By "loved ones" I didn't mean only his immediate family.
There were several reasons:
- Antisemitism was framed by the Nazis in biological terms.
- Science is a long-term project, whereas the fight against antisemitism was seen as immediate and existential.
- For various reasons, it was felt that Nazism could be better fought through a broad "antiracist" coalition than through a narrower struggle against antisemitism.
Boas died before WWII ended. If he had lived longer, he might have said: "Enough is enough. Let's wind down the war on racism." Or maybe not. In 1945, it wasn't obvious that antisemitism was finished.
And these things eventually acquire a life of their own. Antiracism doesn't come with an "off" switch. It's like an automaton that no longer obeys its master.
So-called anti-Semitism has always been a perfectly valid response to prior Jewish provocation. The evidence supporting this is so gargantuan as to be indescribable, but has of course been ruthlessly suppressed. The mere mention of it will send many a self-described “dissident” running for the hills. More to the point, all egalitarian ideologies share their origin in Christian ethics (soul equality). If it were not for all this Christian crap about the brotherhood of man and the fraternity of all peoples, we wouldn't be being demographic replaced in our own ancestral homelands. We had our chance to avert the world we’re now living in. Twice. And we failed abysmally. We betrayed the one and only country that was standing up against it. Our punishment, to toil and die under the tyranny of interest-based debt slavery, is richly deserved. Since the founding of the Federal Reserve in 1913, more than $50 trillion has been spent undermining the political sovereignty, economic stability and demographic homogeneity of white countries worldwide. International finance won WW1 and WW2.
"Ce qui est terrible sur cette terre, c'est que tout le monde a ses raisons."
We all have reasons for what we do. Those reasons may seem selfish, stupid, or short-sighted, but they nonetheless exist and determine our actions. If we want to understand this world, we must begin by understanding why people act the way they do.
In the case of Franz Boas, I have tried to describe his true beliefs without bringing them into line with present-day norms. The same goes for what he believed during the last decade of his life. I cannot do that if I assume a moralistic stance.
When we examine people of the past, we should not say: "Shame on you for being a racist!" Similarly, we should not say: "Shame on you for caring more about people in the here and now than about people eight decades hence!" That's the job of a propagandist, not a historian.
Whew! "Doublespeak" certainly is a good word for some of Boas's statements, as you noted. When I was an anthropology major in the early 1980's, "antiracist" activism was already very prevalent among the faculty and graduate students. There were still some older faculty who seemed more focused on objective study, but I had the impression that they were always looking over their shoulders. It has only gotten worse in anthro faculty departments, from what I hear.
He allowed his personal ethnic interests to compromise his objectivity. He betrayed science.
If you had to choose between betraying your loved ones and betraying science, which choice would you make?
How is being honest about the reality of human evolution a betrayal of his family?
By "loved ones" I didn't mean only his immediate family.
There were several reasons:
- Antisemitism was framed by the Nazis in biological terms.
- Science is a long-term project, whereas the fight against antisemitism was seen as immediate and existential.
- For various reasons, it was felt that Nazism could be better fought through a broad "antiracist" coalition than through a narrower struggle against antisemitism.
Boas died before WWII ended. If he had lived longer, he might have said: "Enough is enough. Let's wind down the war on racism." Or maybe not. In 1945, it wasn't obvious that antisemitism was finished.
And these things eventually acquire a life of their own. Antiracism doesn't come with an "off" switch. It's like an automaton that no longer obeys its master.
So-called anti-Semitism has always been a perfectly valid response to prior Jewish provocation. The evidence supporting this is so gargantuan as to be indescribable, but has of course been ruthlessly suppressed. The mere mention of it will send many a self-described “dissident” running for the hills. More to the point, all egalitarian ideologies share their origin in Christian ethics (soul equality). If it were not for all this Christian crap about the brotherhood of man and the fraternity of all peoples, we wouldn't be being demographic replaced in our own ancestral homelands. We had our chance to avert the world we’re now living in. Twice. And we failed abysmally. We betrayed the one and only country that was standing up against it. Our punishment, to toil and die under the tyranny of interest-based debt slavery, is richly deserved. Since the founding of the Federal Reserve in 1913, more than $50 trillion has been spent undermining the political sovereignty, economic stability and demographic homogeneity of white countries worldwide. International finance won WW1 and WW2.
"Ce qui est terrible sur cette terre, c'est que tout le monde a ses raisons."
We all have reasons for what we do. Those reasons may seem selfish, stupid, or short-sighted, but they nonetheless exist and determine our actions. If we want to understand this world, we must begin by understanding why people act the way they do.
In the case of Franz Boas, I have tried to describe his true beliefs without bringing them into line with present-day norms. The same goes for what he believed during the last decade of his life. I cannot do that if I assume a moralistic stance.
When we examine people of the past, we should not say: "Shame on you for being a racist!" Similarly, we should not say: "Shame on you for caring more about people in the here and now than about people eight decades hence!" That's the job of a propagandist, not a historian.
Thanks for the interesting deep dive into Boas's evolution of wokeness.
A title might be The Blue Pilling of Boas.
"Was Franz Boas a race realist?"
The answer to the question is found in the qualifier 'was'.
Whew! "Doublespeak" certainly is a good word for some of Boas's statements, as you noted. When I was an anthropology major in the early 1980's, "antiracist" activism was already very prevalent among the faculty and graduate students. There were still some older faculty who seemed more focused on objective study, but I had the impression that they were always looking over their shoulders. It has only gotten worse in anthro faculty departments, from what I hear.