The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-08-08
By DAVID RAMSEY
Race Theories and Science

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AMONG the most vicious Of the
~ Naz doctrines is the pseudo
scientific claim Of NoEdic supre-
macy. At the current Congress Of
AIsthTopo4ogical and chronological
sciences, two we'll known British
scientists attacked the racial dog
mas Of the Nazis as a delusion.
The Auysn faliacy," Professor c.
Elliot Smith pointed out, comes
into fragrant conflict with the gem
orally recognized teachings Of
anthropologicaI science"
There Is, Of course, no evidence
from anthropology or genetics,
which indicates the innate super
iority Of the Nordic- Germanic race.
And the attempts of the Nazis to
explain German Kultur" in terms
Of racial pecuiaritieS is simply a
complete fabrication which neglects
the Importance of historical and
other envoronmental influences in
determining the general and spe-
cific characteristics Of the cultures
Of different peoples. The civilization
OF Germany (until Hitler destroyed
it, was itself in great part borrowed
from ''non-Aryan" peoples.
Professor Smith hammered away
decisively at this last point. He
said:
There is still some diversity of
opinion as to the place where civil
lization first originated, but we
now have evidence to show that it
was the work Of the Mediterranean
(non-Aryam race" There is also no
adequate reason for regarding this
fact as due to innate qualities on
the part of the Mediterranean peo-
pies, as is claimed by the Italian
fascists. 1t was the result of eco
nomic and historical circumstances
which impeIled the peoples of
Egypt, Sumeria and elsewhere to
embark on those pursuits which in
evitably led to the upbuilding Of
civilization.
The assault on the Nazi racial
theories was supplemented by Pro-
lessor j. B. S. Haldane. the dis
tinguished geneticist. He insisted
that scientific knowledge of a mans
ancestry throws little light on his
capabilities. Negroes, for example,
If given equal cultural opportunities
with whites, can reach righer cul-
tural levels than most of the
whites" He then went on to ridicule
the whole Nszi concept Of race"
The physical characteristics of the
so-called races within Europe over
lap to a considerable extent, and
these populations therefore differ
only in a statistical sense; that is,
the European peoples have been so
thoroughly mixed by random mat
ing that only different proportions
of population mixtures can be dis
covered biologically.
DOTH scientists because Of their
ID bourgeois background did not
touch on the real role of the
pseudo-scientific doctrines of Nordic
superiority. In the past, few respon-
sible scientists were willing to back
up these false theories. They were
put forward by non-scientists like
Lothrop Stoddard and Madison
Grant in America as justification
for the oppression Of Negroes and
Jews and the working class in gen.
eral. Today, with jobs so scarce
under dying capitalism, German
scientists are not so finicky, and
prominent geneticists like Fischer,
Gunther, LEM and Verschuer lend
themselves to propagating doctrines
that ideologically support the eco
nomic and political measures of
fascism.
These false theories of racial
superiority are means Of stirring
up more intense nationalistic feel
ing, thus gaining support for fss-
cism and imperialist war BY stir
ring up racial antagonisms against