The following quotations are taken from a variety of intellectual sources
central to the Western tradition of thought since the Enlightenment.
I hope they indicate that racism is not simply the product of cranks and
ne'er-do-wells, but has in fact been central to Western thinking since
it's inception. I am indebted to Henry Louis Gates for pointing out
these quotations to me some time ago.
I am apt to suspect the negroes, and in general all the other species
of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior
to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion
than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation.
No ingenious manufacturers amongst them, no arts, no sciences. On
the other hand, the most rude and barbarous of the whites, such as the
ancient Germans, the present Tartars, have still something eminent about
hem, in their valour, form of government, or some other particular.
Such a uniform and constant difference could not happen, in so many
countries and ages, if nature had not made an original distinction betwixt
these breeds of men. Not to mention our colonies, there are negroe
slaves dispersed all over Europe, of which none ever discovered any symptoms
of ingenuity; tho' low people, without education, will start up amongst
us, and distinguish themselves in every profession. In Jamaica indeed
they talk of one negroe as a man of parts and learning [Francis Williams];
but ‘tis likely he is admired for every slender accomplishment, like a
parrot, who speaks a few words plainly.
The Negroes of Africa have by nature no feeling that rises above the trifling. Mr. Hume challenges anyone to cite a single example in which a Negro has shown talents, and asserts that among the hundreds of thousands of blacks who are transported elsewhere from the countries, although many of them have been set free, still not a single one was ever found who presented anything great in art or science of any other praise-worthy quality, even though among the whites some continually rise aloft from the lowest rabble, and through superior gifts earn respect in the world. So fundamental is the difference between these races of man, and it appears to be as great in regard to mental capacities as in color. The religion of fetishes so widespread among them is perhaps a sort of idolatry that sinks as deeply into the trifling as appears to be possible to human nature. A bird feather, a cow's horn, a conch shell, or any other common object, as soon as it becomes consecrated by a few words, is an object of veneration and of invocation in swearing oathes. The blacks are very vain but in the Negro's way, and so talkative that they must be driven apart from each other with thrashings.
***
. . . In the lands of the black, what better can one expect
than what is found prevailing, namely the feminine sex in the deepest slavery?
A despairing man is always a strict master over anyone weaker, just as
with us that man is always a tyrant in the kitchen who outside his own
house hardly dares to look anyone in the face. Of course, Father
Labat reports that a Negro carpenter, whom he reproached for haughty treatment
toward his wives, answered: "You whites are indeed fools, for first you
make great concessions to your wives, and afterward you complain when they
drive you mad." And it might be that there were something in this
which perhaps deserved to be considered; but in short, this fellow was
quite black from head to foot, a clear proof that what he said was stupid.
Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry.
Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but not poetry. Love
is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it
kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion, indeed, has
produced a Phillis Whately; but it could not produce a poet. The
compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.
But we need not feel ashamed of this distinction [that we know less
about the sexual life of little girls than boys]; after all, the sexual
life of adult women is a "dark continent" for psychology.
Among the criteria thanks to which one can determine whether a certain
geographic area merits the name of nation, one of the most important is
the existence of specific culture, or, more precisely, of an art which
belongs to the inhabitants of the country. This is a primordial factor--itself
resulting from a great quantity of historical, racic [raciques], etc. components--among
all those that permit one to determine whether yes or no a people has a
nationality worthy of being respected.