Racial Inferiority 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 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.
Lawrence was one of the very advanced scientists of his time presaging Darwin on a few issues. But he erroneously believed that character and intellect were heretical capabilities. Intellect has been shown to be an inheritable trait to some extent (50-60 percent), but it is not racial per se. And character as we now know is not inherited.
This book was the first popular attempt to spread the eugenics concept. Is was translated into German in 1925 and unfortunately read by Adolf Hitler who sent Grant a complimentary letter. See {603544} and {602054}
Not only was he a virulent racist, but he was ignorant as well. Before the United States was even conceived of, there were African civilizations controlled by Blacks in many parts of Africa. Ancient Egypt interacted with several Black African civilizations.
This quotation illustrates the extreme distortion of even observed evidence that many racists of the early 20th Century went through. Mcdougall was a Harvard professor and was familiar with the intellectual accomplishments of a number of Blacks including W. E. B. Du Bois who also was a Harvard man who was even superior to most whites at that institution. However his racial ideology could not possibly allow that Negroes could be as accomplished as some of them was. His “creative” explanation given here is that all accomplished Blacks must have had white blood, because only white blood could produce such genius. Note also the emphasis that he places on the historical inability of Negroes to form a nation. McDougall knew little about history as there were many Negro nations created from ancient Biblical times throughs the 19th century. Shaka who not only built a Zulu nation but turned it into an expansionist empire contesting England in the Anglo Zulu Wars of the late 19th century as both entires fought to see which would colonize and dominate much of the South of Africa,