Did Darwin really say this?

[LuisDantas]

Since we are talking about Darwin we might as well include a few videos of our ancestors, we don't seem that far removed.

Are you aware that we have common ancestors with current monkeys and apes, as opposed to being descended from them?

 

[David T]

Of course Darwin was a racist. Virtually everyone in 19th century Christendom was, especially the aristocracy.
Tom

The abolitionists most certainly were not.

 

[LuisDantas]

The abolitionists most certainly were not.

I am no expert, but I will not be so sure of that at this moment.

There is a lot of room for intersection between the "racist" and "abolitionist" groups. I suspect it to be a well-occupied intersection, as well.

It is very easy to find people who oppose slavery yet perceive other ethnic groups as inherently less deserving, consciously or otherwise.

 

[columbus]

The abolitionists most certainly were not.

Luis already explained this rather well. I just want to add one more thing.
The premise that black people need help from their white brothers, because they can't do it on their own, is fairly racist. And that attitude is alive and well in 2017. I am commonly annoyed by it.
Tom

 

[Skwim]

View attachment 20136
"Since the dawn of history the Negro has owned the continent of Africa – rich beyond the dream of poet’s fancy, crunching acres of diamonds beneath his bare black feet and yet he never picked one up from the dust until a white man showed to him its glittering light.
His land swarmed with powerful and docile animals, yet he never dreamed a harness, cart, or sled.
A hunter by necessity, he never made an axe, spear, or arrowhead worth preserving beyond the moment of its use. He lived as an ox, content to graze for an hour.
In a land of stone and timber he never sawed a foot of lumber, carved a block, or built a house save of broken sticks and mud.
With league on league of ocean strand and miles of inland seas, for four thousand years he watched their surface ripple under the wind, heard the thunder of the surf on his beach, the howl of the storm over his head, gazed on the dim blue horizon calling him to worlds that lie beyond, and yet he never dreamed a sail.” - Charles Darwin
http://fixedgear808.blogspot.com/2012/03/racist-quote-attributed-to-charles.html?m=1

Did he really say that? I'm just surprised that he is still hailed as a hero, saying something that you would think came from Hitler. I'm almost positive he made the first comment in "the descent of man"...but pretty sure the second one is not from him.

Do you know of any other racist comments by Darwin? Can it be verified that the quote actually comes from him?

I don't know if you're just trolling or what, but following your own link above clearly shows this wasn't Darwin speaking.

Your quote is from a book entitled, The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan by Thomas Dixon, Jr.. (1905)

NOTE: For whatever reason, it's no longer possible to import images into posts, so here's the link to the page in The Clansman


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[syo]

"Since the dawn of history the Negro has owned the continent of Africa – rich beyond the dream of poet’s fancy, crunching acres of diamonds beneath his bare black feet and yet he never picked one up from the dust until a white man showed to him its glittering light.
His land swarmed with powerful and docile animals, yet he never dreamed a harness, cart, or sled.
A hunter by necessity, he never made an axe, spear, or arrowhead worth preserving beyond the moment of its use. He lived as an ox, content to graze for an hour.
In a land of stone and timber he never sawed a foot of lumber, carved a block, or built a house save of broken sticks and mud.
With league on league of ocean strand and miles of inland seas, for four thousand years he watched their surface ripple under the wind, heard the thunder of the surf on his beach, the howl of the storm over his head, gazed on the dim blue horizon calling him to worlds that lie beyond, and yet he never dreamed a sail.” - Charles Darwin

On 17 December 1832, Charles Darwin arrived in Tierra del Fuego1 at the southernmost tip of South America, as part of his world tour aboard H.M.S. Beagle. Here he got his first view of the native inhabitants,2 whom he described as ‘miserable degraded savages,’ a term he used many times in his journal concerning these people.

He wrote, ‘I could not have believed how wide was the difference between savage and civilized man: it is greater than between a wild and domesticated animal, inasmuch as in man there is a greater power of improvement.’3

He described one group of Fuegians as ‘the most abject and miserable creatures I anywhere beheld’ and as existing ‘in a lower state of improvement than in any part of the world.’ … ‘These poor wretches were stunted in their growth, their hideous faces bedaubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures violent.

Viewing such men, one can hardly make oneself believe that they are fellow creatures and inhabitants of the same world. It is a common subject of conjecture what pleasure in life some of the lower animals can enjoy; how much more reasonably the same question may be asked with respect to these barbarians. At night, five or six human beings, naked and scarcely protected from the wind and rain of this tempestuous climate, sleep on the wet ground coiled up like animals.’3

Concerning their painted faces he wrote, ‘… with their naked bodies bedaubed with black, white, and red, they looked like so many demoniacs who had been fighting,’ and ‘The party altogether closely resembled the devils which come on the stage in plays like Der Freischütz.’3

Concerning their language Darwin wrote, ‘The language of these people, according to our notions, scarcely deserves to be called articulate. Captain [James] Cook has compared it to a man clearing his throat,4 but certainly no European ever cleared his throat with so many hoarse, guttural, and clicking sounds.’3

he didn't know any better.

 

[Spiderman]

I don't know if you're just trolling or what, but following your own link above clearly shows this wasn't Darwin speaking.

Your quote is from a book entitled, The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan by Thomas Dixon, Jr.. (1905)

NOTE: For whatever reason, it's no longer possible to import images into posts, so here's the link to the page in The Clansman


.​

​

Different sources say Darwin said that.... others say it was Dixon... just thought I'd ask

 

[David1967]

Ah, to be young again, PopeADope! Young enough to expect moral perfection of people, and to be taken by surprise when folks prove to be a mix of good and evil.

Best I've been able to hope for in people (myself included) is that our good, will outweigh our evil.

 

[Father Heathen]

And Newton enjoyed hanging people left and right.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosspomeroy/2013/11/04/why-was-isaac-newton-such-a-jerk/#5d453aaf6e20

Well, ****. I guess we have to discard the theory of gravity now.

 

[Father Heathen]

Since we are talking about Darwin we might as well include a few videos of our ancestors, we don't seem that far removed.

I'm going to assume that your post is tongue-in-cheek and that you don't actually believe that the theory of evolution implies that modern chimps are our ancestors.

 

[Milton Platt]

View attachment 20136
"Since the dawn of history the Negro has owned the continent of Africa – rich beyond the dream of poet’s fancy, crunching acres of diamonds beneath his bare black feet and yet he never picked one up from the dust until a white man showed to him its glittering light.
His land swarmed with powerful and docile animals, yet he never dreamed a harness, cart, or sled.
A hunter by necessity, he never made an axe, spear, or arrowhead worth preserving beyond the moment of its use. He lived as an ox, content to graze for an hour.
In a land of stone and timber he never sawed a foot of lumber, carved a block, or built a house save of broken sticks and mud.
With league on league of ocean strand and miles of inland seas, for four thousand years he watched their surface ripple under the wind, heard the thunder of the surf on his beach, the howl of the storm over his head, gazed on the dim blue horizon calling him to worlds that lie beyond, and yet he never dreamed a sail.” - Charles Darwin
http://fixedgear808.blogspot.com/2012/03/racist-quote-attributed-to-charles.html?m=1

Did he really say that? I'm just surprised that he is still hailed as a hero, saying something that you would think came from Hitler. I'm almost positive he made the first comment in "the descent of man"...but pretty sure the second one is not from him.

Do you know of any other racist comments by Darwin? Can it be verified that the quote actually comes from him?

Are we to use the standards of his day, or our present standards?

 

[Spiderman]

Are we to use the standards of his day, or our present standards?

Present standards

 

[Milton Platt]

Present standards

Difficult to tell conclusively, but it is probable that he had at least some racist views. The people of that time would not have seen it that way, because values and perceptions have changed over time (one could argue not enough). He used the word "race" in his writings, but in a different context. He spoke of "races of cabbages", for instance.
I am left wondering why it matters if he was or not, since he wielded no political or military power when he was alive. And he is now quite dead and inert.

 

[Spiderman]

Difficult to tell conclusively, but it is probable that he had at least some racist views. The people of that time would not have seen it that way, because values and perceptions have changed over time (one could argue not enough). He used the word "race" in his writings, but in a different context. He spoke of "races of cabbages", for instance.
I am left wondering why it matters if he was or not, since he wielded no political or military power when he was alive. And he is now quite dead and inert.

Just wondering what he really said...

Difficult to tell conclusively, but it is probable that he had at least some racist views. The people of that time would not have seen it that way, because values and perceptions have changed over time (one could argue not enough). He used the word "race" in his writings, but in a different context. He spoke of "races of cabbages", for instance.
I am left wondering why it matters if he was or not, since he wielded no political or military power when he was alive. And he is now quite dead and inert.

I was just wondering if those quotes came from him. The second one apparently did not.

 

[curiouser & curiouser]

Since the dawn of history the negro .................., and yet he never dreamed a sail.

This quote is actually from a book entitled, The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan by Thomas Dixon, Jr..
The quote is used by people who have never read Origin as an attack on Darwin to discredit his work.

 

[metis]

Much like dealing with Freud, one should consider when he and Darwin lived and the very limited evidence both had to work with.

BTW, even though the Anglican church attacked Darwin for many decades, he's now entombed in Westminster Abbey.

 

[shunyadragon]

View attachment 20136
"Since the dawn of history the Negro has owned the continent of Africa – rich beyond the dream of poet’s fancy, crunching acres of diamonds beneath his bare black feet and yet he never picked one up from the dust until a white man showed to him its glittering light.
His land swarmed with powerful and docile animals, yet he never dreamed a harness, cart, or sled.
A hunter by necessity, he never made an axe, spear, or arrowhead worth preserving beyond the moment of its use. He lived as an ox, content to graze for an hour.
In a land of stone and timber he never sawed a foot of lumber, carved a block, or built a house save of broken sticks and mud.
With league on league of ocean strand and miles of inland seas, for four thousand years he watched their surface ripple under the wind, heard the thunder of the surf on his beach, the howl of the storm over his head, gazed on the dim blue horizon calling him to worlds that lie beyond, and yet he never dreamed a sail.” - Charles Darwin
Duane's Blog: Racist Quote Attributed to Charles Darwin

Did he really say that? I'm just surprised that he is still hailed as a hero, saying something that you would think came from Hitler. I'm almost positive he made the first comment in "the descent of man"...but pretty sure the second one is not from him.

Do you know of any other racist comments by Darwin? Can it be verified that the quote actually comes from him?

Pretty much most people of his time were racist. You can ask Diogenes to look for the pure heart non-racist person in the time of Darwin. It is tough search today