Historical race concepts

Map of human races (Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 1885–1890)

Caucasoid:     Aryans     Semitic     Hamitic Negroid:     African Negro     Khoikhoi     Melanesian     Negrito     Australoid Uncertain:     Dravida & Sinhalese

Mongoloid:     North Mongol     Chinese & Indochinese     Korean & Japanese     Tibetan & Burmese     Malay     Polynesian     Maori     Micronesian     Eskimo & Inuit     American

People from different places tend to look different. Some scientists in the 18th century decided to classify them into a limited number of variants or races. Some spoke of three races of mankind: The Caucasian race living in Europe, North Africa and West Asia, the Mongoloid race living in East Asia, Australia, and the Americas, and the Negroid race living in Africa south of the Sahara. Others preferred two, with the others arising from mixtures, and some chose four, five, or other numbers of races.

These ideas were popular from the late 18th century to the middle of the 20th century. These are now called historical definitions of race or historical race concepts. Today, scientists agree that there is only one human race. Modern genetic research has shown that the idea of three (or four, or five) races was wrong.

19th century

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach's classification, first proposed in 1779, was widely used in the 19th century, with many variations.

• Ethiopian/black race.
• Caucasian race/white race
• Mongolian/yellow race
• American/red race
• Malayan/brown race

Middle of the 20th century

The mid-twentieth century racial classification by American anthropologist Carleton S. Coon, also used five races but divided some of them differently:

• Negroid (Black) race
• Australoid (Australian Aborigine and Papuan) race
• Capoid (Bushmen/Hottentots) race
• Mongoloid (Oriental/Amerindian) race
• Caucasoid (White) race

Racism

The Five Races of Man, an illustration from 1911.

There was much prejudice based upon this way of thinking and speaking. It argued that in the races that make up the human race, there are deep, biologically determined differences.

Someone who partakes in racism is called racist. These are the attitudes that in turn supported the horrors of African slavery, Apartheid, the Jim Crow laws, Nazism, Japanese imperialism, and other crimes against humanity.

Historical Race Concepts Media

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  • Hippocrates
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  Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

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  Five skulls labelle Tungusae, Caribaei, Feminae Georgianae, O-taheitae, Aethiopissae, presumably serving as specimens for Blumenbach's Mongolian, American, Caucasian, Malayan and Aethiopian races.

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  Engraving depicting what was considered "The Types of Races of Men" by the author

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  French diplomat, writer and philosopher Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882)