cultural complexity have increased over time. The
perspective of modern Cultural Anthropology is that all cultural systems are
equal. It is true that pressure from the habitat exerts a force upon all
cultures, the result is either change or a continuation of the status quo or
even the elimination of populations. Cultural adaptation is a fact of life, but
165
to imply that it is based upon a preprogrammed capacity of a population is
contrary to the perspective of contemporary Anthropology.
Ideologies create ranking systems, it is not the goal of Cultural
Anthropology to rank Cultures on a ladder or scale, but it is appropriate to
discuss differing strategies
cultural groups.
for survival which have been employed by
As a human population we have had very little temporal
experience with economic organization outside of hunting and gathering. It is
humbling to know that for most of four million years we lived as foragers and
scavengers.
To impart real wisdom on the subject of cultural evolution one
would need to have more experience in viewing the differing modes of
economic and cultural adaptation than the last two hundred or so years,i.e.,
the time period encompassing the industrial revolution in order to be able to
say that one cultural form is superior in that it has the ability to last
forever.
The human condition is plastic in that our over-riding ability appears to
be able to adapt to a changing habitat. It is that feature which allows culture
to respond. Our reliance or dependence upon learned behavior is what gives
us that flexible element rather than a specific or rigid form of culture which
would serve us for all time.
Against the tide of 19th and early 20th century narrowness, some
within Anthropology developed ideas and concepts to counter ignorance and
racism.
Ethnocentricity is the term that is used to suggest that one
believes that their culture is better than another.
166
Anthropologists in
developing this term were interested in stressing the equality or value of all
cultures.
A person who espouses an ethnocentric view would be one that
stipulates that their culture is superior to all others and that those that are
different are inferior.
Cultural Relativism describes the need to examine
behavior within the context of a culture.
Behavior can only be understood
within a specific setting.
Anthropologists
use these
terms
when confronting
racism
and
ignorance... items which appear to be in growing supply in our world.
The
same arguments to restrict immigration, to blame the poor, to label groups
as inferior biologically, and the use of the results of invalid I.Q. testing are
rising again... corresponding to a time when competition for scarce economic
resources is creating social pressure.
Biological determinism and lineal
evolutionary explanations are ready to reappear and indeed are being
published again. The mapping of the human genome will give impetus to the
desire to explain behavior from a scientific basis.
be under pressure
to develop
The social sciences will
better explanations which give
more
credibility to learned behavior and the solutions which it can develop in the
face of genetic explanations for behavior with the specter of the past as a
reminder of what can happen.
It is more than likely that heredity plays a
small role in behavior...the problem will be to resist the forces in various
disciplines who will want to enlarge and over generalize what magnitude the
role plays. It is likely, that a major struggle between opposing academic
camps will take place in the coming decades. This essay is a reminder that
167
Eugenicists of the past thought that they had all the answers based upon
their own data and perceptions. It has been reported that the Scandinavian
practice of sterilization based upon a person not exhibiting Nordic racial
traits continued up through the seventies, and allegations of high rates of
sterilization for Native American women in the United States during the early
eighties suggest that Eugenics and its perspective have survived into the
modern era. Research into the history of science needs to be conducted by
scholars willing to confront the past.
168