Introduction
The theory of evolution, as postulated by Darwin, suggests that human modification is due to natural selection. It is proposed that environmental factors played a crucial role in human survival, as these forces eliminated the weak while those who were physically strong matured and reproduced offspring (West, 2021). Conversely, scientific racism is a belief system that upholds the notion that human races are distinct, albeit subtle, groups that can be identified and classified using scientific methods (Charmantier, 2020). Furthermore, these categories of ethnicities are inherently organized in a way that implies a superior race (Keay, 2022).
Darwin’s idea of evolution was devoid of divisions between species or races. However, scientific racism ideology believed that evolution was a struggle between races rather than individuals (Jackson & Weidman, 2006). This paper will discuss the three propositions of heredity, Nordicism, and Eugenics, which explain scientific racism theory and how social racism and social Darwinism are associated with human progression.
Heredity
This notion about evolution was born from scientists’ contradictions with Darwin’s theory on the transfer of characteristics from one generation to another. The idea of “natural selection” depended on a tiny advantageous trait accumulated in species lines of descent. However, it seemed to some scientists that the same characteristics couldn’t be passed down to many generations of individuals (Jackson & Weidman, 2006). They argued that a beneficial trait from the parent generation couldn’t be transmitted in its raw form to the subsequent offspring groups without being swamped by random crosses with inferior types.
In human evolution, subsequent scientific discoveries established clear distinctions between heredity and environment. In the late nineteenth century, August Weismann postulated that the human body was made of somatic and germ cells, respectively (Jackson & Weidman, 2006). He further suggested that the latter were the units of heredity, were responsible for producing sperm and eggs, and were immune to environmental influences.
Additionally, he argued that human bodies did not produce germ cells but merely conveyed them unchanged from one generation to the next. This marked the end of the concept of acquired characteristics due to adaptation to environmental changes. It ushered in the development of racial theory because it became clear that the environment could not change people’s behaviors and abilities. Indeed, racial idealists firmly started believing that there was some inherited ethnic essence that social or environmental changes could not erase.
The Rise of Nordicism
Whereas Darwin did not explicitly forward any racist views, some of his work has been used in the past to justify scientific racism. For example, his ideas about evolution formed the basis upon which racist theories were built, as they shaped the thinking of several race scientists (Keay, 2022). One of the results of the scientists’ involvement in evolutionary research was Nordicism, which was anchored on the belief that there was a particular superior northern European race called the Nordics. This group of people was believed to be superior to all other races. Further, racists were convinced that civilization among humans was a product of racial distinctions.
Nordicists were equally convinced that race was the foundation of social order. Between 1855 and 1927, Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855-1927) reinforced this idea by suggesting that race was the key to the history of humans, including their spiritual nature (Jackson & Weidman, 2006). The first comprehensive understanding of scientific racism was provided by Vacher de Lapouge, who based his race theory on Darwin’s perspective, and his view had a profound influence on twentieth-century race theories. Lapouge used the cephalic index as a key racial marker, employing it to differentiate between various social characteristics of people, as well as their heads (Appendix 1).
Through his index, he believed inferior species could be identified and eliminated through massive breeding (Jackson & Weidman, 2006). However, he was against and rejected any appeals to quasi-religious mysticism. Lapouge thought that the moral sentiment from religious faith blocked the necessary social reforms to remove racial inferiors through selective procreation (Appendix 2). Finally, the ideas of heredity being immune to environmental influence and Nordic supremacy gave rise to the eugenics movement.
The Rise of Eugenics
A more sophisticated version of scientific racism, known as eugenics, emerged in the nineteenth century. It was used to mean the science of enhancing stock. In the context of humans, it signified all the influences geared towards giving the more suitable races excellent probabilities of prevailing faster than the less suitable ones.
The conceiver of the idea, Galton, believed Eugenics was the best evolution technique (Jackson & Weidman, 2006). According to him, it was the key to improving contemporary humans’ inadequacies in intelligence and skills. However, instead of social Darwinism, which proposed natural selection against undesirable traits, Eugenics desired to drive evolutionarily inclined people towards superiority.
Galton’s eugenics philosophy gained a faster and stronger presence in America. It was the idea that good people should be encouraged to reproduce, while bad ones should be discouraged from doing so (Keay, 2022). The ideology was against allowing more than one racial group in one geographical location because it would lead to the extinction of the superior one and give rise to lower types (Appendix 2). Therefore, scientists, including Galton, advocated that the worst human traits be eliminated through segregation or sterilization. This led to the establishment of the American Breeders’ Association (ABA) to improve human breeding via Eugenics (Carlaw, 2019).
To demonstrate the effect of eugenics theory in the United States, in 1907 and 1909, Indiana and California passed their forced sterilization laws and sterilized over 20,000 people without their consent (Bouche & Rivard, 2014). This was followed by making mixed-race marriages illegal in 29 states (Keay, 2022). Eugenics and scientific racism spread from North America to other parts of the world, notably Germany and Italy.
The Association Between Social Darwinism and Scientific Racism
Social Darwinism is a misapplication of Charles Darwin’s theory, which posits that the human species evolved due to environmental changes that forced them to adapt to survive or become extinct. It gained popularity in England, Europe, and America during the 19th and 20th centuries, associated with pseudoscientific racism and Social Darwinism (Pseudo-scientific racism and Social Darwinism, 2019). It believes that some races are biologically superior to others and that those weak ones should be allowed or forced to die. This idea gave rise to the scientific racism theory that believed the Nordic race was superior to other ethnicities, and a more extreme form of it called eugenics.
Conclusion
The theory of evolution postulates that human modification was due to natural selection, and environmental factors played a crucial role in the survival of people, as they eliminated the weak individuals. On the contrary, the scientific racism philosophy embraces the idea that human races are inconspicuous groups that can be distinguished through scientific methods. Additionally, it grouped ethnicities into categories, with one race being superior to the others. It stemmed from the social Darwinism theory, which posited that some races were biologically superior to others. Scientific racism opposes natural selection and believes that heredity plays a vital role in human evolution (Appendix 3).
Researchers who supported this theory claimed that the human body consisted of somatic and germ cells. They emphasized that germ cells were the hereditary units responsible for producing sperm and eggs and were unaffected by environmental factors. For racial theorists, this concept marked the end of the belief in acquired traits and paved the way for the rise of racial theory.
As a result, racial idealists came to believe that certain ethnic qualities were inherited and could not be altered by social or environmental conditions. This belief culminated in Nordicism, which was based on the idea that a superior northern European race, known as the Nordics, existed. Additionally, racists maintained that human civilization and social order stemmed from racial differences. Consequently, the notions of heredity’s resistance to environmental influence and Nordic superiority led to the emergence of the eugenics movement—a theory advocating that “good” individuals should be encouraged to reproduce. In contrast, “undesirable” ones should be prevented from doing so through segregation or sterilization.
References
Bouche, T & Rivard, L. (2014). America’s hidden history: The eugenics movement. Scitable. Web.
Carlaw, B. (2019). Early American Eugenics Movement. First Wave Feminisms. Web.
Charmantier, I. (2020). Linneaus and Race. The Linnean Society of London. Web.
Jackson, J. P. Jr., and Weidman, N. M. (2006). The origins of scientific racism. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, (50), 66-79. Web.
Keay, K. (2020). White lies matter: The evolution, persistence, and impact of scientific Racism. Western Washington University. Web.
Pseudo-scientific racism and Social Darwinism. (2019). South African History Online. Web.
West, J. G. (2021). African Genocide: The horror of scientific racism [Video]. Evolution News. Web.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Scientific racism images
Appendix 2: Summary of the Homo Genus as Described in the Systema Naturae
Appendix 3: Phrenology sketch of human skull, 1807
