The Intelligence of the Negro

“The Intelligence of the Negro” In the book Toussaint Louverture, there is a 1931 article by James in which he argues with the statements made by Dr. Harland and others. In this article James argues with Dr. Harland’s paper, “Race Admixture” which talks about how “the negro race are inferior to intelligence to the white” (189:1). Dr. Harland starts by pointing out the definition in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, published in 1884, “..the preamature ossifactation to the skull, preventing all further development of the brain, an inferiority which is even more marked by their physical differences” (190:6). Harland goes on to quote different editions of the Britannica and how the definition changes through the years. James claims that “no longer is the inferiority “more marked than physical differences”” and that “of the inferiority, though probable, lacks proof” (191:2). James has ben around his people and knows that they are not inferior and that Harland does not need to use books and things to state that negroes are inferior in intelligence but to “sit up and take notice” (193:1) A doctor does an investigation on the intelligence of races, found that “pure negroes scored 69.2 per cent high as the whites” (193:2). James argues that “Ferguson was enough for him. He gives us no hint on what the tests were like” (194:3). James explains that Toussaint was a great person and Commander-in-Chief .. Toussaint L’Overture was a coachman in Hayti until he was well over forty. About 1790, when about fifty years of age, he joined the Haytian army as a physician and rose rapidly to command. But Toussaint had one passionate aim - the liberation of the black from slavery. (195:3)
3When Dr. Harland classifies Toussaint, “he puts him in Class F, the lowest of the superior classes, 1/4,300” (196:2). Toussaint was a great and powerful negro and the Doctor still puts him in one of the lowest classes. It does not make sense to James because in his eyes Toussaint is a very smart