Introduction
Since Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was developed in 1859, and DNA was discovered in the first half of the 20th century, multiple theories have emerged explaining the diversity of the human population. Over the years, these theories have been misinterpreted and exploited by politicians to support their ideas and establish the superiority of one race or nation over others. They have also influenced the common perceptions of race and diversity, giving rise to multiple biases. The purpose of this paper is to research how the origins of research findings that ask questions on the biology of a person’s behavior are often taken out of context and misrepresented to reinforce biases.
Darwin’s theory and eugenics
In 1859, the English naturalist Charles Darwin published the book On the Origin of Species that laid the foundation for Darwinism, a theory of evolution suggesting that all species arise and develop through natural selection. The theory became a much-needed voice amongst homologous explanations, opposing both creationists and supporters of other theories within biology. Answering critics, Darwin wrote, “It is easy to hide our ignorance under such expressions as the ‘plan of creation,’ ‘unity of design,’ etc., and to think that we give an explanation when we only restate a fact” (Darwin 453). His theory established a new revolutionary approach to the origins of life on Earth, and consequently, the origins of humans.
In On the Origin of Species, Darwin does not address the subject of human evolution, but his later works apply his findings to humans and introduce the theory of sexual selection, on which human evolution is thought to be based. In the book The Descent of Man, and Selection about Sex (1871), he also touches upon the subject of race. Darwin claims that, although possessing different characteristics and hierarchy, different races have much in common and, most probably, have the same origin and cannot be regarded as distinct species. Darwin’s conclusions revolutionized biology and were used as a foundation in several subsequent theories regarding race and diversity.
One of the most prominent and infamous hypotheses was a theory of eugenics developed by Francis Galton in the 1860s, which became the scientific basis for Nazi eugenics programs during World War II. It established a set of beliefs and practices aimed to improve the genetic quality of the population by excluding people and groups believed to be inferior and promoting those judged to be superior. The eugenics practices had profound effects on the population in the United States and Germany and led to the extermination of whole nations (A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics, and the American Dream). Eugenics became the most illustrative example of how scientific discoveries aimed to provide explanations for diversity can be misrepresented and misused for political and ideological purposes to establish the superiority of one nation over others.
The movie A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics, and the American Dream (2016) explores how genetic theories are transformed into political ideas intended to provide an ideological base for inequality and shape people’s perceptions of other races. In the 19th century, the rich invested in scientific research partly as a way to prove that the poor were biologically different from the rich (A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics, and the American Dream). In the film, Nobel-winning DNA researcher Francis Crick is quoted, who says that inequality is an unavoidable result of genetic differences, and that weaker human specimens should be allowed to die so they do not spoil the gene pool (A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics, and the American Dream). Taken out of context, these words have been misinterpreted and used to justify radical racial and political views.
Almost any genetic theory can be interpreted to support the ideas of racial superiority. For example, the 2014 study by Parlyak et al. Mother’s Milk Programs Offspring’s Cognition claims that immunological factors in the mother’s milk influence the development of the fetus’s nervous system and cognitive functions. The study raises questions about how the environment into which a child is born programs the brain to deal with the challenges it may face later in life (Parlyak et al. 9). The results can be interpreted to support the idea that people with chronic diseases, poor, or socially disadvantaged people should be prevented from having children in order not to spoil the gene pool. It proves that Darwin’s ideas, as well as subsequent genetic theories, can be interpreted not in the way they were intended but to support the most radical ideas of inequality.
“The Composite Nation”
“The Composite Nation” is the name of the 1869 speech by Frederick Douglass, an American social reformer, statesman, and orator, who was one of the leaders of the abolitionist movement. The speech was made in response to the controversies surrounding the increasing Chinese immigration to the United States in the second half of the 19th century. Frederick Douglas was an advocate of equal rights for all peoples regardless of their race, and these ideas are explicitly expressed in his speech.
The speech provides a great example of how the common perceptions of racial differences can be used to make a political point. His ideas are centered around the belief in the superiority of the American nation over others, and the way this superiority can be asserted through the ideas of justice, liberty, and human equality. He claims, “In whatever else other nations may have been great and grand, our greatness and grandeur will be found in the faithful application of the principle of perfect civil equality to the people of all races and all creeds, and to men of no creeds” (Douglass). Douglass’s main idea is that by welcoming people of other nations as equals, America establishes its authority as a great civilization.
Throughout the speech, he talks about the Chinese nation and the African American population in terms that are characteristic of 19th-century rhetoric. Praising the Chinese, he says that they “have first-rate recommendations. They are industrious, docile, cleanly, frugal; they are dexterous of hand, patient of toil, marvelously gifted in the power of imitation, and have but few wants. […] They can subsist upon what would be almost starvation to others” (Douglass). He evaluates the nation in terms of their value to society, comparing them to the African Americans who “worked and took their pay in religion and the lash” (Douglass). Basically, he praises the Chinese as a good race in a condescending tone that is full of racial stereotypes and is based on the idea of the superiority of the white race. He notes that the white race constitutes just one-fifth of the world population, and “It would be a sad reflection upon the laws of nature and upon the idea of justice, of four-fifths of mankind were deprived of the rights of migration to make room for the one fifth” (Douglass). Overall, Frederick Douglass’s liberal ideas are based on the popular beliefs of the supremacy of one race over the others.
However, although his ideas are based on the wrong principles, they are liberal and radical for the time when they were expressed. Douglass describes America as a “composite nation” of extreme diversity, filled with numerous amounts of differences, that should be based on equality, with no person being superior to another (Douglass). Immigrants should be welcomed and treated as equals regardless of their race. His speech challenged the politicians of that time and was an important step towards promoting the ideas of justice and racial equality.
Conclusion
Genetic and biological theories on human evolution generally aim to research the origins of humans and provide scientific explanations for their behavior and physical differences based on objective findings. However, they are often misinterpreted and misused by politicians, journalists, and the general public to support and reinforce their ideas of racial inequality and the superiority of one race over the others. The most illustrative example is the theory of eugenics that served as a scientific base for Nazi experiments. However, as was the case with Frederick Douglass’s “The Composite Nation” speech, if addressed correctly and carefully, popular theories can also be used to promote liberal ideas of justice and equality. Overall, it can be concluded that science, to a significant extent, shapes our perceptions of other nations and is often manipulated by politicians to help them achieve their ideological goals.
Works Cited
A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics Genetics and the American Dream. Directed by Stephanie Welch, Paragon Media, Denkmal Film, 2016.
Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. D. Appleton, 1869.
Douglass, Frederick. “The Composite Nation.” Boston, 1869.
Parylak, Sarah, et al. “Mother’s Milk Programs Offspring’s Cognition.” Nature Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 1, 2014, pp. 8–9.