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Social Darwinism,ScientificRacism,and
theMetaphysicsof Race
Rutledge M. Dennis, Departmentof Sociology and Anthropology,George
Mason University
ofhereditarians
theearlywork
racismfrom
ofscientific
underpinnings
Tracing
thephilosophical
and
ledbyGaltonandBinet,
movement
testing
totheintelligence
andSumner,
Darwin,Spencer,
thisarticle
andMurray,
Herrnstein,
raceand IQ studiesofJensen,
lastlyto thecontemporary
andenactracistsocial
project,
topropose,
usedas a justification
thatscienceis often
maintains
and ofitsassumptions
ofSocialDarwinism
It beginswitha reviewofthephilosophy
policies.
in thisdebate:
theme
unbroached
a largely
andendsbyanalyzing
aboutraceandhumanabilities,
groups.
fordominant
racism
ofscientific
theconsequences
and enactracistsocial
topropose,project,
Sciencehas oftenbeenused as a justification
of ideas associatedwithracial
policies.The philosophicaland politicalunderpinnings
and credencewiththe
legitimacy
were firstgivenscientific
and inferiority
superiority
book,TheOriginofSpecies.In more
ofCharlesDarwin's(1859)revolutionary
publication
and Murray's
thepublicationof Herrnstein
surrounding
recenttimes,thecontroversy
inAmerican
andClassStructure
study,TheBellCurve:Intelligence
scientific
(1994)presumably
about
of powerfularguments
to thenationalconversation
Life,and thereintroduction
tofocuson questionspertinent
provideyetanotheropportunity
raceand humanabilities,
and consequencesofhumanabilitiesand potential.In the
to theorigins,maintenance,
main,however,such studiesand debatesrevealfarmoreabout thoseproposingand
advocatingracistargumentsthanabout the groupstowardwhom theyare directed.
ofthe
has been directed,and justlyso, towardconsiderations
Althoughmuchattention
should
moreattention
impactofgeneticpoliticson excludedand oppressedpopulations,
groups
thesepolicieshaveon thedominantand powerful
be placedon thenegativeeffect
them.
thatenactand implement
presentedin
bases ofthearguments
thattheintellectual
Thepresentarticlemaintains
rather,theyare germaneracismare morethanmereabstractions;
worksof scientific
processand thequestionof
indeed,theyare central-toboththeidea ofthedemocratic
ofSocial
a "just"society.Thus,itbeginswitha reviewofthephilosophy
whatconstitutes
Darwinismand ofits assumptionsaboutraceand humanabilities.It nextcritiquesthe
socialissuesand problemsaddressedor exhumedby thisideologyand examinessome
societyhavefounditstenetsso appealing.
ofAmerican
segments
ofthereasonswhycertain
of
and introduction
thedevelopment
surrounding
Third,in discussingthecircumstances
it analyzesa largely
testingduringthe earlydecades of the20thcentury,
intelligence
anduntappedthemeintheraceandhumanabilitiesdebate:theconsequences
unbroached
racismforAmerica'sdominantgroups.
ofscientific
JournalofNegroEducation,Vol. 64, No. 3 (1995)
Copyright? 1996,Howard University
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243
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TheJournalofNegroEducation
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TheJournalofNegroEducation
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245
IQ
TESTING
During the last two decades of the 19thcentury,the beliefin natural selection,racial
purity,and racial struggle,elevated to a high level by the Social Darwinists,was given
new emphasis by Francis Galton (1892), the fatherof the eugenics movement.Whereas
liberals and conservativesof the time were divided with regard to which forcemore
decisivelydeterminedindividual characteristics-heredityor environment-Galton supported the formerwith a vengeance. So convincedwas he of the efficacyof eugenics,or
controlledand selectivebreeding,as a tool to raciallyregeneratehis native England that
he urged the adoption of the idea as a new religion (Semmel, 1968). Key to Galton's
hereditarianethos was his view that societymust dispense with the erroneous idea of
naturalequality among humans. His eugenics programencouraged childbearingamong
the "fitterstock" of Westernsociety,namely its wealthyAnglo-Saxonupper classes; and
discouraged it among those whom he considered "unfit,"namely those of the lower
classes and people of color.
In an effortto prove inherentdifferences
between the social classes in England,Galton
constructeda seriesoftestsfocusingprimarilyon sensoryand motorskillsassessment.The
movementto scientifically
"prove" thathereditaryfactorswere paramountto intellectual
endowmentwas acceleratedby the work of two Frenchmen,AlfredBinetand Theophile
Simon, who constructedthe firstpracticalintelligencetestin 1905. This instrument,the
Binet-SimonScale, was latermodifiedand extendedby Lewis Termanand his associates
at StanfordUniversityin 1916 to yield the Stanford-BinetIntelligenceScale, one of the
firstto utilize the concept of the "intelligencequotient" or IQ (Shanklin,1994; Singer &
Sattler,1994; Terman,1961). The modern fascinationwith testingwas partlya reflection
of the growingscientismemergingamong the academic disciplines,especially the social
or human sciences,which were being challenged by those who viewed the techniques
and methodologiesof the naturalsciences as representativeof "true" or "hard" science.
As a result,those scholars who studied people were spurred to constructtheoriesand
methods thatwould enable themto operate with the same degree of precisionachieved
by thenaturalsciences.For many,relianceon standardizedtestssuch as Binet'sand other
quantifiableassessments of intelligencewas one way of proving thatthe social sciences
could be as objectiveand impersonalas thestudyofchemistryorphysics(Lundberg,1939).
Another part of the fascinationwith intelligencetestingis evident in the ongoing
search for measures to validate Galton's thesis of Anglo-Saxon superiority.This idea,
which sought validation under the rubricof Social Darwinism, was mainly an "afterthe-fact"assertion-that is, Anglo-Saxons were believed superiorbecause theyenjoyed
political,economic,and culturalhegemonyover non-Anglo-Saxonpeople. However, its
verificationwas especiallyimportantin the United Statesduringthe firsttwo decades of
the20thcentury.Indeed, racial chauvinismprovided a philosophical and moral rationale
for differentiating
"native" Anglo-Saxon Americans from the millions of eastern and
southernEuropean, Asian, and Latin Americanimmigrantswho chose to become Americans duringthatperiod as well as fromthe millionsof AfricanAmericanswho were then
migratingen masse fromthe South to other parts of the country(Sowell, 1981). The
manner in which the test scores of these various immigrantand migrantgroups were
246
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247
248
TheJournalofNegroEducation
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The desire to subjugate speaks volumes about the tangible political and economic
gains accrued to those doing the subjugating.Attackson the abilitiesof the subjugated
can thus be seen as merelyan attemptto morallyjustifyactions thatoftenrun contrary
to the stated democraticprinciplesof the subjugators.In such a scenario,more important
than merelyassertingthat subjugated ones are inferior,the subjugatoris really boldly
assertinghis or her need to maintainothersin inferiorroles.
Many have pointedout thenegativeconsequences ofracistsocial policies and practices
forthe societies thatpromulgatethem. DuBois (1903/1961) reasoned at the turn of the
20thcenturythatWhite Americans'beliefin theirsuperiorityhad made them oblivious
to the sufferingsof theirfellow citizens; made a mockeryof the values of democracy;
promoteddishonestyin racial matters;and contributednothingtoward the development
oflogic,reason,and rationalityin Americansocial life.Hobson (1938) directedhis analysis
toward the negative consequences of imperialismfor imperialistcountries.The factors
he citesas negativemustbe viewed withinthecontextsoftheperceivedideas ofsuperiority
held by colonizing countriesand how those ideas become a motivatingforceto justify
the time,funds,and energyexpended to conquer, control,or annex the colonized. For
example,Hobson identifiesthe followingharm done to England as a resultof its colonial
and imperialistpolicies: greateracceptanceoftotalitarianpolicies,a negationofdemocratic
principles,lessened emphasis on internalpolitical and economic reforms,the depression
of wages forthe average worker,the drainingof the national treasury,and the mistaken
belief among the English working classes that they benefittedfromcolonies when in
realitythe surplus income derived fromcolonial resourceswas retainedby the imperial
and wealthyclasses.
The typical White American response to race and racism is denial and an implicit
defensiveness;thus,thereis a tendencyamong some Whitesto latchonto data thatmight
let persons of European descent offthe racial "hook." For these Whites,findingsthat
evoke sighs of relief.Such data
supportinherentand eternalBlack intellectualinferiority
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ofNegroEducation
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249
As one navigates the politics of race and human abilities,one is temptedto view the
theoreticalploddings of eugenicistsand scientificracistslike Spencer or Sumner with a
degree of sympathy.They, at least, had no data and were largelytalkingfromthe tops
of theirheads; yet theytalked so much and so loudly theywere able to convince many
othersthatmuch of what theyutteredwas based on facts.We know now that this was
not the case.
Theircontemporaryapostles,however,presentus with lots of data, much of it mired
in pages of jargon,but what is clear in the end is thattheyknow just about as much or
as littleabout geneticsas did Pearsonor Galton.Theyseek in thepresentday to overwhelm
us withwhat theyclaim is thebeauty and purityof theirdata, but theirpronouncements
are just as ideologically driven and racially and politicallyinspired as those of their
predecessors. Yet, unlike Jensen,who was and is generallyvery careful in his extradata pronouncements,Herrnsteinand Murrayin The Bell Curvedo not hesitateto make
ideological assertionsthatcannotbe supportedby theirdata. In thissense, theyare more
akin to Spencer, Kidd, Pearson, and Galton than to Jensen.Additionally,though the
survivingauthor,Charles Murray (RichardHerrnsteindied shortlybeforethe book was
published),claims not to have writtenthebook withthepoliticsofrace in mind,a review
ofpreviousworksby both authorssuggeststhatquite theopposite may be true.Murray's
conservativeracial politicswere clearlystated in his 1988 book, LosingGround:American
SocialPolicy,1950-1980,and many ofhis earlierargumentsare repeated in TheBell Curve.
Thus, in these and many other ways, scientificracistslike Herrnsteinand Murray are
distantbut notstrangebedfellowsto theirphilosophicalforebears,and theycan be comparablyviewed as vulgarand dogmaticgeneticdeterminists
who appeal to theracialanimosityand hatred of dominantgroups to push theirreactionarypolitical agendas.
That human abilitiesare diverse seem obvious. What is made of thisdiversityis often
a politicalissue, especiallyin a societywhererace historicallyhas servedas a dividingline.
250
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