The History of White People (66 page)
Read The History of White People Online
Authors: Nell Irvin Painter
Tags: #History, #Politics, #bought-and-paid-for, #Non-Fiction, #Sociology
‡
The theme of poetic, valiant defeat appears in nineteenth-century hymns to the Celts, for instance in Matthew Arnold’s
On the Study of Celtic Literature
(1867).
The theme of poetic, valiant defeat appears in nineteenth-century hymns to the Celts, for instance in Matthew Arnold’s
On the Study of Celtic Literature
(1867).
*
Tacitus’s text occasionally served German nationalism beginning in the fifteenth century, but it really gained currency during the nineteenth-century decades of German unification and twentieth-century Pan-Germanism. Notions of German racial purity continue to turn up nowadays on white nationalist websites, such as that of the Aryan Nations: “It’s not a matter of White Supremacy it’s about Racial Purity!”
Tacitus’s text occasionally served German nationalism beginning in the fifteenth century, but it really gained currency during the nineteenth-century decades of German unification and twentieth-century Pan-Germanism. Notions of German racial purity continue to turn up nowadays on white nationalist websites, such as that of the Aryan Nations: “It’s not a matter of White Supremacy it’s about Racial Purity!”
*
The German tribes continued to move, war, merge, even disappear, and to split up politically, until unification under Prussia in 1870. As we know from twentieth-century history, even unification did not stabilize German boundaries. German defeat after the First World War reduced territory acquired at the expense of France and Poland in the nineteenth century. After defeat in 1945, Germany was partitioned and, in 1949, became two separate states, one in the east (the German Democratic Republic) and one in the west (the Federal Republic of Germany). After the fall of the Democratic Republic, Germany reunified in 1990.
The German tribes continued to move, war, merge, even disappear, and to split up politically, until unification under Prussia in 1870. As we know from twentieth-century history, even unification did not stabilize German boundaries. German defeat after the First World War reduced territory acquired at the expense of France and Poland in the nineteenth century. After defeat in 1945, Germany was partitioned and, in 1949, became two separate states, one in the east (the German Democratic Republic) and one in the west (the Federal Republic of Germany). After the fall of the Democratic Republic, Germany reunified in 1990.
*
The Finlandic
Laxdaela
saga tells the story of the Irish princess Melkorla, one of the legions of Irish captured in Viking raids. After purchase in a Norwegian slave market, Melkorla was transported as a slave back to Ireland.
The Finlandic
Laxdaela
saga tells the story of the Irish princess Melkorla, one of the legions of Irish captured in Viking raids. After purchase in a Norwegian slave market, Melkorla was transported as a slave back to Ireland.
†
Late nineteenth-century anthropology continued to associate dark color with the Irish, as in the anthropologist John Beddoe’s “Index of Nigrescence,” discussed in chapter 15 of this book.
Late nineteenth-century anthropology continued to associate dark color with the Irish, as in the anthropologist John Beddoe’s “Index of Nigrescence,” discussed in chapter 15 of this book.
*
The Italian slave market demanded strong, very young women and girls, along with a few very young men. Slaves came through two central markets dating back to antiquity, at Tana, on the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Don River, and at Caffa, on the Crimean shore of the Black Sea, both Genoese trading colonies. These two Black Sea markets gathered a varied crowd of traders and slaves alike.
The Italian slave market demanded strong, very young women and girls, along with a few very young men. Slaves came through two central markets dating back to antiquity, at Tana, on the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Don River, and at Caffa, on the Crimean shore of the Black Sea, both Genoese trading colonies. These two Black Sea markets gathered a varied crowd of traders and slaves alike.
*
Salé, famous as a capital of piracy, lies on the Atlantic coast next to the Moroccan capital of Rabat.
Salé, famous as a capital of piracy, lies on the Atlantic coast next to the Moroccan capital of Rabat.
†
Overall about 1.25 million northern Christians became enslaved in the southern and eastern Mediterranean between the sixteenth and the eighteenth century.
Overall about 1.25 million northern Christians became enslaved in the southern and eastern Mediterranean between the sixteenth and the eighteenth century.
*
The titles of Defoe’s two 1722 novels dealing with Britons transported to Virginia reveal their plots:
The FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES of the Famous
Moll Flanders, &c.
Who was Born in NEWGATE, and during a Life of continu’d Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a
Whore,
five times a
Wife
(whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief Eight Year a Transported
Felon
in
Virginia,
at last grew
Rich,
liv’d
Honest,
and died a
Penitent. Written from her own
MEMORANDUMS
and
The History of the most remarkable life, and extraordinary adventures of the truly Honourable Colonel Jacque, vulgarly called Colonel Jack, who was born a gentleman, put apprentice to a pickpocket, flourished six and twenty years a thief, and was then kidnapped to Virginia; came back a merchant; was five times married to four whores; went into the wars; behaved bravely; got preferment; was made colonel of a regiment; returned again to England; followed the fortunes of the Chevalier de St. George; was taken at the Preston rebellion; received his pardon from the late King; is now at the head of his regiment, in the service of the Czarina, fighting against the Turks, completing a life of wonders, and resolves to die a general.
The titles of Defoe’s two 1722 novels dealing with Britons transported to Virginia reveal their plots:
The FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES of the Famous
Moll Flanders, &c.
Who was Born in NEWGATE, and during a Life of continu’d Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a
Whore,
five times a
Wife
(whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief Eight Year a Transported
Felon
in
Virginia,
at last grew
Rich,
liv’d
Honest,
and died a
Penitent. Written from her own
MEMORANDUMS
and
The History of the most remarkable life, and extraordinary adventures of the truly Honourable Colonel Jacque, vulgarly called Colonel Jack, who was born a gentleman, put apprentice to a pickpocket, flourished six and twenty years a thief, and was then kidnapped to Virginia; came back a merchant; was five times married to four whores; went into the wars; behaved bravely; got preferment; was made colonel of a regiment; returned again to England; followed the fortunes of the Chevalier de St. George; was taken at the Preston rebellion; received his pardon from the late King; is now at the head of his regiment, in the service of the Czarina, fighting against the Turks, completing a life of wonders, and resolves to die a general.
*
Present-day white nationalists resenting the burden of black slavery in terms of white guilt and black demands for redress seek to remind Americans of the history of white slavery.
They Were White and They Were Slaves
, by Michael A. Hoffman II, for instance, begins with the protest, “Today, not a tear is shed for the sufferings of millions of our own enslaved forefathers. 200 years of White slavery in America have been almost completely obliterated from the collective memory of the American People.” Drawing on historical scholarship, Hoffman nonetheless blames “professorcrats” and “the corporate media” for hiding information about enslaved whites from the public.
Present-day white nationalists resenting the burden of black slavery in terms of white guilt and black demands for redress seek to remind Americans of the history of white slavery.
They Were White and They Were Slaves
, by Michael A. Hoffman II, for instance, begins with the protest, “Today, not a tear is shed for the sufferings of millions of our own enslaved forefathers. 200 years of White slavery in America have been almost completely obliterated from the collective memory of the American People.” Drawing on historical scholarship, Hoffman nonetheless blames “professorcrats” and “the corporate media” for hiding information about enslaved whites from the public.
*
This Jean Chardin is not to be confused with the French still-life and genre painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779). The painter Chardin influenced nineteenth-and twentieth-century impressionist painters such as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and the cubist Georges Braque.
This Jean Chardin is not to be confused with the French still-life and genre painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779). The painter Chardin influenced nineteenth-and twentieth-century impressionist painters such as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and the cubist Georges Braque.
†
Chardin uses the Turkish form,
Cherkes
, of Circassian.
Chardin uses the Turkish form,
Cherkes
, of Circassian.
*
Chardin gives the prices in
ecus
(crowns) worth about £3 silver each. Thus pretty young girls and livestock cost about the same per head.
Chardin gives the prices in
ecus
(crowns) worth about £3 silver each. Thus pretty young girls and livestock cost about the same per head.
*
The great European scholarly societies were a product of the seventeenth century, with the Royal Society of London founded in 1660; the most prestigious of all, the Parisian Académie Royale des Sciences, founded in 1666; and the Berlin Akademie der Wissenschaften founded in 1700. However, women were not admitted to these gatekeepers of knowledge until the mid-twentieth century: to the Royal Society in 1945, the Berlin Academie der Wissenschaften in 1949, and the Académie des Sciences in 1979. Women were long the subjects of scientific knowledge, but not acknowledged as creators of knowledge.
The great European scholarly societies were a product of the seventeenth century, with the Royal Society of London founded in 1660; the most prestigious of all, the Parisian Académie Royale des Sciences, founded in 1666; and the Berlin Akademie der Wissenschaften founded in 1700. However, women were not admitted to these gatekeepers of knowledge until the mid-twentieth century: to the Royal Society in 1945, the Berlin Academie der Wissenschaften in 1949, and the Académie des Sciences in 1979. Women were long the subjects of scientific knowledge, but not acknowledged as creators of knowledge.
*
The Crimea is the Ukrainian peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
The Crimea is the Ukrainian peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
*
William Short, so good a young friend that Thomas Jefferson called him his “adoptive son,” wrote Jefferson that amalgamation would ultimately resolve American race problems, for many mixed-race women were very beautiful. Sally Hemings—Jefferson’s enslaved, long-term consort—her mother, and her daughter with Jefferson were all reputed to be very beautiful. Jefferson never replied to Short’s letter.
William Short, so good a young friend that Thomas Jefferson called him his “adoptive son,” wrote Jefferson that amalgamation would ultimately resolve American race problems, for many mixed-race women were very beautiful. Sally Hemings—Jefferson’s enslaved, long-term consort—her mother, and her daughter with Jefferson were all reputed to be very beautiful. Jefferson never replied to Short’s letter.
*
That slavery still exists in the present day is chronicled in works such as Kevin Bales’s
Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy
(1999),
Understanding Global Slavery
(2005), and
Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves
(2007). The odalisque has not disappeared entirely, however, as twenty-first century artists use Orientalist iconography ironically. In 2005 the American artist Ellen Gallagher created one example, in which she arranges herself as one of Matisse’s odalisques from the 1920s and places Sigmund Freud in front of her with a sketchpad.
That slavery still exists in the present day is chronicled in works such as Kevin Bales’s
Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy
(1999),
Understanding Global Slavery
(2005), and
Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves
(2007). The odalisque has not disappeared entirely, however, as twenty-first century artists use Orientalist iconography ironically. In 2005 the American artist Ellen Gallagher created one example, in which she arranges herself as one of Matisse’s odalisques from the 1920s and places Sigmund Freud in front of her with a sketchpad.
*
In 1873, Walter Pater maintained that Winckelmann’s admiration of the bodies depicted in ancient Greek statuary “was not merely intellectual…. Winckelmann’s romantic, fervent friendships with young men [brought] him into contact with the pride of the human form.” Winckelmann disdained art depicting women, for he considered the “supreme beauty” of Greek art “rather male than female.”
In 1873, Walter Pater maintained that Winckelmann’s admiration of the bodies depicted in ancient Greek statuary “was not merely intellectual…. Winckelmann’s romantic, fervent friendships with young men [brought] him into contact with the pride of the human form.” Winckelmann disdained art depicting women, for he considered the “supreme beauty” of Greek art “rather male than female.”
*
The white marble ideal seduced just about everybody, especially race-minded experts such as the most prominent academic painter in England, Sir Frederick Leighton. In 1880 Leighton painted his self-portrait with uncolored Parthenon statuary in the background, presumably according to the plaster casts in his studio. Even Winckelmann probably realized his ancient Greeks may have painted and gilded sculpture, but he kept that suspicion to himself.
The white marble ideal seduced just about everybody, especially race-minded experts such as the most prominent academic painter in England, Sir Frederick Leighton. In 1880 Leighton painted his self-portrait with uncolored Parthenon statuary in the background, presumably according to the plaster casts in his studio. Even Winckelmann probably realized his ancient Greeks may have painted and gilded sculpture, but he kept that suspicion to himself.
†
White plaster casts of ancient Greek statuary still figured as examples of the best in art in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Artists like Arshile Gorky and George McNeil worked from Greek casts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and such plaster casts served as decoration in a coffeehouse catering to artists.
White plaster casts of ancient Greek statuary still figured as examples of the best in art in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Artists like Arshile Gorky and George McNeil worked from Greek casts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and such plaster casts served as decoration in a coffeehouse catering to artists.
*
Goethe compared Winckelmann to Christopher Columbus and concluded, “One
learns
nothing when one reads him, but one
becomes
something.” Winckelmann’s birthday (9 December) has been celebrated as a holiday in Berlin since 1828 and in Rome since 1829. Inspired by Goethe, the English intellectual Walter Pater included an essay on Winckelmann in
The Renaissance
(1867).
Goethe compared Winckelmann to Christopher Columbus and concluded, “One
learns
nothing when one reads him, but one
becomes
something.” Winckelmann’s birthday (9 December) has been celebrated as a holiday in Berlin since 1828 and in Rome since 1829. Inspired by Goethe, the English intellectual Walter Pater included an essay on Winckelmann in
The Renaissance
(1867).
*
Faust
and the Helen episode of act 3 caused Goethe great difficulty and took him more than a quarter of a century to write. Its achievement signaled Goethe’s realization that Winckelmann was wrong: Germans could not re-create the beauties of ancient Greece, no matter how fine their poetry. Goethe did not invent the Helen episode in the Faust myth. He was reworking older Germanic themes and Marlowe’s
Dr. Faustus
.
Faust
and the Helen episode of act 3 caused Goethe great difficulty and took him more than a quarter of a century to write. Its achievement signaled Goethe’s realization that Winckelmann was wrong: Germans could not re-create the beauties of ancient Greece, no matter how fine their poetry. Goethe did not invent the Helen episode in the Faust myth. He was reworking older Germanic themes and Marlowe’s
Dr. Faustus
.
*
Nineteenth-and twentieth-century racial scientists later termed the characteristic Camper measured “prognatism” and linked it to skin color and racial worth.
Nineteenth-and twentieth-century racial scientists later termed the characteristic Camper measured “prognatism” and linked it to skin color and racial worth.
†
On the PetrusCamper.com website of Camper’s biographer Miriam Claude Meijer, this is the only image associated with Camper’s work.
On the PetrusCamper.com website of Camper’s biographer Miriam Claude Meijer, this is the only image associated with Camper’s work.
*
In 1779 Camper presented his ideas to skeptical learned men in Göttingen, including the young Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. Over the years, Blumenbach grew ever more doubtful of the validity of Camper’s system, rejecting it as too simple to provide scientific data. Lavater outlived Camper and also came to harbor reservations regarding the usefulness of the facial angle.
In 1779 Camper presented his ideas to skeptical learned men in Göttingen, including the young Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. Over the years, Blumenbach grew ever more doubtful of the validity of Camper’s system, rejecting it as too simple to provide scientific data. Lavater outlived Camper and also came to harbor reservations regarding the usefulness of the facial angle.
*
Not least was the London Royal Society, over which the wealthy naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, baronet, presided. Hunter so cherished his membership in the Royal Society that he named his only surviving son John Banks Hunter. After Hunter’s death, in 1793, Banks refused the gift of Hunter’s painstakingly collected 13,682 dried and wet animal specimens, not considering it to be “an object of importance to the general study of natural history.” After being shifted from place to place in London following Hunter’s death, two-thirds of the collection disappeared in the Nazi bombing of London in 1941. Like many others interested in presenting humanity hierarchically, Hunter was a conservative who “would rather have seen his museum on fire than show it to a democrat.”
Not least was the London Royal Society, over which the wealthy naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, baronet, presided. Hunter so cherished his membership in the Royal Society that he named his only surviving son John Banks Hunter. After Hunter’s death, in 1793, Banks refused the gift of Hunter’s painstakingly collected 13,682 dried and wet animal specimens, not considering it to be “an object of importance to the general study of natural history.” After being shifted from place to place in London following Hunter’s death, two-thirds of the collection disappeared in the Nazi bombing of London in 1941. Like many others interested in presenting humanity hierarchically, Hunter was a conservative who “would rather have seen his museum on fire than show it to a democrat.”
†
White advocated natural childbirth; his
Treatise on the Management of Pregnant and Lying-in Women
, published in 1773, was translated into French and German and appeared in an American edition as well. White had studied medicine in London with John Hunter’s brother William, to whom he dedicated the treatise.
White advocated natural childbirth; his
Treatise on the Management of Pregnant and Lying-in Women
, published in 1773, was translated into French and German and appeared in an American edition as well. White had studied medicine in London with John Hunter’s brother William, to whom he dedicated the treatise.
‡
A well-respected medical doctor in his own right, White also published notes from John Hunter’s lectures in anatomy, as well as treatises on gynecology and obstetrics.
A well-respected medical doctor in his own right, White also published notes from John Hunter’s lectures in anatomy, as well as treatises on gynecology and obstetrics.
*
In Query XIV in
Notes on the State of Virginia
, written in the early 1780s, Jefferson asks rhetorically, “Is not the foundation of greater or less share of beauty in the two races [of importance]? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one preferable to that eternal monotony which reigns in the countenances, that immovable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race?”
In Query XIV in
Notes on the State of Virginia
, written in the early 1780s, Jefferson asks rhetorically, “Is not the foundation of greater or less share of beauty in the two races [of importance]? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one preferable to that eternal monotony which reigns in the countenances, that immovable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race?”
*
The great Linnaeus, the inventor of the Western system of taxonomy, shot high even faster. After one week he received his Ph.D. for a thirteen-page dissertation from the Dutch University of Harderwijk, which one historian of science designated as a “mail-order” institution. This seems unduly harsh. Nevertheless, the University of Harderwijk was known for selling degrees.
The great Linnaeus, the inventor of the Western system of taxonomy, shot high even faster. After one week he received his Ph.D. for a thirteen-page dissertation from the Dutch University of Harderwijk, which one historian of science designated as a “mail-order” institution. This seems unduly harsh. Nevertheless, the University of Harderwijk was known for selling degrees.
†
Blumenbach’s prime years in the last quarter of the eighteenth century coincided with his university’s apogee.
Blumenbach’s prime years in the last quarter of the eighteenth century coincided with his university’s apogee.
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