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Re: Anthropometric studies
Jim Foley (jimf@vangelis.FtCollins.NCR.com)
19 May 1995 15:14:25 GMT
In article <Pine.Sola.3.91.950517222957.488F-100000@ux5.cso.uiuc.edu>,
Lemonhead <karpiak@uiuc.edu> wrote:
> I thought we stopped grouping people into "racial" groups like
>that in the 19th century.
No, as late as 1962 Carleton Coon wrote "The Origin of Races". This
book caused a huge stink in the 60's, as it collided head on with the
civil rights movement and a growing awareness of racism. A lot of the
book is a very useful reference to the fossil record, but it also took a
highly racial (not racist) view of humanity that allowed it to be used
as support for racism.
We had a bit of a discussion on this a few months back. Coon was not,
as I had originally guessed, a marginal figure, but a highly prominent
and respected anthropologist. As luck would have it, I picked this up
for $2 at a garage sale last weekend. I've skimmed it, and Coon just
seems to be obsessed with racial differences. His point of view feels
so alien that it's jarring, because modern books usually try to
emphasize the unity and similarity of all races.
Jim Foley Symbios Logic, Fort Collins
Jim.Foley@symbios.com (303) 223-5100 x9765
The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I will cut anyone who argues
further into dogmeat. -- Sir Geoffery de Tourneville, ca 1350 A.D.
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