Darwin's twin track: 'Evolution and emancipation'
“And new evidence suggests that Darwin’s unique approach to evolution - relating all races and species by ‘common descent’ - could have been fostered by his anti-slavery beliefs.”
This is a fascinating article - a bit longer than most BBC entries but entirely worthwhile. It ties in nicely with a class that I am currently taking, History of Africa after 1800, which endorses the idea of viewing history through various lenses. I did not realize how deeply embedded my European-North American paradigm was until we were forced to confront the discriminatory terminology of “conquest,” “civilization,” and “discovery.” I had always been aware of the bias in those terms, but once one learns the intricacies of African or Asian or Native American culture, one can see how even “emancipation” carries racial overtones.
Next step: think about the connotations of “homosexual” and “gay” versus “same-sex attraction.”
But I digress.
(via BBC)
