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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 July 2009
In post-Darwinian times, Americans have usually thought of the national population as divided into many distinct races and ethnic groups. The notions and definitions they have used for a race and an ethnic group have varied from one age to another. Although Americans have not needed the resources of science to believe that some races and ethnic groups are superior to others, in these times science has become a powerful symbol of cultural authority. For the racist, the assistance of science has often been useful. In this essay, it is important to distinguish between the scientific discourse on race and ethnicity whose participants do not necessarily assume that groups differ in value, and that of scientific racism, whose participants might or might not be scientists, but who have consistently assumed that science proves the existence of permanent group differences and legitimates the assertion that some groups are inherently superior to others. Here we shall discuss the latter.
1. I thank the following persons for their comments and suggestions: Paula Forrest Helmuth, David M. Katzman, Alan I Marcus, George T. McJimsey, Christine Farnham Pope, Jack Salzman, Henry D. Shapiro, and Clarence E. Walker.
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