Racism, Science and Religion

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Recommended: How racism is influence through religion

Racism as a topic has had many different changing attitudes and beliefs throughout the years. People have tried to justify discrimination through religious texts, science, politics, music and pretty much any other medium available to an individual. This in turn lends credence to the idea that the concept of racism is always evolving and it would be naive to try and cling to past ideas when discussing it. Instead, it would be much more beneficial to examine how the concept of race and racism has developed into it the current state it is in today with an acknowledgment of past ideas. From what has been taught in Political Science 356 this semester I argue that racism has been heavily influenced by two distinct areas of study. These are science and religion. The first section of this paper will be a discussion on the role of science in racism and how people have tried to use its findings to justify discrimination. The second section will be a focus on religions influence on racism, specifically how different organizations use the Bible as justification for their racist beliefs. These explorations will show that no matter who the individual is or what the time period is science and religion have had an astronomical influence on racist thought.
Racism and Science
History shows us that science has been an influential factor on racism. One of the earliest people who tried to classify people into different human races was French physician and philosopher Francois Bernier (Jackson 2004). His book entitled The New Division of the Earth, which was published in 1684, “argued that the fundamental way to divide people should be by physical types” (Jackson pg. 14). He came to these conclusions not by citing religion but rather by simply stating...

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...kson, G. M. (2002). Racism: A Short History. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Hooke, S. H. (1982). The Bible in basic English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jackson, J. P., & Weidman, N. M. (2004). Race, racism, and science social impact and interaction. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.
Ku Klux Klan: The Second Ku Klux Klan. (n.d.). Infoplease. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/ku-klux-klan-the-second-ku-klux-klan.html
Southern Poverty Law Center. (n.d.). Aryan Nations. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/aryan-nations
Test-Score Gap Widens Between White, Black Students in Chicago. (n.d.). American Renaissance. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.amren.com/news/2013/12/test-score-gap-widens-between-white-black-students-in-chicago/

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