Scientific Racism and its Impact on Western Societies

WHAT DOES 'SCIENTIFIC RACISM' REFER TO, AND WHY DID IT COME TO HAVE SUCH SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON WESTERN SOCIETIES FROM THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY UNTIL THE EARLY DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY?
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What does ‘scientific racism’ refer to and why did it come to have such a significant impact on Western societies from the late nineteenth century until the early decades of the twentieth century?
Race and racism have a deep history that has created this idea that one group of people is better than the other based on distinctions such as the color of their skin. The need to scientifically classify human beings into groups of races grew as more Europeans became exposed to human beings that looked different from them (Barkan 1992, p.15). As they engaged in trade with people from the African continent who were black, they felt the need to develop biological rationalizations that explained the differences. However, this contributed to a feeling of superiority that changed how Western societies interacted with people of color and later on contributed to further classifications of Europeans into racial sub-categories. According to MacMaster (2001, p.1), the roots of modern racism can be traced back to this period. This essay defines and explores scientific racism. It also explores why scientific racism had such a significant impact on Western societies. Specifically, scientific racism came to have such a significant impact on Western societies from the nineteenth century until the early decades of the twentieth century because it influenced Western societies' approaches to colonization, nationalism, and racial purification.
Scientific Racism: What it is
Racism has a complex history and has been used for many years in many forms to accord certain groups of people privilege and deny others the same privilege based on perceived differences. One form of racism that emerged during the nineteenth century was scientific racism. According to MacMaster (2001, p.12), scientific racism was an attempt to biologically classify human beings into sub-categories that could then be used to assign a level of superiority or inferiority based on the biological importance/ of each sub-category. It is a concept that has been used to explain the differences between races and to justify white superiority and black inferiority based on natural or innate characteristics specific to each race. As Rattansi (2007 ch 3. p.9) reveals, scientific racism was used during the 19th century to explain why White people were accorded more value/superiority through their dominance and class over the non-White people. Also, scientific racism led people to make wrong conclusions about race in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and in the modern-day (Crist 2018, p.6). Using science and building on the existing natural characteristics of human beings, such as the color of their skin, made it easier for people to be treated unequally instead of just acknowledging that human beings are diverse in nature.
One of the factors that contributed to the widespread growth and usage of scientific racism was the concept of eugenics developed by social Darwinism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. According to Rattansi (2007 ch 4. p.7), social Darwinism contributed to the development of eugenics and the theory of natural selection, which further cemented the belief that White people are more superior than non-White people. Specifically, the intelligence of Black people, aboriginals, and ancient Greeks was compared to that of dogs, and it was concluded that they had lower intelligence. As Cox (2003, p. 42) puts it, “eugenics helped institutionalize scientific racism…." It facilitated the classification of human beings as intelligent or unintelligent based on the color of their skin. Consequently, social Darwinists suggested that the inferior races would dilute the societal intelligence with their inferior intelligence, but this could be addressed through selective breeding to ensure only those of high intelligence were reproducing. This use of science and scientific theories helped legitimize White people's superiority and contributed to the segregation, discrimination, and mistreatment of non-White people.
In addition, the period of Enlightenment in the 18th century created a solid foundation for the development of scientific racism. According to Malik (2013), Enlightenment shaped racial classifications and led to the use of biology in creating racial categories, albeit having no real scientific basis to support these categorizations. Were it not for the Enlightenment, scientific perceptions and ideas of race and humanity would not have developed into the strong, rampant scientific racism that sprung out during the 19th and 20th centuries. As such, scientific racism was a culmination of the actions and ideas of intellectuals and thinkers before and during the 19th century.
Significance in the Late Nineteenth Century and the Early Twentieth Century
Scientific racism became so significant in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries because it justified Whites as the more superior race. They were considered good at making decisions and finding solutions (Rattansi 2007 ch 3, p.5, p.6, p.9). The justification paved the way for Europeans to take a more aggressive approach to colonization, nationalism, and racial purification. As Crist (2018, p.2) indicates, at the end of the nineteenth century, the separation of races using a scientific approach allowed the designation of some as rulers of the world and others as followers/conquests. This caused an imbalance of power and contributed to some of the unfortunate incidences in the history of mankind.
Scientific Racism and Colonization
Before the 19th century, colonialists from Britain colonized less civilized colonies such as India but somehow held on to some of the beliefs and way of life of their colonies. Rattansi (2007 ch.4 p.2) indicates that British colonialists in India engaged in some of the cultural practices in the Indian sub-continent, such as praying to Indian deities and incorporating the Indian mode of dressing. During this time, the concept of scientific racism was not, if at all, explored and rampant. However, the introduction of scientific racism had a significant impact on Western societies because it influenced how they approached colonization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For instance, to exert a stronger rule in India in the late nineteenth century, the colonialists resorted to racial classifications of Indians into the superior race of the Aryan and inferior race of Dravidian, among others (Rattansi 2007 ch.4 p.4). This racial classification not only allowed them to identify and group those who could support the British but also allowed them to select supporters who had excellent skills such as martial skills to join the British army. It is the scientific racism approach that allowed the British to identify martial races that would be suitable to join the army. They used scientific racism to justify why some groups of people were useful to them, and others were useless.
In addition, the development of eugenics further impacted how Western societies approached colonization. Rattansi (2007 ch.4 p.7) indicates that supporters of eugenics believed that White people were more intelligent and advanced than non-White people and, as such, they were more fit to rule over the inferior races. They saw it as a natural indication of why they should conquer and rule colonies inhabited by non-White people such as Africans and Indians, among others. This way of thinking only emphasized their need for power over non-W...