Racism
What is racism and prejudice and how has evolution promoted these ideas?
According to Dictionary.com, racism is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others. From the same source, prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason, and it is also defined as unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.
The Theory of Evolution, according to Charles Darwin, has posited that humans evolved from an ape-like ancestor. The first of these evolved humans was the aborigines, then the African, then the Mongoloid (Asian), and finally, the Caucasoid, which is considered to be the most evolved (note that Darwin was Caucasian). Evolutionary concepts have been a factor in racial discrimination and atrocities in history. Even Darwin’s book was titled: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.” A specific example of evolutionary-driven racism is what happened to Ota Benga.