Read The History of White People Online
Authors: Nell Irvin Painter
Tags: #History, #Politics, #bought-and-paid-for, #Non-Fiction, #Sociology
The History of White People (70 page)
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Although Lowell appears here as a link in the degenerate-family chain leading to eugenic sterilization, she played a much broader role in the history of social work in New York State. A founder of the New York Charity Organization Society and the Consumers’ League of New York and other organizations devoted to poor and working-class women, she was pro-labor and anti-imperialist. Lowell formulated social work’s theoretical basis in her book
Public Relief and Private Charity
(1884).
Although Lowell appears here as a link in the degenerate-family chain leading to eugenic sterilization, she played a much broader role in the history of social work in New York State. A founder of the New York Charity Organization Society and the Consumers’ League of New York and other organizations devoted to poor and working-class women, she was pro-labor and anti-imperialist. Lowell formulated social work’s theoretical basis in her book
Public Relief and Private Charity
(1884).
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The belief that poor whites descended from antisocial English indentured servants was widely accepted well into the twentieth century. As late as 1941, the Harvard-educated Mississippi Delta planter William Alexander Percy described the “river rat” of the lower Mississippi River as a descendant of English debt prisoners. Percy characterized the Anglo-Saxon river rat of “pure English stock” as “illiterate, suspicious, intensely clannish, blond, and usually ugly…the most unprepossessing [breed] on the face of the ill-populated earth.” Like many elite white southerners, Percy blamed racial violence on these poor whites, whom he considered inferior to “the Negro.”
The belief that poor whites descended from antisocial English indentured servants was widely accepted well into the twentieth century. As late as 1941, the Harvard-educated Mississippi Delta planter William Alexander Percy described the “river rat” of the lower Mississippi River as a descendant of English debt prisoners. Percy characterized the Anglo-Saxon river rat of “pure English stock” as “illiterate, suspicious, intensely clannish, blond, and usually ugly…the most unprepossessing [breed] on the face of the ill-populated earth.” Like many elite white southerners, Percy blamed racial violence on these poor whites, whom he considered inferior to “the Negro.”
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Jordan’s eugenic publications include
The Religion of a Sensible American
(1909),
Blood of the Nation: A Study of the Decay of Races through the Survival of the Unfit
(1910), and
The Heredity of Richard Roe: A Discussion of the Principles of Eugenics
(1911).
Blood of the Nation: A Study of the Decay of Races through the Survival of the Unfit
is still in print, for sale for $19.50 through the
Forbes Magazine
book club. Two high schools and two middle schools in California are named for Jordan.
Jordan’s eugenic publications include
The Religion of a Sensible American
(1909),
Blood of the Nation: A Study of the Decay of Races through the Survival of the Unfit
(1910), and
The Heredity of Richard Roe: A Discussion of the Principles of Eugenics
(1911).
Blood of the Nation: A Study of the Decay of Races through the Survival of the Unfit
is still in print, for sale for $19.50 through the
Forbes Magazine
book club. Two high schools and two middle schools in California are named for Jordan.
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Goddard also served as the first football coach at the University of Southern California.
Goddard also served as the first football coach at the University of Southern California.
†
Clark, then headed by the psychologist G. Stanley Hall, was at its peak as an institution dedicated to the ideals of German scholarship. Franz Boas was leaving Clark as Goddard was receiving his doctorate. Like many of the men interested in race and heredity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Goddard was another Yankee who loved the outdoors. Although married for many years, he had no children.
Clark, then headed by the psychologist G. Stanley Hall, was at its peak as an institution dedicated to the ideals of German scholarship. Franz Boas was leaving Clark as Goddard was receiving his doctorate. Like many of the men interested in race and heredity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Goddard was another Yankee who loved the outdoors. Although married for many years, he had no children.
‡
The child-study movement professionalized social-gospeler impulses and plugged them into the vast spread of childhood institutions as all the states mandated compulsory education between 1880 and 1918.
The child-study movement professionalized social-gospeler impulses and plugged them into the vast spread of childhood institutions as all the states mandated compulsory education between 1880 and 1918.
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The Cold Spring Harbor institution serves currently as a center of research on the human genome.
The Cold Spring Harbor institution serves currently as a center of research on the human genome.
†
In
Inquiries into Human Faculty
(1883) Galton praised the founding study of hereditary degeneracy,
“The Jukes.”
In
Inquiries into Human Faculty
(1883) Galton praised the founding study of hereditary degeneracy,
“The Jukes.”
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Pearson, with his own example of a degenerate family, mentions “a certain bad stock as far back as 1680” that was still producing “drunkenness, insanity, and physical breakdown” in 1900, proof that “this law of inheritance is as inevitable as the law of gravity, we shall cease to struggle against it.” In
National Life from the Standpoint of Science
(1905), Pearson also declared, “Lunacy is one of the things which we may quite definitely accept as an inherited character.”
Pearson, with his own example of a degenerate family, mentions “a certain bad stock as far back as 1680” that was still producing “drunkenness, insanity, and physical breakdown” in 1900, proof that “this law of inheritance is as inevitable as the law of gravity, we shall cease to struggle against it.” In
National Life from the Standpoint of Science
(1905), Pearson also declared, “Lunacy is one of the things which we may quite definitely accept as an inherited character.”
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Binet died in 1911, before the great American vogue in intelligence testing and the controversies it aroused. He had never meant his tests as means to rank adults.
Binet died in 1911, before the great American vogue in intelligence testing and the controversies it aroused. He had never meant his tests as means to rank adults.
†
“Morons” were rated as smarter than “imbeciles,” who, in turn, were considered more intelligent than “idiots.”
“Morons” were rated as smarter than “imbeciles,” who, in turn, were considered more intelligent than “idiots.”
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Even early on, however, the book’s positive reception contained a hint of reservation regarding Goddard’s assumption that intelligence was a single Mendelian unit trait.
Even early on, however, the book’s positive reception contained a hint of reservation regarding Goddard’s assumption that intelligence was a single Mendelian unit trait.
†
Goddard’s reasoning regarding feeblemindedness (though not by that name) reappears as the source of social ills and defective human beings in the best-selling analysis of intelligence and human destiny of the late twentieth century:
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
(1994), by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray.
Goddard’s reasoning regarding feeblemindedness (though not by that name) reappears as the source of social ills and defective human beings in the best-selling analysis of intelligence and human destiny of the late twentieth century:
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
(1994), by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray.
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Vasectomy for men, tubal ligation for women. The earliest vasectomy had been performed in Chicago in 1897.
Vasectomy for men, tubal ligation for women. The earliest vasectomy had been performed in Chicago in 1897.
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Between 1907 and 1956, 60,166 people had been sterilized as mentally deficient, insane, or epileptic. California led the way with 19,998; Virginia followed with 6,811, North Carolina with 4,777, Michigan with 3,597, and Kansas with 3, 025.
Between 1907 and 1956, 60,166 people had been sterilized as mentally deficient, insane, or epileptic. California led the way with 19,998; Virginia followed with 6,811, North Carolina with 4,777, Michigan with 3,597, and Kansas with 3, 025.
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In his course on biology as a social weapon, the Harvard professor Stephen Jay Gould administered the Army test for illiterates to fifty-three of his students. The students did very well: thirty-one scored A; sixteen scored B; but six scored C, placing them at what Gould called the intellectual borderline and fit only for buck private duties.
In his course on biology as a social weapon, the Harvard professor Stephen Jay Gould administered the Army test for illiterates to fifty-three of his students. The students did very well: thirty-one scored A; sixteen scored B; but six scored C, placing them at what Gould called the intellectual borderline and fit only for buck private duties.
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Not everyone agreed with Goddard. Public Health Service M.D.s at Ellis Island regarded his Binet-inspired tests skeptically; they altered or ignored them as they thought necessary.
Not everyone agreed with Goddard. Public Health Service M.D.s at Ellis Island regarded his Binet-inspired tests skeptically; they altered or ignored them as they thought necessary.
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Grant’s and Gould’s own books fared differently among the general public. Grant’s
Passing of the Great Race
became a sensation, whereas Gould’s
America: A Family Matter
(1922), which argued, according to Yerkes’s foreword, “for pure-bred races,” never gained a large following.
Grant’s and Gould’s own books fared differently among the general public. Grant’s
Passing of the Great Race
became a sensation, whereas Gould’s
America: A Family Matter
(1922), which argued, according to Yerkes’s foreword, “for pure-bred races,” never gained a large following.
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Lapouge called 70 percent of northern Germans and 70 percent of Americans, but only 20 percent of southern Germans, dolichocephalic (i.e., superior). He located the highest proportion of dolichocephalics—85 percent—in Spain, but he would have dismissed them as Mediterraneans rather than Nordics. His next highest proportions of dolichocephalics were in England and Scandinavia, where they were safely Nordic.
Lapouge called 70 percent of northern Germans and 70 percent of Americans, but only 20 percent of southern Germans, dolichocephalic (i.e., superior). He located the highest proportion of dolichocephalics—85 percent—in Spain, but he would have dismissed them as Mediterraneans rather than Nordics. His next highest proportions of dolichocephalics were in England and Scandinavia, where they were safely Nordic.
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After the war Americans embraced intelligence testing more enthusiastically than people in other countries, but mental testing took place largely in the private sector. Yerkes complained in 1941 of the U.S. military’s neglect: “Germany has a long lead in the development of military psychology…. The Nazis have achieved something that is entirely without parallel in military history…. What has happened in Germany is the logical sequel to the psychological and personnel services in our own Army during 1917–1918.”
After the war Americans embraced intelligence testing more enthusiastically than people in other countries, but mental testing took place largely in the private sector. Yerkes complained in 1941 of the U.S. military’s neglect: “Germany has a long lead in the development of military psychology…. The Nazis have achieved something that is entirely without parallel in military history…. What has happened in Germany is the logical sequel to the psychological and personnel services in our own Army during 1917–1918.”
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Herbert Johnson (ca. 1880–1947), a Nebraskan, drew for the
Saturday Evening Post
from 1915 until his death. A stout foe of Franklin Roosevelt’s policies, Johnson saw the New Deal as “Government in Business,” an octopus strangling honest business.
Herbert Johnson (ca. 1880–1947), a Nebraskan, drew for the
Saturday Evening Post
from 1915 until his death. A stout foe of Franklin Roosevelt’s policies, Johnson saw the New Deal as “Government in Business,” an octopus strangling honest business.
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The 1882 ruling
In re Ah Yup
declared Chinese not to be white, and therefore not eligible for naturalization under the 1790 Naturalization Act. Although the language of the 1790 act deemed only free white (males) eligible, the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 made black people eligible for naturalized citizenship. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 enacted the prohibition against Chinese naturalization into federal law. The “Gentlemen’s Agreement” President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated with the government of Japan in 1907 permitted the entry of Japanese gentlemen—scholars, diplomats—but prohibited the immigration of working-class Japanese.
The 1882 ruling
In re Ah Yup
declared Chinese not to be white, and therefore not eligible for naturalization under the 1790 Naturalization Act. Although the language of the 1790 act deemed only free white (males) eligible, the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 made black people eligible for naturalized citizenship. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 enacted the prohibition against Chinese naturalization into federal law. The “Gentlemen’s Agreement” President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated with the government of Japan in 1907 permitted the entry of Japanese gentlemen—scholars, diplomats—but prohibited the immigration of working-class Japanese.
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Dan McGann, with an Irish name, now stands for the real American.
Dan McGann, with an Irish name, now stands for the real American.
†
In 1977 then governor Michael Dukakis signed a declaration removing “any stigma and disgrace” from Vanzetti and Sacco, because of the shoddy conduct of their trials.
In 1977 then governor Michael Dukakis signed a declaration removing “any stigma and disgrace” from Vanzetti and Sacco, because of the shoddy conduct of their trials.
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Emma Goldman (1869–1940) was born in Lithuania and immigrated to the United States when she was seventeen.
Emma Goldman (1869–1940) was born in Lithuania and immigrated to the United States when she was seventeen.
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A summer 2004 North Country Radio reading list included Roberts’s best-known novel,
Northwest Passage
. A list of suggested reading for the August 2005
Prairie Home Companion
cruise recommends “any of the historical novels by Kenneth Roberts.”
A summer 2004 North Country Radio reading list included Roberts’s best-known novel,
Northwest Passage
. A list of suggested reading for the August 2005
Prairie Home Companion
cruise recommends “any of the historical novels by Kenneth Roberts.”
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In 1915 vigilante Georgians raided a prison, kidnapped Leo Frank, an Atlanta Jewish businessman, and lynched him.
In 1915 vigilante Georgians raided a prison, kidnapped Leo Frank, an Atlanta Jewish businessman, and lynched him.
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Grant’s fellow students in Dresden included the future
Saturday Evening Post
editor Horace Lorimer.
Grant’s fellow students in Dresden included the future
Saturday Evening Post
editor Horace Lorimer.
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Karl Pearson, Galton’s successor in statistics and eugenics in London, embodied this appropriation of science. Preaching empire and racial cleansing in the name of science in
National Life from the Standpoint of Science
(1905), Pearson said, “[M]y view—and I think it may be called the scientific view of a nation—is that of an organized whole, kept up to a high pitch of internal efficiency by insuring that its numbers are substantially recruited from the better stocks, and kept up to a high pitch of external efficiency by contest, chiefly by way of war with inferior races.”
Karl Pearson, Galton’s successor in statistics and eugenics in London, embodied this appropriation of science. Preaching empire and racial cleansing in the name of science in
National Life from the Standpoint of Science
(1905), Pearson said, “[M]y view—and I think it may be called the scientific view of a nation—is that of an organized whole, kept up to a high pitch of internal efficiency by insuring that its numbers are substantially recruited from the better stocks, and kept up to a high pitch of external efficiency by contest, chiefly by way of war with inferior races.”
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Gobineau, like the other infamous Aryan chauvinist Adolph Hitler, evidently had brown hair and brown eyes.
Gobineau, like the other infamous Aryan chauvinist Adolph Hitler, evidently had brown hair and brown eyes.
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Oscar Levy (1866–1946), a German living in Oxford, had edited an English translation of the complete works of Friedrich Nietzsche in 1911 and is connected to the publication of the anti-Semitic and fabricated
Protocols of the Elders of Zion
.
Oscar Levy (1866–1946), a German living in Oxford, had edited an English translation of the complete works of Friedrich Nietzsche in 1911 and is connected to the publication of the anti-Semitic and fabricated
Protocols of the Elders of Zion
.
†
Lapouge also shared with Grant and other Nordic race chauvinists an enthusiasm for the outdoors and healthy, natural living.
Lapouge also shared with Grant and other Nordic race chauvinists an enthusiasm for the outdoors and healthy, natural living.
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The
agrégation
is a French postcollegiate qualification for secondary school and college teaching. Its difficulty and prestige vary by field, from the equivalent of an American master’s degree to the equivalent of an American doctorate.
The
agrégation
is a French postcollegiate qualification for secondary school and college teaching. Its difficulty and prestige vary by field, from the equivalent of an American master’s degree to the equivalent of an American doctorate.
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The French classifier of races Joseph Deniker used “Nordic.” Grant would have been aware of Deniker’s work, well respected in Europe but not well known in the United States.
The French classifier of races Joseph Deniker used “Nordic.” Grant would have been aware of Deniker’s work, well respected in Europe but not well known in the United States.
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The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century
achieved broad popular and critical success, going into three editions in its first year and selling some 100,000 copies by the outbreak of the war. The editor of the
Atlantic Monthly
, Albert Schweitzer, George Bernard Shaw, and many other intellectuals lavished praise on Chamberlain’s book. Despite Chamberlain’s belief that Germanic greatness required no supposedly scientific proof, Shaw called it “a masterpiece of really scientific history.”
The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century
achieved broad popular and critical success, going into three editions in its first year and selling some 100,000 copies by the outbreak of the war. The editor of the
Atlantic Monthly
, Albert Schweitzer, George Bernard Shaw, and many other intellectuals lavished praise on Chamberlain’s book. Despite Chamberlain’s belief that Germanic greatness required no supposedly scientific proof, Shaw called it “a masterpiece of really scientific history.”
†
The English topped Lapouge’s chart with 80 percent dolichocephalic and 25 percent pure
Homo Europæus
. Lapouge considered France “denordicized” after the French Revolution’s uprising of the servile, brachycephalic, Alpine masses. According to this theory, the revolution killed off the aristocracy, members of the Nordic race, and doomed France to mediocrity.
The English topped Lapouge’s chart with 80 percent dolichocephalic and 25 percent pure
Homo Europæus
. Lapouge considered France “denordicized” after the French Revolution’s uprising of the servile, brachycephalic, Alpine masses. According to this theory, the revolution killed off the aristocracy, members of the Nordic race, and doomed France to mediocrity.
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French anthropologists like Jean-Louis-Armand de Quatrefages and like-minded Americans envisioned fundamental changes in the population of Germany since the Middle Ages. W. S. Sadler—a health advocate, Seventh-Day Adventist, and cranky Chicago psychiatrist who had studied in Vienna with Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler—adopted this view in
Long Heads and Round Heads, or What’s the Matter with Germany
(1918). The infusion of round-headed Alpines into Germany changed the racial balance and provides “the real explanation of the unparalleled brutality, the shocking atrocities, and otherwise inexplicably barbarous behavior of the German armies in the present European conflict.”
French anthropologists like Jean-Louis-Armand de Quatrefages and like-minded Americans envisioned fundamental changes in the population of Germany since the Middle Ages. W. S. Sadler—a health advocate, Seventh-Day Adventist, and cranky Chicago psychiatrist who had studied in Vienna with Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler—adopted this view in
Long Heads and Round Heads, or What’s the Matter with Germany
(1918). The infusion of round-headed Alpines into Germany changed the racial balance and provides “the real explanation of the unparalleled brutality, the shocking atrocities, and otherwise inexplicably barbarous behavior of the German armies in the present European conflict.”
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