Paper Topic

Title: Race vs. Ethnocentrism: early interpretations of Neandertals compared to Eighteenth-century perceptions of Africans and Native Americans.

References:

Boule, Marcellin

1923 Fossil Men: Elements of Human Paleontology. London, England: Gurney and Jackson.

Jordan, Winthrop D.

1968 White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812. Baltimore: Penguin.

Moore, Jerry D.

2009 Visions of Culture: An Annotated Reader. Plymouth, UK: AltaMira Press.

Slotkin, J.S.

1965 Readings in Early Anthropology. London, England: Methuen.

Smedley, Audrey and Brian D.

2012 Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Elevator Pitch:

            Due to our worldview of race and ethnocentrism, Neandertals as well as Africans and Native Americans have often been held in an unflattering light that compares them to lesser perceived life forms such as chimpanzees and gorillas. This is due to not only physical but cultural characteristics that are seen as less advanced than that of a white European. This presentation seeks to draw parallels between early perceptions of Neandertals, Africans and Native Americans as well as explore the ideas of racism and ethnocentrism within these interpretations.

Theory:

            I plan to implement theories of social evolution from early anthropologists such as Morgan and Tylor. Their ideas on savagery to barbarism to civilization in regards to cultural progression tie into my ideas of ethnocentrism and race. With my exploration of the psychology behind the undermining of Neandertals, Africans, and Native Americans, these theories are important in the understanding of how this demeaning mindset became the norm. The idea that there is a linear line of progression in regards to the development of culture, and that any culture that does not fit into the “civilized” category is a lesser culture ties directly into the observation of Neandertals, Africans, and Native Americans as having cultures and traits that do not conform to the lifestyles of white Europeans.