Racial Hierarchy Quotes
At the time, many scientists and intellectuals thought erroneously—see related quotations—that hybrids would be inferior humans. What makes this quotation memorable is that although he acknowledged that empirically, mixed race people (human hybrids) were inferior, of offered an explanation that did not violate sound genetic science as most others did. He concluded that sociologically whites and black who would intermarry or interbreed would generally not come from the top echelons of either race. Therefore the lower half of each race would more likely produce offspring and provide them with an environment that was not optimum so genetics and nurture worked against the mulatto. At the time that may well have been so, and perhaps until recently it was so forth the majority of crossbreeds of many societies.
This was quite shocking to most Italians where Jews had been very assimilated for years and anti-Semitism was not as embedded in society as in Germany.
This classic quotation illustrates several things. First, the degree of racism that existed in 1944 in West Virginia. Second, not how young Robert Byrd immediately leaped from the possibility of integrating our fighting forces to interracial sex. That has been typical of white racism in America—a preoccupation with race and sex. Last, Byrd who became a member of the KKK, completely changed his mind over the year and ended up supporting the things that, as a youth were worse than the demise of the nation. He matured and grew on the race issue as much of the country did and ended as a strong supporter of equality and civil rights—including affirmative action.
This quotation and the so called “facts” therein have been quoted by many to demonstrate general racial inferiority of Blacks as compared to whites in the first half of the 20th century. There are two difficulties with their arguments. First it has been scientifically demonstrated that amongst many animals including humans brain size has nothing to do with intelligence. For example, the primitive Neanderthal man had a bigger skull and brain than modern man. Second, it is not the case that Negro brains are smaller than whites. Stephen J. Gould has demonstrated the fallacy of these early studies showing the difference. It is a classic scientific example that researchers looking for a particular solution will often find it whether or not it is real.
This quotation illustrates how extensive and virulent anti-Asian racism had become. Gompers was a left wing liberal, but also a labor leader, and the prospect of millions of oriental immigrants competing for the existing American jobs was frightening. The irony of this quotation was that most of the labor constituency that Gompers represented had been immigrants or were the children of immigrants who earlier had frightened American workers and whose ethnicity had been opposed—Irish, Italians, Jews.
The first non-PRI President in over 70 years. This racist remark caused a furor in America producing demands for an apology which were rebuffed although he stated that he regrets the misinterpretation.
