Oh, Leftists Are Getting Around to That
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
[…] American Catholic Website: Broken Chain – Donald R. McClarey, J.D., at The American Catholic Liberals Cancel White Abolitionist for Racism – D. McClarey, J.D., at The American Catholic Biden & Kamala Want to Remove Each Other […]
No one deserves to be cancelled. But Huxley was quoted as saying: “No rational man, cognizant of the facts believes that the average negro is the equal of the white man”. Good that he opposed slavery but it’s understandable why some find him offensive. He was a backer of Darwinian theories which in turn were useful in promoting eugenics.
But Huxley was quoted as saying: “No rational man, cognizant of the facts believes that the average negro is the equal of the white man”
The obvious question is ‘equal in what way?’ Have you given any thought to the social, economic, cultural, and political condition of Tropical Africa ca. 1890?
The quotation is a good deal more complicated when placed in context:
https://books.google.com/books?id=I_8HAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=No+rational+man,+cognizant+of+the+facts,+believes+that+the+average+negro+is+the+equal%E2%80%A6+of+the+white+man.+And+if+this+be+true,+it+is+simply+incredible+that,+when+all+his+disabilities+are+removed%E2%80%A6+he+will+be+able+to+compete+successfully+with+his+bigger-brained+and+smaller-jawed+rival,+in+a+contest+which+is+to+be+carried+out+by+thoughts+and+not+by+bites.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=8-SBJwAJfC&sig=ACfU3U10b16gGfwyjQuYE6sMiraWeanYCw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjV857_9PDzAhU2B50JHeUnCjoQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage&q=No%20rational%20man%2C%20cognizant%20of%20the%20facts%2C%20believes%20that%20the%20average%20negro%20is%20the%20equal%E2%80%A6%20of%20the%20white%20man.%20And%20if%20this%20be%20true%2C%20it%20is%20simply%20incredible%20that%2C%20when%20all%20his%20disabilities%20are%20removed%E2%80%A6%20he%20will%20be%20able%20to%20compete%20successfully%20with%20his%20bigger-brained%20and%20smaller-jawed%20rival%2C%20in%20a%20contest%20which%20is%20to%20be%20carried%20out%20by%20thoughts%20and%20not%20by%20bites.%E2%80%9D&f=false
Huxley was a man of his time. He shared to a certain extent in the prejudices of his day, but in some ways he did not. Condemning him for not having the approved views of the politically correct of circa 2021 is absurd.
@”He shared to a certain extent in the prejudices of his day, but in some ways he did not.”
It wasn’t just the prejudices of his day that matter, but the scientific rationale that he helped give them, wittingly or not. The eugenics movement owes much to the work of social Darwinists. They helped lay a foundation, subsequently built upon by Sanger and others; one that is very much alive to this day. The target has been various disfavored races and peoples, including but not limited to blacks, jews, Italians, eastern europeans, the disabled, the mentally weak. To one degree or another these disfavored classes have suffered due to efforts of those inspired at least in part by social Darwinism.
Cancel culture is a serious issue and should be condemned. I don’t think the bust should have been removed. It’s just that Huxley may not be the best example of cancel culture victimhood.
but the scientific rationale that he helped give them, wittingly or not.
That was there long before Huxley and long after Huxley. The hilarious thing about the current cancel culture is that it is dominated by people who are completely race obsessed and far more racist usually than the people they condemn. Truth to tell, personally I have no great admiration for “Darvwin’s Bulldog”, but it is the historical illiteracy of the forces behind cancel culture that I find appalling. These people are deeply ignorant and deeply malevolent and remind me of the Taliban who destroy historical monuments in their benighted view of history.
It wasn’t just the prejudices of his day that matter, but the scientific rationale that he helped give them, wittingly or not. The eugenics movement owes much to the work of social Darwinists. They helped lay a foundation, subsequently built upon by Sanger and others; one that is very much alive to this day. The target has been various disfavored races and peoples, including but not limited to blacks, jews, Italians, eastern europeans, the disabled, the mentally weak. To one degree or another these disfavored classes have suffered due to efforts of those inspired at least in part by social Darwinism.
Margaret Sanger was a eugenicist. Planned Parenthood today is animated by about four strands of thought, none of them eugenicist, although one of them congenial to eugenics were its exponents thinking straight.
And no those are not targets of any identifiable collection of influentials. The exception would be people in and around the medical profession pushing abortion of children with genetic defects.
Art, maybe eugenicist thought doesn’t actively dominate PP thinking, but isn’t it deeply ingrained in what they do? They are known to target minority communities for example. And they honor Margaret Sanger with an award, named in her honor, presented to the pro-abortion activist of the year. Hillary Clinton won it one year.
Further, eugenics itself may have morphed into something beyond its racist roots. It’s not solely a matter of third world population control though that remains a major factor. Population control advocates detest large families no matter where they find them. They are want declining birth rates in the developed world as well as the undeveloped world.