Racism and AntiRacism Blog

Where did our notions of race and racism come from? How do we fight against racism? My Blog

The discussion of racism is of great importance and relevance, perhaps more so than ever. It is one of the great evils of the human heart, and ideally there will come a time wherein it will be eradicated. I find it fascinating and disturbing that there are still racists among us today. If we think of all the progress we have made as a species in other domains such as physics, medicine, and technological advances in artificial intelligence, just to name a few. Does not the universe become more wonderous, mysterious, and complex with each advance? You would think that the backward and unintellectual idea that people of varying skin colours are somehow inherently inferior would have long disappeared from human civilisation. However, unfortunately, it hasn’t. And maybe thinking is the problem, perhaps we don’t do enough of it. As Ashley Montagu argued in her work, Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race, racism is “an important subject which clear thinking is generally avoided”.[1] So I decided to think about it. Through my reading, this blog will briefly explore why and when the term “race” entered our language as a way of classifying people by skin colour. And why did the concept of “race” turn into “racism” which equates one’s skin colour with one’s intellectual and moral worth as a way of discriminating against those who look different to us.

 Historically, the term has been oversimplified and overcomplicated. As Ali Rattansi argues, “racism has is a multidimensional phenomenon, it has suffered from formulaic and cliched thinking from all sides of the political spectrum” (Rattansi 2007).[2] Although it is always pleasurable to point out the faults of politicians, their rhetoric, and our political systems more broadly, it would not be fair to accuse our politicians as the sole perpetrators of this “formulaic and cliched thinking”.[3] Historians, philosophers, social scientists, and political activists also fall victim to this way of thinking about and defining the term racism.[4] However, if one is to talk or write about a topic, term, or phenomenon, it is important to at least try and define the term (even if inadequately) so that a subject in question can be understood. Thus, although at times unsuccessful and unsatisfactory, the endeavour to define racism should not be abandoned. Particularly, if we ever hope to rid society of an ancient and complex evil such as racism.

To define, describe, and discuss an idea or a phenomenon adequately, it is important to know something about its history. It goes without saying that we will not be able to conduct an historically exhaustive and adequate analysis of the idea of racism. However, we can discuss specific examples to demonstrate that racism has a long history within human society. There is evidence that the antecedents of racism can arguably be traced back to antiquity.[5] Although, it is important to note, that ancient discriminatory notions of other peoples, had less to do with skin colour but were rather more tribal in nature. For example, the ancient Greeks referred to “barbarians”, however, this was broadly applied to those who did not speak Greek and they did not discriminate based on other people’s physical appearance or skin colour. The more modern use of the term racism we encounter today can perhaps be traced back to the sixteenth century wherein the term “race” entered the English lexicon.[6] That is to say, “race” began to refer to family lineage and breed.[7] With the advent of “The Enlightenment”, and the scientific and technological advances being made by Europeans, the attitude towards nature began to change.[8] Europeans began to think of nature as “wild” and less advanced.[9] Nature became something that had to be “tamed” through investigation with new technologies and knowledge derived through natural science.[10]

The natural sciences have an inherent classificatory inclination, which is not without justified reasons nor necessarily prejudicial. One would not argue that it is somehow evil or discriminatory to classify different species of plants or animals—along with human beings who are a species of animal. However, with the publication of the influential Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus’s work Systema Naturae, human beings were not only classified as being homosapiens and aesthetically appearing different,[11] Linnaeus ascribed these differences with having relevance to differences in temperament.[12] He notes, “H. Europaei (Europeans) of fair complexion, sanguine temperament, and brawny. Of Gentle manners, acute in judgement, of quick invention, and governed by fixed laws”[13] (Linnaeus 1792). He continues, H. Afri. (Africans) of black complexion, phlegmatic temperament, and relaxed fibre. Of crafty, indolent, and careless disposition, and are governed in their actions by caprice”[14] (Linnaeus 1792).

These attitudes were not confined to the natural sciences, they also found their way into philosophy. Arguably, two of the greatest philosophers in Western History David Hume and Immanuel Kant argued that human beings of different skin colours had varying levels of intellectual and moral worth[15].  Hume, in his work, On National Characters (of which Kant was influenced), went even further and classified different races of people into separate species! Hume wrote the following: I am apt to suspect the negroes, and in general all the other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation. No ingenious manufactures amongst them, no arts, no sciences. Hume continues, “In Jamaica indeed they talk of one negroe as a man of parts and learning; but ‘tis likely he is admired for very slender accomplishments, like a parrot, who speaks a few words plainly”.[16] 

We can see through this historical analysis that this may be wherein the seeds of our modern-day racism were planted. It is all well and good that we can now look back through history and try and figure out where our ideas have come from. However, that is not the only question. The most important question is: How do we eradicate racism from society? It is promising to see that there are new and recent developments in academia and social activism that help to combat racism. I am especially impressed with Ibram X. Kendi’s approach and notion of Anti-Racism. To put simply, he is correct that it is not enough to be not racist. One has to be anti-racist.[17] One cannot sit back and be neutral.[18] You can either allow social injustice and racism to occur or you can engage with the world actively as an anti-racist.[19] I share Kendi’s pessimism that we may never see a world without racism. But we cannot lose hope and continue the fight.[20]

Bibliography

Montagu, Ashley. Man’s Most Dangerous Myth : The Fallacy of Race. 5th ed., rev.Enl. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.

Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 2007.

Millar, Fergus. “The Invention of Racism in Antiquity.” International History Review XXVII, no. 1 (2005)

Asher, Kendra. “Was David Hume a Racist? Interpreting Hume’s Infamous Footnote (Part I).” Economic Affairs (Harlow) 42, no. 2 (2022): 226. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.12519.

Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. First edition. New York: One World, 2019.

[1] Montagu, Ashley. Man’s Most Dangerous Myth : The Fallacy of Race. 5th ed., rev.Enl. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.

[2] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 2007. 1

[3] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 1

[4] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 1

[5] Millar, Fergus. “The Invention of Racism in Antiquity.” International History Review XXVII, no. 1 (2005): 86.

[6] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 23

[7] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 23

[8] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 24

[9] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 24

[10] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 24

[11] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 25

[12] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 26

[13] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 26

[14] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 26

[15] Rattansi, Ali. Racism : A Very Short Introduction. 27

[16] Asher, Kendra. “Was David Hume a Racist? Interpreting Hume’s Infamous Footnote (Part I).” Economic Affairs (Harlow) 42, no. 2 (2022): 226. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.12519.

[17] Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. First edition. New York: One World, 2019. 10

[18] Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. First edition. New York: One World, 2019. 10

[19] Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. First edition. New York: One World, 2019. 10

[20] Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. First edition. New York: One World, 2019. 259