The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-06-18
RACIAL MIXING
DEFENDED BY
U. S. SCIENTIST
Benefits of Melting Pot
Process Are Told by
AnthropoIOgiSt.

III Science ScT,tce
PASADENA. Cal. June 10
7acial mixtures are not the I'M
Tnitipated evil imagined by many
nropapandists and politicians. They
nav. on the contrary, be the source
Of great national vigor and progress,
With degeneration setting it only
when a given group has closed its
gates. stabilized itself, and settled
down"
This Is. In essence, {. major thesis
oe1enord before the American AS
ISOLATION for the Advancement OF
science here by it's president, Prof.
Eranz Boas Of Columbia university,
ona Of the foremost anthropologists
in the world.
Recalls Early Migrations
Taking a underworld and an all
time view, Prof. Boas pointed out
striking instances of the beneficent
working Of the "melting-pot" pro-
cess.
Let us recall to our minds the
rnigrations that occurred in early
times in Europe" he said, when
the Celts of Western Europe swept
over Italy and eastward to Asia
Minor, when the Germanic tribes
migrated from the Black Sea west
ward into Italy, Spain and even
into North Africa; when the SlaV
expanded northwestward over Rus
STA, and southwark into the Balkan
peninsula; when the Moors held a
large part Of Spain, when Roman
and Greek slaves disappeared IN the
general population, and when Ro-
man colonization affected a large
part Of the Mediterranean area.
High Nobility Mixed
1T Is interesting to note that
SPANS greatness followed the
period Of greatest race mixture, that
its decline set in when the popula-
ton became stable and immigra-
lions stopped. This might give us
pause when we speak about the
dangers of the intermingling OF
European types. What is happening
in America now is the repetition on
a larger scale and in a shorter time
of what happened to Europe during
the centuries when the people OF
north Europe were not yet firmly
attached to the soil" he declared.
The present leaders in European
life and culture, Prof. Boas pointed
out, are already products OF the
melting pot.
1.-THE high nobility Of all parts Of
Europe can be shown to be OF very
mixed origin" he reminded his au-
dience. French, German, and Ital-
ian urban populations are derived
from all the distinct European
types. 1t would be difficult to show
that any degeneracy that may exist
among them is due to an evil effect
Of intermating.
Degeneracy in Small Areas
Biological degeneracy is found
rather in small districts Of intense
in-breeding. Here again it is not so
much a question of type, but rather
that of the presence of pathological
conditions in the family strains, for
we know of many perfectly healthy
and vigorous intensely inbred COM
munities. We find these among the
Eskimo and also among many prim-
tive tribes among whom cousin
marriages are prescribed by custom.
These remarks do not touch
upon the problem Of the effect OF
intermarriages upon bodily form,
health and vigor of crosses between
races that are biologically more dis
tinct than the types of Europe. 1t
is not quite easy to give absolutely
conclusive evidence in regard to this
question.
Judging merely on the basis Of
anatomical features and health con-
ditions of mixed populations there
does not seem to be any reason to
assume unfavorable results, either
In the first or in later generations
~ m