Racial Positivists Essay
Racial Positivists Pseudoscience is involved in ranking people according to things like intelligence, fertility, and even genital size (Price, October 13). Good science provides correctable, reversible, and testable information. Pseudoscience on the other hand does none of this, yet still passes as good science because it is complicated by deceiving statistics (Price, October 13). Racial positivists such as J. Philippe Rushton, Francis Galton, and Pieter Camper all utilize pseudoscience to support their illegitimate views. JP Rushton was a Canadian psychologist who argued that race is a biological construct and used pseudoscience to support his inherent racism. One of the ways he did this was by developing “R selection” and “K selection”
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and posing these as a biological explanation for the reproduction of insects and animals (Price, October 13). “R selection” is designated to animals that reproduce rapidly and in great numbers. “K selection” is designated to animals that reproduce less frequently and invest more time into their young (Price, October 13). Rushton reasoned that African Americans exemplified “R selection,” Asians exemplified “K selection,” and Caucasians fell somewhere in the middle (Price, October 13). Rushton also used “R selection” and “K selection” to explain his racist views in his book Race, Evolution, and Behavior. In this writing, he says that African Americans, being more characteristic of “R selection,” have larger genitals, buttocks, and breasts. He then connects these traits to African Americans having higher rates of child neglect and abandonment and being less likely to abide by the law. Rushton’s views are illegitimate because they stereotype entire populations of people. It it wrong to objectify people this way and discriminate them the way that he has. Francis Galton is the founder of Eugenics which is the belief that a population can be improved by discouraging the undesirable groups from reproducing (Price, October 13). He believed that the European civilization was being threatened by inferior races and that it was the government’s duty to restrain non-whites from reproducing so that only the higher race remained (Price, October 13). Galton believed that progressive breeding would help Europeans reach this goal, but this view is extremely problematic because it sparked animosity and genocide such as the Holocaust. Around six million Jewish people lost their lives because they weren’t seen as being conducive to the higher race. Francis Galton’s beliefs are not only prejudice, they are cruel. The view that Europeans are the pinnacle of the human race and that any other group should be eliminated is a perfect example of why pseudoscience should be erased. Pieter Camper is known as the founder of modern craniometry (Price, October 13).
He believed that cranial features could be used to classify things such as someone’s race, criminal temperament, and intelligence (Carroll). Camper, along with other craniometrists, used this pseudoscience to justify their racist policies against whom they considered to be inferior races.
One aspect of craniometry is a concept that Camper developed called a “facial angle,” which was a measurement used to rank races by intelligence (Carroll). Camper claimed that Asians had an facial angle of 90 degrees, Europeans had 80 degrees, African Americans had 70 degrees, and Orangutans had 58 degrees (Carroll). This measurement supported a hierarchic view of mankind. It was also very racist because it assumed that African Americans had an intelligence level low enough to resemble an Orangutan. Pseudoscience is a method that should be eliminated completely. Rushton, Galton, and Camper are only three examples out of many racial positivists who used pseudoscience as an outlet for their prejudices. Good science should be correctable, reversible, and testable. Pseudoscience is false, discriminatory, and bigoted and couldn’t be any further from a reputable
method.
and posing these as a biological explanation for the reproduction of insects and animals (Price, October 13). “R selection” is designated to animals that reproduce rapidly and in great numbers. “K selection” is designated to animals that reproduce less frequently and invest more time into their young (Price, October 13). Rushton reasoned that African Americans exemplified “R selection,” Asians exemplified “K selection,” and Caucasians fell somewhere in the middle (Price, October 13). Rushton also used “R selection” and “K selection” to explain his racist views in his book Race, Evolution, and Behavior. In this writing, he says that African Americans, being more characteristic of “R selection,” have larger genitals, buttocks, and breasts. He then connects these traits to African Americans having higher rates of child neglect and abandonment and being less likely to abide by the law. Rushton’s views are illegitimate because they stereotype entire populations of people. It it wrong to objectify people this way and discriminate them the way that he has. Francis Galton is the founder of Eugenics which is the belief that a population can be improved by discouraging the undesirable groups from reproducing (Price, October 13). He believed that the European civilization was being threatened by inferior races and that it was the government’s duty to restrain non-whites from reproducing so that only the higher race remained (Price, October 13). Galton believed that progressive breeding would help Europeans reach this goal, but this view is extremely problematic because it sparked animosity and genocide such as the Holocaust. Around six million Jewish people lost their lives because they weren’t seen as being conducive to the higher race. Francis Galton’s beliefs are not only prejudice, they are cruel. The view that Europeans are the pinnacle of the human race and that any other group should be eliminated is a perfect example of why pseudoscience should be erased. Pieter Camper is known as the founder of modern craniometry (Price, October 13).
He believed that cranial features could be used to classify things such as someone’s race, criminal temperament, and intelligence (Carroll). Camper, along with other craniometrists, used this pseudoscience to justify their racist policies against whom they considered to be inferior races.
One aspect of craniometry is a concept that Camper developed called a “facial angle,” which was a measurement used to rank races by intelligence (Carroll). Camper claimed that Asians had an facial angle of 90 degrees, Europeans had 80 degrees, African Americans had 70 degrees, and Orangutans had 58 degrees (Carroll). This measurement supported a hierarchic view of mankind. It was also very racist because it assumed that African Americans had an intelligence level low enough to resemble an Orangutan. Pseudoscience is a method that should be eliminated completely. Rushton, Galton, and Camper are only three examples out of many racial positivists who used pseudoscience as an outlet for their prejudices. Good science should be correctable, reversible, and testable. Pseudoscience is false, discriminatory, and bigoted and couldn’t be any further from a reputable
method.