White supremacy
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| - | '''''The Mind of Primitive Man''''' is a 1911 book by [[anthropologist]] [[Franz Boas]] which takes a critical look at the concept of [[primitive culture]]. The work challenges widely held [[racist]] and [[eugenic]] claims about [[race and intelligence controversy|race and intelligence]], particularly [[white supremacy]]. | + | '''White supremacy''' is the belief, and/or promotion of the belief, that [[white people]] are superior to people of other [[Race (classification of human beings)|racial backgrounds]]. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a [[political ideology]] that advocates the [[Society|social]], [[Politics|political]], [[Historical revisionism|historical]] and/or [[Institutional racism|industrial]] dominance by whites. |
| - | In 1895, Boas made the first speech that would form this book, as vice-president of the Section of Anthropology of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]]. He later made a speech by this title at the 1900 [[American Folk Lore Society]] conference held at [[Johns Hopkins University]]. | + | ==See also== |
| - | + | * [[Black supremacy]] | |
| - | The material was further expanded as a course of lectures delivered before the [[Lowell Institute]] in [[Boston]] and the [[National University of Mexico]] in 1910 and 1911. Following the 1911 publication, the book was revised several times. It is considered an important work in [[cultural anthropology]] and in the methodological concept of [[cultural relativism]]. | + | * [[The Good Citizen]] |
| - | + | * [[Hate Group]] | |
| - | ==Overview== | + | * [[Heroes of the Fiery Cross]] |
| - | + | * [[Institutional racism]] | |
| - | Boas examines beliefs that more accomplished civilizations must have higher [[intelligence]] and "discovered little evidence to support them." He then examines the debate on [[nature versus nurture]] and finds that [[heritability of IQ]] and ratio of [[intellectual giftedness]] of people within a civilization were "at best a possible, but not a necessary, element determining the degree of advancement of a race." He states that "a direct relation between physical habitus and mental endowment does not exist," giving examples of different human sizes and shapes that do not correlate with intelligence. He also discusses the role of [[environment and intelligence]], especially nutrition, as well as degree of [[racial admixture]] and "domestication" within societies and its effects on the "mentality of man." | + | * [[Scientific racism]] |
| - | + | * [[Jim Crow laws]] | |
| - | Boas argues that all humans have the same basic characteristics. He writes that [[phenotypes]] developed within isolation of a genetic group, and that "similar tendencies may exist in the mental life of a man." He argues that intermarriage can spread these physical and mental traits within and among civilizations. | + | * [[Master race]] |
| - | + | * [[Race and intelligence]] | |
| - | Boas notes that the gulf in ability between different "primitive" and "civilized" humans is negligible compared to the gulf between humans and animals. He debunks claims that "primitive" humans have no [[impulse control]], no [[attention span]], no [[originality]] of thought, no power of [[reasoning]], and are not capable of [[sustainability]]. He compares human types, human language, and human cultures and finds no one language superior to others. He concludes that "languages were moulded by thought, not thought by languages." He also examines theories of cultural development which assume every culture must pass through specific levels or stages and states "not all stages have been present in all types of cultures." He concludes that race does not correlate with cultural development, which is "essentially a phenomenon dependent on historical causes, regardless of race." | + | * [[Racist music]] |
| - | + | * [[South Africa under apartheid]] | |
| - | Boas spends the next section examining [[epistemology]], especially production of knowledge. Rather than being affected by race, Boas asserts that "differences in logical conclusions reached by primitive and civilized man [are] owing to the difference in character of knowledge accumulated by preceding generations." Boas says the primary difference between primitive and civilized society is a shift from [[irrationality]] to [[rationality]] caused by "an improvement of the traditional material that enters into our habitual mental operations." | + | * [[The White Man's Burden]] |
| - | + | ||
| - | Boas concludes the book with an examination of [[racism in the United States]]. He expresses his hope that anthropology can lead to more tolerance and sympathy for different civilizations, since "all races have contributed in the past to cultural progress in one way or another." | + | |
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Revision as of 23:50, 29 December 2012
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White supremacy is the belief, and/or promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social, political, historical and/or industrial dominance by whites.
See also
- Black supremacy
- The Good Citizen
- Hate Group
- Heroes of the Fiery Cross
- Institutional racism
- Scientific racism
- Jim Crow laws
- Master race
- Race and intelligence
- Racist music
- South Africa under apartheid
- The White Man's Burden
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "White supremacy" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
