Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
different states in the U.S. sterilizing people involuntarily over the next two decades (
Suzuki
and Knudtson, 1989; Marks, 2008
). The state of California
14
alone for example forcibly ster-
ilized 20,000 people before World War II on the basis of perceived mental disability, criminal
history, or other undesirable traits
15
(
Suzuki and Knudtson, 1989; Larson, 1996; Marks,
2008
). Shamefully, these American laws helped to form the basis for genocidal practices
in Nazi Germany (
Suzuki and Knudtson, 1989
), following a progression from forced steril-
ization to human extermination. The onset of the Great Depression in the United States
redirected focus on domestic economic problems while eugenic ideas took hold and flour-
ished in Germany during the same time period (
Bozeman, 1997; Marks, 2008
). While
some involuntary sterilizations continued after WWII in the United States, the horror of
the Holocaust and the fact that it was the end result of eugenic ideas discredited such
programs. The laws were gradually removed, albeit quietly in many instances (
Blakey,
1999; Marks, 2008
).
Although it would seem that this should signal the end of the use of science to justify
group inequality, recent examples of scientific racism continue to include proclamations
that intelligence and race are linked, that athletes from certain groups are naturally better
at particular sports than others, that different races are more prone to certain diseases than
others, and that genes for different human behaviors are connected with race (see
Gould,
1996; Armelagos and Goodman, 1998; Goodman, 2000; Graves, 2001; Smedley and Smedley,
2005; Sternberg et al., 2005; Marks, 2008; Gravlee, 2009
). These beliefs persist in society at
large regardless of the fact that none of these assertions can be or has been validated from
a scientific standpoint. Furthermore, these stereotypes fail to account for socioeconomic
and environmental factors (see for example discussion in
Cartmill, 1999
). In addition, the
very existence of stereotypes that reinforce the popular view of race and biology act via
culture to actually establish measurable differences in health between different racial groups
(
Gravlee, 2009
).
Gravlee (2009)
has adapted
Kuzawa's (2008)
model of health inequalities to
demonstrate how this occurs, in addition to a superb discussion. The reader is encouraged to
refer to this paper for more information.
Obviously, scientific racism can have, and has had, very severe and tangible consequences.
As a 21st century anthropologist contemplating an ancestry project, it is essential that you
realize this discussion is
not
purely of academic interest. Our discipline has discarded the
concept of biological race and with it the ideas that character traits are associated with phys-
ical traits. However, the fact remains that race is a social construct. Consequently, there is
a societal cost especially for those perceived to be members of the so-called inferior races
(
Moses, 2004; Smedley and Smedley, 2005
). Anthropology's past assertions have contributed
to the solidification of societal ideas about race (
Harrison, 1995, 1999
) and therefore we need
to decide how to manage the consequences. As Harrison notes, “
there is no theoretical,
methodological, or political consensus shared across any of the subdisciplines on how to
interpret and explicate the social realities that constitute race” (1999:610). Montagu described
race as an “event” that is experienced (1964b:117) and our discipline has yet to systematically
.
14
In early 2012, the state of North Carolina resolved to financially compensate its approximate 7500 living
victims of involuntary sterilization, the first restitution for such cases in the United States (
Severson, 2012
).
15
Feeblemindedness, alcoholism, and epilepsy were included as well (
Suzuki and Knudtson, 1989
).
