Nationality and Race from an Anthropologist's Point of View: Being the Robert Boyle lecture delivered before the Oxford university junior scientific club on November 17, 1919 — John Shaqi
Nationality and Race from an Anthropologist's Point of View: Being the Robert Boyle lecture delivered before the Oxford university junior scientific club on November 17, 1919Keith, Arthur, Sir
History
Nationality and Race from an Anthropologist's Point of View: Being the Robert Boyle lecture delivered before the Oxford university junior scientific club on November 17, 1919
Keith, Arthur, Sir
Nationalism; Race
they are situated in the primitive organization of the human brain. Let
me cite only one witness on this point--one who would willingly believe,
if he could, that racial antagonisms are both superficial and acquired.
"That a very real problem exists in the race-consciousness of the white
and coloured peoples is evident, is sometimes painfully evident,
sometimes dangerously so. There is nothing to be gained by
under-estimating its deep-seated nature and the gravity of its issues."
This is a quotation from the presidential address given by Dr. W. Flint
to the last meeting (1919) of the South African Association for the
Advancement of Science. The mixture of races in South Africa has roused
to activity instincts or subconscious states which lie dormant in
members of a uniform population. National and racial frontiers, we shall
see, are part of Nature's evolutionary machinery. Meantime we merely
note that modern industrial ideals clash with the working of Nature's
instinctive mechanisms, and in South Africa the two are in actual
collision.
SOME OF THE NATIONAL AND RACIAL PROBLEMS OF EUROPE
As we pass northwards along the African continent, over a welter of
tribal peoples, we need merely note the cry for national recognition
which ascends to us from the lower valley of the Nile. The descendants
of the ancient Egyptians, mixed with a conglomeration of racial stocks
drawn from Africa, Asia, and Europe, are agitating for 'national'
independence and isolation. It would take us too far afield to consider
the national and racial problems of the 300 millions of diverse peoples
of India who are linked together by only one bond--the government
extended to them by the British Empire. Nor need we stay now to
speculate on the nationalities which will arise from the wreckage of
Turkey, Austria, or Russia, nor shall we dally with the Balkan jumble of
nationalities. We simply note that these instincts or feelings which
compel men of like speech, habits, and traditions to group themselves
into independent national units are most active and powerful where
racial or national boundaries are most confused.
ARE THE JEWS A SEPARATE RACE?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account