SCIENTIFIC RACISM
The Rise of Phrenology Shows Why We Need More Black History, Not Less
Measuring someone's skull reveals nothing about their character
Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it," Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said. There's a reason we don't allow doctors to operate using the same practices used during the 1600s, when "surgeons poured hot oil into wounds" and used syringes to "irrigate wounds with wine." Thankfully, medical practices have evolved, making today's doctors more effective healers. It would be foolish for them to ignore the lessons that history provides. Likewise, reading Santayana's quote in an era when conservatives are systematically censoring Black History raises a red flag we can't readily ignore. A society that refuses to acknowledge its past errors will likely repeat them.
In early American society, the majority of Black people were enslaved. Such European conquests were accomplished with the blessing of the Catholic Church, their monarchies, and the scientific community, which, at the time, promoted a series of harmful myths about Black people. In 1684, François Bernier invented the concept of racial classification using four groups: Americanus, Asiaticus, Africanus, and Europeanus. Of course, Bernier characterized White people as a…
