University: Charles Darwin a ‘racist’ because theory of evolution ‘justifies white male superiority’ | The College Fix
Except the renowned scientist was a fervent opponent of slavery, calling its abolition a 'sacred cause'
According to a University of Sheffield teaching and research handbook, theory of evolution mastermind Charles Darwin “held racist views” because his science was used to “justify white male superiority.”
The Telegraph reports Darwin is one of 11 scientists in the so-called “decolonization” guide (titled “Applying a Decolonial Framework to Teaching and Research in Ecology and Evolution”) whose views allegedly “influenced the type of research they carried out and how they interpreted their data.”
Darwin believed his “renowned theory of natural selection justified the view that the white race was superior to others, and used his theory of sexual selection to justify why women were clearly inferior to men,” according to the Sheffield guide.
The handbook tells readers Darwin must be “historically caveated” when professors discuss evolution.
Other scientists in the guide include DNA discoverer James Watson and Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist.
Historians say the Sheffield handbook is “unhistorical, misleading” and “authoritarian.” In Darwin’s case, he was fervently opposed to slavery saying the practice “made his blood boil” and that its abolition was a “sacred cause.”
“Almost everyone in Darwin’s day was ‘racist’ in 21st century terms, not only scientists and naturalists but even anti-slavery campaigners and abolitionists,” said Professor James Moore, a Darwin biographer. “What set his ‘racism’ apart – and makes him more like us today – was his profound conviction that all the human races are ‘family’, sisters and brothers.
“Darwin’s wokeness was most obvious in his maintaining the full common humanity and unity of the races in the face of a rising anthropology that insisted the races were in fact separately originated and unrelated species, thus offering justification of atrocities that Darwin is now blamed for.”
From the story:
A spokesman said Sheffield is “not removing key historical figures from [the] curriculum, but […] adding those who have also made significant contributions to the fields of maths, science and engineering that are not currently represented.”
Read the article.
