Race is a Darwinian concept. Darwin was, after all, a man of his time, class, and society. He divided humanity into distinct races according to differences in skin, eye, or hair color. He was also convinced that evolution was progressive, and that the white races—especially the Europeans—were evolutionarily more advanced than the black races, thus establishing race differences and a racial hierarchy.
Moreover, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection influenced early eugenics proponents. During the 150 years since Darwin wrote such views on race, gender, and eugenics, they have never entirely vanished from the culture.
Darwin enthusiastically endorsed his cousin Francis Galton’s view of hereditary genius transmitted down the male line. It was Francis Galton who originally coined the term eugenics in 1883. Galton himself defined eugenics as “the study of all agencies under human control which can improve or impair the racial quality of future generations.” Not surprisingly (and rightly so), Galton eventually received significant criticism for being an early proponent of social Darwinism, eugenics, and biological racism.
However, the important thing for us to recognize is that there is no race gene; race is merely a means of classifying people. We are all part of the human race, and ethnicity encompasses much more than mere skin color. Any discrimination against anyone based on their immutable physical characteristics is always wrong and it is always sin. Moreover, we should view such discrimination as an offense to God, since it is God who created each person in His image, according to His goodness, pleasure, and beauty.
However, I fear that our current culture’s obsession with identity politics hinders us from focusing on our common humanity, and instead seeks to place people in tribes, which only seems to encourage a more segregated way of thinking. As long as we see people only as part of a tribe, especially due to their immutable physical characteristics, then it’s going to be difficult to have unity in this country.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously exhorted us to not judge people by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Unfortunately, there are too many influential people in our society who practice and preach exactly the opposite of King’s message.
As Frederick Douglass once wrote, “It has long been the desire of our enemies to deepen and widen the line of separation between the white and colored people of this country.” For Douglass, the only relevant minority in America was the minority of one—the individual. Further, Douglass said, “I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity.”
