Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12—NOVEMBER, 1962—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Dr. George Releases Report
On Biology of Race Problem
(Continued From Page 11)
and accomplishments. The purpose of
this campaign has been to win the
support of men’s minds for certain ed
ucational, social, and political pro
grams.
In order to belittle heredity and
establish environmentalism in our
thinking, it was necessary to promote
the idea that all babies bom into the
world arrive with essentially equal
endowments and that subsequent dif
ferences are the result of forces outside
the individual. Through the use of clev
er sophistry, and much repetition, great
progress has been made in establishing
the thought that all men are equal bio
logically—not merely equal in then-
right to justice. As a result of per
sistent mental conditioning, “the doc
trine of the essential uniformity of
human infants has been widely ac
cepted and is held by a great body
of social psychologists, sociologists, so
cial anthropologists and many men in
public life.” * Furthermore it has been
made the basis for revolutionary
changes in human affairs.
But is it valid? . . .
★ ★ ★
Although propagandists for integra
tion and for other equalitarian social
programs have attempted to lead the
public to believe that no scientists hold
the view that men are bom with dif
ferent hereditary talents, there are
many people of the highest competence
and integrity who have informed them
selves of the facts, and when they
speak as scientists they recognize the
importance of heredity as a determiner
of intelligence. . . .
It is very unlikely, indeed, if any
geneticist, speaking as a geneticist,
would deny that genetics plays a major
role in the determination of intelli
gence, personality and behavior.
From the foregoing testimony of the
most credible witnesses in the world,
it seems clear that Gunnar Myrdal and
his associates deceived themselves and
many other people when they wrote,
“Everything we know . . . about devel
opment in the individual indicates that
specific psychic traits, especially per
sonality traits, but also the components
of intelligence, are not present at birth
and do not ‘maturate’ but actually de
velop through experience. Specific psy
chological traits, therefore, cannot be
compared with specific physical traits
in respect in their hereditary deter
mination. . .
When the justices of the Supreme
Court embraced the error of Myrdal
without critical examination, they con
tributed to their own deception and
deprived the people of the United
States of their right to a firm founda
tion of truth for anything that purports
to be the law of the land.
Having seen that individual differ
ences are largely determined by the
component of genes we must next ad
dress ourselves to the question, Are
important racial differences in these
respects also hereditary?
The integrationist dogma is that
racial differences are mainly environ
mentally determined. In this booklet,
prepared for use in the New York
schools, Ashley Montague says, “Were
we to equalize the way of life of all
peoples and raise every child in much
the same way, there can be small doubt
that most, if not all, ethnic differences
would disappear.” The thought in that
statement is basic to much action in
the world today, and apparently it
underlies both our domestic and for
eign policies. The trouble is that it is
not in accord with the facts, and so
its fruits can hardly be good. . . .
Since individual differences in struc
ture, intelligence and behavior are in
large measure genetic in origin and
therefore transmissible from generation
to generation, and since racial differ
ences in the pool of genes of the races,
what should be our attitude towards
the promotion of programs that would
bring about protoplasmic mixing of the
White and Negro races in this country?
It is not sufficient to answer that
question by reassertion of the dogma
of equality nor with vague words about
morality and social justice and brother
hood. Who can know what is moral
or what is social justice without exam
ining the facts and anticipating the
consequences of proposed actions?
Our special concern in seeking an
answer to the question confronting us
should be with truth and genuine
goodness, with creativeness and the
capacity to develop and maintain a
high culture and the virtues and bene
fits of what we call civilization. Trans
formation of that concern into wise ac
tion requires knowledge and thought-
•Roger Williams 1953 Free and Unequal.
University of Texas Press.
ful rather than emotional judgment.
Insofar as the races are involved in
that problem, we have no better guide
to wise decisions than knowledge of
the natures of the two races and their
records of behavior and achievement.
To ignore those natures and those rec
ords is to court tragedy.
History is the record of human
achievement. The white man’s part in
history is predominant. . . .
During the decades of this century
there has been increasing zeal and
pressure on the part of many social
scientists and others to promote Ne
groes without much regard for merit,
and to create the impression that the
Negro race has a record of cultural
achievement of an order comparable to
that of the Caucasians and Mongolians.
This has been done through magnifica
tion of the trivial and through distor
tion and misrepresentation of the
facts. . . .
I shall not labor the obvious by
weighing upon any scales of value the
relative achievements of the Caucasian
and Negro races. Through all recorded
time the Negro never invented the
wheel, the sail, the plow or a system
of writing. He never produced a great
religious leader or philosopher. He re
mained a relative savage through the
ages in which the Caucasians and
Mongol were building their civiliza
tions. In defense of this record and of
Negro racial characteristics generally,
two major arguments have been ad
vanced: The “historical accident” ex
planation and the “hot climate” ex
planation. We will examine each of
these in turn.
‘Historical Accident’
The historical accident theory, orig
inally developed by Franz Boas, found
er of the American school of equali
tarian anthropology, charges the con
dition of the Negro race to isolation—
to the absence of stimulating contacts
with other peoples and cultures rather
than to absence of innate capacity. The
elaboration of this theory may perhaps
sound plausible to naive students in
a class in anthropology or to uncritical
readers who do not look behind the
words, but it is not admissible as an
explanation of the problem for two
reasons:
1) It is not in accord with early
history. The fact is that trans-Saharan
Africans have been in contact with
other peoples since the dawn of history
through the migration of Negroes into
Egypt and Ethiopia and through the
explorations and commercial expedi
tions of Egyptians, Phoenicians, Car
thaginians, and Asiatics into Africa....
These contacts, however, failed to
stimulate the minds or the energies of
the Negro to the extent or apparently
in the direction of causing him to create
a high culture of his own or to borrow
ideas resulting in his advancement
from savagery to civilization. As we
have seen, remains of structures indi
cating the existence of a more ad
vanced culture in a few places have
turned out to be the result of the
presence of Arabs or other foreigners.
2) It is not in accord with recent
history. The Negro race in recent times
has shown a resistance to creative
urges from civilized contacts. This is
evident to those who travel through
rural areas of the South peopled main
ly by Negroes. Here one finds rural
slums. Or, if one explores the Negro
areas of Southern towns and cities, one
finds urban slums. Again, if one moves
from the South to the North or West
and explores the Negro areas of those
cities, he finds northern or western
urban slums. Wherever the Negro pop
ulation expands into previously high
class residential areas, these quickly
become slums.
If one leaves this country and goes
to a foreign Negro area, northeastern
Brazil, for example, one finds a massive
slum, classified as underprivileged, un
derdeveloped, and in need of outside
assistance. If one goes to Haiti, where
170 years ago the Negroes slaughtered
the Whites and took over a country
with a thriving civilization one finds
a national slum. In light of such facts,
Boas’ historical accident theory is an
excuse, a rationalization—not a tenable
hypothesis.
There are to be sure White slums,
too, but not to compare with Negro
slums. It is true also that one finds
Negroes who exhibit praiseworthy
characteristics and achievements of a
high order. The point is there are not
enough of these. Of such Negroes, most
are of mixed ancestry. If there were
more Negroes with talents for civiliza
tion, we would have no race problem
or it would be a very different one.
Other apologists for the virtual ab
sence of significant achievement by the
Negro race in Africa point to the
steaming jungles of the tropics and
suggest that this debilitating environ
ment, not Negro character, is the ex
planation for African backwardness.
We cannot base great issues on accept
ance of this explanation for it does
not stand the test of critical examina
tion.
When we survey the history of races
and civilization throughout the world,
we find that other races have done
admirable things in the environments
similar to the tropical jungles of the
Congo. For example, American Mon
goloids created the astonishing Mayan
culture in the tropical rain forests of
Central America. They developed a
complex society and constructed large
and magnificently decorated public
buildings. They developed astronomy
and a chronological system based on
it, and other areas of knowledge.
Again, in the tropical Indus River
valley, a great civilization thrived about
5,000 years ago, contemporaneous with
the Sumerian and Egyptian civilization.
The people left large cities built of
brick, and other surprising achieve
ments. There is uncertainty as to the
racial elements responsible for these
achievements, but the consensus of
opinion of the best authorities seems
to be that the creators consisted of
a combination of Dravidian people and
Caucasians of Mediterranean type who
had early migrated into the region.
Toynbee has pointed out that the
development of civilization in Egypt
was not an easy accomplishment. It
required the transformation of the pre
historic jungle swamps of the lower
Nile into the ordered networks of dikes
and fields where soil and water are
subject to human control. Yet the
Egptian Caucasoids did subdue the ter
rain in an uninvigorating climate and
made the fertile soil yield abundance.
African Climate
Furthermore, Africa is not all Sahara
desert and steaming Congo jungle. It
is an immense continent extending
5,000 miles from the Mediterranean Sea
to the southern cape and it is 4,600
miles from east to west. It has a wide
range of geography, temperature, and
humidity. It has great mountains.
Mount Kilimanjaro is 19,892 feet high,
almost 4,000 feet above the line of
perpetual snow. Africa is largely a
plateau with an average elevation of
2,000 feet, and travelers can readily
leave behind the hot, moist coastal
regions or the river valleys and in a
short time be in territory where they
can enjoy pleasant and healthful con
ditions. We do not find that such con
ditions have made any improvement in
the Negro.
However, there is another school
of thought as regards climate and the
black man. This school concentrates
on examining the effect of a debilitat
ing climate on a race which chooses
to live in the debilitating areas over
thousands of years through weakness
of will, or is trapped there through
other weaknesses.
Environment, continued over millen
nia, can produce genetic effects. It
operates by contributing to the elimi
nation of individuals who are bom
with mutations that hamper survival
in the particular climate and at the
same time contributes to the survival
and establishment of individuals bom
with mutations that are favorable for
survival in that climate. For example,
heavy pigmentation seems to be an
advantage to those living exposed to
long hours of tropical sun; light pig
mentation is a disadvantage. On the
other hand, light pigmentation, since
it permits greater penetration of the
sun’s rays and so greater formation of
sunlight vitamin, is an advantage, and
heavy pigmentation is a disadvantage,
in far northern or southern regions,
where the hours of sunlight are few
and the rays sloping.
Similarly, as regards intellect, char
acter, and behavior, it is plausibly ar
gued by this school that where food
is available for the gathering, and
where foresight and protection from
the rigors of winter are unnecessary,
nature has not been effective in elimi
nating the improvident and the lazy
or in selectively perpetuating the more
intelligent, the foresighted and the in
dustrious. In consequence, as genera
tions have come and gone, there has
been less selection than in more severe
environments of a population with
those qualities of mind and character
which overcome hostile or unfavorable
conditions of nature, terminating in
civilized society.
It will be seen that neither approach
to the problem of climate supports the
view that the Negro’s level of char
acter and intelligence is environment
ally conditioned in the usual sense
of that term. If climate can be used
as an explanation at all, it is an ex
planation without a remedy. As Weyl
has expressed it, “the fundamental bar
rier is less the action of climate on the
living generation than its cumulative
action, over an immense time span, in
forming the race.” . . .
What may be done to improve the
Boas Considers
Race Studies
Inconclusive
(Continued From Page 11)
more with some emphasis that it would
be erroneous to assume that there are
no differences in the mental make-up
of the Negro race and of other races,
and that their activities should run in
the same lines. On the contrary, if
there is any meaning in correlation ol
anatomical structure and physiological
function, we must expect that differ
ences exist. There is, however, no evi
dence whatever that would stigmatize
the Negro as of weaker build, or as
subject to inclinations and powers that
are opposed to our social organization.
An unbiassed estimate of the anthro
pological evidence so far brought for
ward does not permit us to countenance
the belief in a racial inferiority which
would unfit an individual of the Negro
race to take his part in modern civiliza
tion. We do not know of any demand
made on the human body or mind in
modem life that anatomical or eth
nological evidence would prove to be
beyond the powers of the Negro.
The traits of the American Negro
are adequately explained on the basis
of his history and social status. The
tearing-away from the African soil and
the consequent complete loss of the old
standards of life, which were replaced
by the dependency of slavery and by
all it entailed, followed by a period of
disorganization and by a severe eco
nomic struggle against heavy odds, are
sufficient to explain the inferiority of
the status of the race, without falling
back upon the theory of hereditary in
feriority.
In short, there is every reason to be
lieve that the Negro, when given fa
cility and opportunity, will be per
fectly able to fulfil the duties of citi
zenship as well as his white neighbor.
It may be that he will not produce as
many great men as the white race, and
that his average achievement will not
quite reach the level of the average
achievement of the white race; but
there will be endless numbers who will
be able to outrun their white com
petitors, and who will do better than
the defectives whom we permit to drag
down and to retard the healthy chil
dren of our public schools.
‘Race Instinct’
The anthropological discussion of the
Negro problem requires also a word
on the “race instinct” of the whites,
which plays a most important part in
the practical aspect of the problem. Ul
timately this phenomenon is a repeti
tion of the old instinct and fear of the
connubium of patricians and plebeians,
of the European nobility and the com
mon people, or of the castes of India.
The emotions and reasonings con
cerned are the same in every respect.
In our case they relate particularly to
the necessity of maintaining a distinct
social status in order to avoid race-
mixture. As in the other cases men
tioned, the so-called instinct is not a
physiological dislike. This is proved by
the existence of our large mulatto pop
ulation, as well as by the more ready
amalgamation of the Latin peoples. It
is rather an expression of social con
ditions that are so deeply ingrained in
us that they assume a strong emo
tional value; and this, I presume, is
meant when we call such feelings in
stinctive. The feeling certainly has
nothing to do with the question of the
vitality and ability of the mulatto.
Still the questions of race-mixture
and of the Negro’s adaptability to our
environment represent a number of
important problems.
I think we have reason to be asham
ed to confess that the scientific study
of these questions has never received
the support either of our government
or of any of our great scientific in
stitutions; and it is hard to under
stand why we are so indifferent toward
a question which is of paramount im
portance to the welfare of our nation.
The anatomy of the American Negro
is not well known; and, notwithstand
ing the oft-repeated assertions regard-
genetic qualities of the White race,
considered by itself, is beyond the pur
view of this study. It has been my pur
pose to make clear that such improve
ment will at least not be accomplished
by the admixture of Negro genes.
A GUIDE TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
AND NATIONAL GREATNESS
Looking towards the end of raising
the inherent possibilities of human life,
our opportunity and clear duty, in the
light of the best and most complete
knowledge and understanding that we
can command, is to:
1) Avoid those actions and programs
(See DR. GEORGE, Page 13)
mg the hereditary inferiority of the
mulatto, we know hardly anything on
this subject. If his vitality is lower than
that of the full-blooded Negro, this
may be as much due to social causes
as to hereditary causes. Owing to the
very large number of mulattoes in our
country, it would not be a difficult
matter to investigate the biological as
pects of this question thoroughly. The
importance of researches on this sub
ject cannot be too strongly urged, since
the desirability or undesirability of
race-mixture should be known. Look
ing into a distant future, it seems rea
sonably certain that with the increas
ing mobility of the Negro, the num
ber of full-bloods will rapidly de
crease; and since there is no intro
duction of new Negro blood, there
cannot be the slightest doubt that the
ultimate effect of the contact between
the two races must necessarily be a
continued increase of the amount of
white blood in the Negro community.
Intermixture
This process will go on most rapidly
inside of the colored community, ow
ing to intermarriages between mulat
toes and full-blooded Negroes. Wheth
er or not the addition of white blood
to the colored population is sufficiently
large to counterbalance this levelling
effect, which will make the mixed
bloods with a slight strain of Negro
blood darker, is difficult to tell; but
it is quite obvious that, although our
laws may retard the influx of white
blood considerably, they cannot hinder
the gradual process of intermixture.
If the powerful caste system of India
has not been able to prevent inter
mixture, our laws, which recognize a
greater amount of individual liberty,
will certainly not be able to do so;
and that there is no racial sexual anti
pathy is made sufficiently clear by the
size of our mulatto population. A can
did consideration of the manner in
which intermixture takes place shows
very clearly that the probability of the
infusion of white blood into the colored
population is considerable. While the
large body of the white population
will always, at least for a very long
time to come, be entirely remote from
any possibility of intermixture with
Negroes, I think that we may predict
with a fair degree of certainty a con
dition in which the contrast between
colored people and whites will be less
marked than it is at the p~esent time.
Notwithstanding all obstacles that may
be laid in the way of intermixture, the
conditions are such that the persistence
of the pure Negro type is practically
impossible. Not even an excessively
high mortality and lack of fertility
among the mixed type, as compared
with the pure types, could prevent this
result. Since it is impossible to change
these conditions, they should be faced
squarely, and we ought to demand a
careful and critical investigation of the
whole problem.
Sees No Danger
It seems to my mind that the policy
of many of our Southern States that
try to prevent all racial intermixture
is based on an erroneous view of the
process involved. The alleged reason
for this type of legislation is the nec
essity of protecting the white race
against the infusion of Negro blood.
As a matter of fact, this danger does
not exist. With very few exceptions,
the unions between whites and Negroes
are those of white men and Negro
women. The increase of races, how
ever, is such that the number of chil
dren born does not depend upon the
number of men, but upon the number
of women. Given, therefore, a certain
number of Negro women, the increase
of the colored population will depend
upon their numbers; and if a con
siderable number of their children are
those of white fathers, the race as a
whole must necessarily lose its p ur ®
Negro type. At the same time no such
infusion of Negro blood into the white
race through the maternal line occurs,
so that the process is actually one of
lightening the Negro race without cor
responding admixture in the white
It appears from this consideration
that the most important practica*
questions relating to the Negro prob
lem have reference to the mulattoes
and other mixed bloods,—to their phy s "
ical types, their mental and moral
qualities, and their vitality. When the
bulky literature of this subject is care-
fully sifted, little remains that wuj
endure serious criticism; and I do no
believe that I claim too much wh®®
I say that the whole work on this
subject remains to be done. The de
velopment of modem methods of ne
search makes it certain that by car eh 11
inquiry definite answers to our P r0
lems may be found. Is it not, theft
our plain duty to inform ourselves,
that, so far as that can be done, deli
erate considerations of observatio
may take the place of heated < -h scU f n
sion of beliefs in matters that conce
not only ourselves, but also the welfaJ^
of millions of Negroes? # **