Scientific Racism In The 19th Century

1739 Words4 Pages

Zhina Qadir Saeed

Scientific Racism

The idea of scientific racism was introduced by an English philosopher named Herbert Spencer. Spencer claimed that “evolution was a struggle between races rather than between individuals” (Johnson 66). This idea widely impacted many people’s perspective on race and this ideology continued throughout the era from the late 19th century till the late 20th century (Encyclopedia). Ethnic and racial terms have been used to categorize people for many years throughout history. An ideology was developed and practiced; it stated that human population should be categorized into groups that go from superior to inferior (Encyclopedia). This belief received a lot of criticism from people, especially those who were victims of such ideologies. Some scientists, who supported the idea, started looking for justifications to win the argument. They began researching for …show more content…

It changed the perspective of so many people in the past. Today, its effects are still obvious because people are still categorizing people into groups depending on their appearances, color, and background. Scientific racism caused a great deal of damage to the lives of many. One of the most expensive prices black people had to pay was their freedom. They were enslaved and considered as the “inferior race”, they were projected as animals for human studies, and they were used to work for “the dominant race”. Inequality is also one of the other things scientific racism practiced. It restricted full freedom to all groups of people except for those they thought was “fit” or the strongest. Moreover, the concept of practicing inhumane actions against other people is not just illegal, but also morally unacceptable. Scientific racism made it morally acceptable to practice all kinds of actions against other groups of people as long as they proved that they were the strongest and they were the “fit” and dominant

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