History of racialism

The modern conception of race did not exist until the 1700-1900s. What follows is a very brief history of the race concept:Yudell, Michael. "A SHORT HISTORY OF THE RACE CONCEPT", in Race and the Genetic Revolution: Science, Myth, and Culture (2011).
When Europe's intellectual center was the eastern Mediterranean ("classical" times), skin colors were apparently perceived as forming a continuum. The ancient Egyptians placed themselves between Nubians and Greeks in skin color (see image) and noted that they had features that did not appear in either. Aristotle observed that "[t]he nations inhabiting the cold places and those of Europe are full of spirit but somewhat deficient in intelligence and skill, so that they continue comparatively free, but lacking in political organization and capacity to rule their neighbors."Aristotle, Politics, book 7. Pliny the Elder tells of an African, the boxer Nicaeus, who married a white Greek woman; their children appeared white, but darker skins appeared in the second generation.Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book VII.
As European colonization and the slave trade began to define modern global relationships, Europeans began to rely on the idea of "biologically distinct races", primarily based on phenotype such as skull shape, hair texture and skin color. 
==Maps of different race concepts==
The table below documents the progression of racialist thought, beginning in Bernier's 1684 sexual exploit logbook division of the Earth by "species" of man and ending with Coon's 1930's-1940's five-race theory. Note that the maps depicted use modern political borders; they are at best an approximation of each taxonomist's (often-poorly-defined) race system.
Publication 	Races	Legend	Map	Notes
Francois Bernier (1684):Nouvelle division de la terre par les differentes especes ou races l'habitant(New division of Earth by the different species or races which inhabit it)Bernier, Francois. "New division of Earth by the different species or races which inhabit it" , in Memoirs read before the Anthropological Society of London. London: Trübner and Co.Smedley, Audrey. Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview. Boulder: Westview Press, 1999.C. Loring, Brace. "Race" is a Four-Letter Word: the Genesis of the Concept. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.	Four races:
*Species 1 (equally or less colored than Egyptians): America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia (with Species 3), and Indonesia (with Species 3).To be specific: Most of Europe (excluding "part of Muscovy"), most of Northern Africa (Fez, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli "up to the Nile"), some of Asia (Egypt, Arabia, Turkey, India, Gelconda, Visapore, Maldivias; and part of Araucan, Pegu, Siam, Sumatra, Bantan, and Borneo), and the Americas.
*Species 2 ("black"): sub-Saharan Africa
*Species 3 ("truly white"): Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia (with Species 1), and Indonesia (with Species 1).To be specific: The Philippines, Japan, Pegu, Tonkin, Cochin-China, China, Chinese Tartary, Georgia and Muscovy, Usbek, Turkistan, Zaquetay, "a small part of" Muscovy, and short residents of the Fertile Crescent; also part of Aracan, Siam, Sumatra, and Borneo.
*Species 4: the Lapps (Sami). Described as ugly, brutish, and short.	 	 	After listing the races, Bernier then spends 2 full pages -- 1/3 of his small essay -- discussing precisely how beautiful foreign women are. A Frenchman to the core!
Carolus Linnaeus (1735): Systema Naturae (Systems of Nature)Linnaei, Caroli. Systema Naturae, pp. 26-29. Holmiae: Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii, 1758-1759. Full quote: see :File:Systema Naturae on Homos.png.The 1st edition of Systems of Nature was published in 1735. The 10th edition, cited here, was published in 1758. 	Five races:
*Europaeus (European): white race
*Afer (African): black race
*Americanus (American): red race
*Asiaticus (Asian): brown/yellow race
*Monstrosus (mythical creatures)	 	 	In the 1st edition, Linnaeus declared Asiaticus to be "brown". In the 10th edition (released 1758), Linnaeus changed his mind the peoples of Asia spontaneously became "yellow".
Johann Blumenbach (1775): De generis humani varietate nativa (On the Natural Variety of Mankind)Johann Frederick Blumenbach. De generis humani varietate nativa, pp. XII-XLII. Gottingae : Vandenhoek et Ruprecht.The cited edition comes from 1795. The differences aren't substantial for our purposes. 	Five races:
*Caucasiae (Caucasian): white race including all Europeans
*Mongolicae (Mongolian): yellow race including all East Asians and some Central Asians
*Aethiopicae (Ethiopian): black race including sub-Saharan Africans
*Americanae (American): red race including American Indians
*Malaicae (Malayan): brown race including Southeast Asian and Pacific Islanders	 	 	Blumenbach argued for what we might now call anti-racialism. Based on his examination of 60+ skulls, he asserted that "individual Africans differ as much, or even more, from other individual Africans as Europeans differ from Europeans" and that Africans were not inferior "concerning healthy faculties of understanding, excellent natural talents and mental capacities".Jack Hitt, "Mighty White of You: Racial Preferences Color America’s Oldest Skulls and Bones," Harper’s, July 2005, pp. 39–55
Louis Agassiz (1850): The diversity of origin of the human racesThe diversity of origin of the human races Christian Examiner (July, 1850). Full quote: Types of mankind: or ethnological researches, based upon the ancient monuments, paintings, sculptures, and crania of races by Josiah C. Nott (1854) Trübner. Page 78.Louis Agassiz and the Races of Man by Edward Lurie (September 1954) Isis Vol. 45, No. 3 , pp. 227-242. 	Eight races and six subraces:
*White race ("Europe and the northern part of Africa[, ...] Arabia, Persia[, ...] the arctic circle in Europe[, ...] part of India[, ... and] encroached upon Tartary")
*Arctic race ("treeless region near the Arctics in Europe, Asia, and America")
:*Samoyedes (Arctic Asia)
:*Laplanders (Arctic Europe)
:*Esquimaux (Arctic Americas)
*Mongolian race
*Malay race
*Negro race ("Africa, south of the ")
:*West Africans (Senegal etc.)
:*Central Africans (Congo etc.)
:*East Africans (Mozambique etc.)
*Hottentot race ("Cape of Good Hope; ")
*New Hollander race ()
*Indian (Americas)	 	 	Of note, Agassiz was a polygenesist. He believed that each of these races were separately created by God.An Examination of the Physical History of the Jews, in its bearings on the Question of the Unity of the Races by Josiah C. Nott (March 1850) Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Page 107
==Surveys of anthropologists==
Survey information	Question 	Percent agreeing	Percent disagreeing 	Other/nonresponse	Summary
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	Races are the taxonomic unit below the species level, and if such units are not called race, 'it still has exactly the same taxonomic meaning.' (Pro-racialism) 	57.4% (N=81) 	NALieberman 1978 only examined whether anthropologists agreed with a statement or did not — and as such, did not have a "disagree" classification.	42.6% (N=60) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	Races vary from populations 'differing only in that frequencies of a few genes to those grouping have been totally isolated for tens of thousands of years and are at the least incipient species'. (Pro-racialism) 	45.4% (N=64) 	NA 	54.6% (N=77) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	Clines (gradations) exist but it is necessary to distinguish clines between subspecific populations and clines within subspecific populations. Interracial clines are found in intermediate populations between subspecific populations or races. (Pro-racialism) 	58.2% (N=82) 	NA 	41.8% (N=59) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	Biological variability exists but 'this variability does not conform to the discrete packages labeled races.' (Anti-racialism) 	79.4% (N=112) 	NA 	20.6% (N=29) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	So-called racial characteristics are not 'transmitted as complexes.' (Anti-racialism) 	63.8% (N=90) 	NA 	36.2% (N=51) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	Human differentiation is the result of natural selection forces which operate in ecological zones and such forces and their zones do not coincide with population boundaries. Furthermore, different selective forces may operate in overlapping ecological zones. Thus, 'geographic distributions of more than one trait have no necessary correlation.' (Anti-racialism)	75.9% (N=107) 	NA 	24.1% (N=34) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	Races do not exist because isolation of groups has been infrequent; populations have always interbred. (Anti-racialism) 	28.4% (N=40) 	NA 	71.6% (N=101) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	Boundaries between what have been called 'races' are completely arbitrary, depending primarily upon the wishes of the classifier. (Anti-racialism) 	63.8% (N=90) 	NA 	36.2% (N=51) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
Survey authors (year): Lieberman and Reynolds (1978)Lieberman, Leonard, and Larry T. Reynolds. "The debate over race revisited: An empirical investigation." Phylon, 1978, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 333-343.
Population surveyed: 256 physical anthropologists from the American Anthropological Association
Number of respondents (N): 141	No races exist now or ever did. (Anti-racialism) 	17.0% (N=24) 	NA 	83.0% (N=117) 	Most anthropologists believed in the race concept in 1978.
==Surveys of textbooks==
Survey information	Time Period	Races Exist	Races Do Not Exist	Author is Noncommittal	Race Not Mentioned	No consensus	Summary
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1932-44 	2 (100%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1944-49 	2 (66.7%) 	1 (33.3%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1950-54 	2 (66.7%) 	1 (33.3%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1955-59 	1 (100%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1960-64 	2 (50%) 	1 (25%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	1 (25%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1965-69 	4 (57.1%) 	0 (0%) 	0 (0%) 	2 (28.6%) 	1 (14.3%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1970-74 	7 (43.75%) 	4 (25%) 	2 (12.5%) 	2 (12.5%) 	1 (6.25%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	1975-79 	5 (20%) 	10 (40%) 	2 (8%) 	1 (4%) 	4 (16%) 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
Survey authors (year): Littlefield, Lieberman, Reynolds et al. (1984)Littlefield, Alice, et al. "Redefining race: The potential demise of a concept in physical anthropology." Current Anthropology, 1982, vol. 23, no. 6, pp 641-655.
Population Surveyed: "The 58 textooks inclued in our study were selected according to the following criteria: each was (1) a comprehensive introductory textbook such as might be used for undergraduate survey courses in physical anthropology, (2) available in one volume devoted to physical anthropology, and (3) not an anthology. Both original and subsequent editions of a text were included when copies were available. Only textbooks published in the United STates and written by persons working primarily in the United States were selected for inclusion.
Methods: "A panel of university undergraduates, each working independently, was asked to read the sections of the textbooks dealing with human variation and to classify them into one of four possible categories in accordance with the authors' expressed views on race: (1) races exist (author uses the concept in describing human variation); (2) races do not exist (author rejects the race concept as invalid); (3) author seems contradictory or noncommittal( discusses the issues but comes to no clear conclusion; (4) race is not mentioned. Each text was read by at least five students and its classification determined by the majority view of the panel members. In the seven cases where no majority emerged, the book was classified under 'no consensus'."	 	 	 	 	 	 	Textbooks increasingly present the race concept as controversial or reject the race concept outright.
==See also==
*Aryan
*Arthur de Gobineau — creator of the concept of "Aryan race"
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Pseudoscience
Category:Racism
 
Category:Anthropology