Stephen Jay Gould on Racism

Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) was a leading evolutionist and Marxist, as well as a staunch anti-racist. Yet he admitted:

Biological arguments for racism may have been common before 1850, but they increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory. The litany is familiar: cold, dispassionate, objective, modern science shows us that races can be ranked on a scale of superiority. If this offends Christian morality or a sentimental belied in human unity, so be it; science must be free to proclaim unpleasant truths.

Related Articles

• Evolutionary racism
• Racism—a consequence of evolution?

Further Reading

• Racism Questions and Answers

Reference

1. Stephen Jay Gould, Ontogeny and Phylogeny, Belknap-Harvard Press, p. 127, 1977; see screen shot from Google Books.


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