John G. West
Darwin Day in America
Darwin Day in America by John G. West explores the wide-ranging impact of Social Darwinism in America on crime, economics, welfare, politics, medicine, education and more. PURCHASE
From Darwin to Hitler
From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany by historian Richard Weikart traces the impact of Social Darwinism on the devaluation of human life in Germany up to the rise of national socialism. PURCHASE
The Death of Humanity
The Death of Humanity by historian Richard Weikart examines key ideas that have led to the devaluation of human life in contemporary society. PURCHASE
Freak Show
Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit by Robert Bogdan is one of the most comprehensive histories of freak shows, including the examples explored in the documentary Human Zoos. PURCHASE
Freakery
Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body edited by Rosemarie Garland Thomson is a collection of essays exploring the practice of demeaning certain human beings as “freaks” and putting them on public display for entertainment and profit. PURCHASE
Anthropology Goes to the Fair
Anthropology Goes to the Fair by Nancy Parezo and Don Fowler explores the dark side of the St. Louis World’s Fair and it how it put thousands of indigenous peoples on public display in what was supposed to be a pageant of human evolution. PURCHASE
James Watson
Geneticist James Watson won the Nobel Prize for co-discovering the structure of DNA. But in 2007, he sparked outrage when he suggested that African blacks were genetically inferior to European whites. Echoing the arguments of scientific racists from the past, Watson claimed that black inferiority was due to evolution, explaining: “There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so.” Watson was widely condemned for his comments, both inside and outside of the scientific community. It was an indication of how times have changed.
For more information:
“Fury at DNA pioneer’s theory: Africans are less intelligent than Westerners” (Article/The Independent)
“Nobel-winning biologist apologizes for remarks about blacks” (Article/CNN.com)
“Science museum bans DNA genius at centre of race row” (Article/Daily Mail)
“Disgrace: How a giant of science was brought low” (Article/The Observer)
Louisiana History of Racism Resolution
Sharon Weston Broome is Mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2001, she was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives when she proposed a resolution to encourage teaching students about the history of scientific racism. The resolution highlighted Darwin’s views on race as well as how his views had been exploited by other scientists such as Ernst Haeckel to promote racism. The resolution also encouraged teaching students more recent scientific findings supporting racial equality. Broome’s resolution provoked a firestorm, with supporters of Darwin’s theory accusing her of trying to unfairly malign Charles Darwin. The resolution ultimately passed—but only after all references to Darwin and Haeckel were deleted.
Kansas Science Standards
In 2007, the Kansas State Board of Education came under fire for deleting eugenics, the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, and other science abuses from a history of science standard it had previously adopted as part of its science standards.
For more information:
Text Deleted from Kansas Science Standards in 2007
“Kansas Board of Education Urged to Reject Proposal to Delete Tuskegee Experiment and Other Science Abuses from State Curriculum” (Articles/Evolution News)
“AP: ‘ID backer knocks Tuskegee deletion from Kansas standards’” (Article/Evolution News)
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo, which put Ota Benga on display in its Monkey House in 1906, declines to this day to inform zoo visitors of what happened. No memorial to the mistreatment of Ota Benga has been placed on zoo grounds; and in 2012, the Zoo closed to the public the Monkey House where Benga was displayed.