Yerkes: Should history soft pedal racism and sexism?
As a group dedicated to ending the use of primates in medical testing, the Primate Freedom Project has many reasons to blast the work of Emory’s Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
But is this a valid rationale for an attack?
In a new press statement, the Primate Freedom Project goes after the science center’s namesake, Robert Yerkes, whose work and conclusions on IQ testing and race are certainly inflammatory (Much of the IQ findings have been discredited by science today.)
I often argue with my music-loving husband about this issue as related to artists and musicians. Should abhorrent political and personal views factor into evaluations of art?
I think this raises a real question for educators. When you teach historical icons such as Thomas Jefferson, do you talk about their less savory aspects?
I understand the context of the times, but even in Jefferson’s era there were enlightened voices questioning slavery and condemning the exploitation of women slaves.
Here is the statement from the Primate Freedom Project on Yerkes:
It should come as no surprise that people who can use and abuse primates and other nonhumans in laboratory settings can just as easily have the same contemptuous feelings and beliefs for members of their own species.
Case in point is Robert M. Yerkes.
You’ll find Yerkes’ name proudly emblazoned on Emory University’s primate center but what Emory Univ. does not share is that Robert Yerkes was a racist. Yerkes was well-known for his support of eugenics and proudly supported the position that certain people were inferior to others and should be sterilized.
In Yerkes’ New World of Science, pp 376-377, 1920 you’ll find the following:
“A second fact which was brought into clear relief by the wholesale examining of colored and white men in the draft is the intellectual inferiority of the negro. Quite apart from educational status, which is utterly unsatisfactory the negro soldier is of relatively low grade intelligence. The accompanying table presents the contrast of white with black in respect to the distribution of intelligence. This also is in the nature of a lesson, for it suggests that education alone will not place the negro on a par with its Caucasian competitors.”
In another of Yerkes’ books, Army Mental Tests, page 30, Yoakum and Yerkes, please find the following:
“The comparison of negro with white recruits reveals markedly lower mental ratings for the former. A further significant difference based on geographical classification has been noted in that the norther negroes are mentally much superior to the southern.”
On the day that the first African American US President received the Nobel Peace Prize, you have to ask why Emory University would name a building in honor of a racist?
This is a volatile topic but I think it is a quandary for schools. (Many of the public statues and plaques in Georgia would come down if we used racist views as a disqualifier for such recognitions.)
Please be respectful if you choose to comment. And I hope you do as this is a complex topic with many layers.
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24 comments Add your comment
jim d
October 12th, 2009
11:17 am
Reel em in Mo.
Tony
October 12th, 2009
11:43 am
Following the logic presented in this statement, we would have to remove honors given to every leader of the past because of racism. Lincoln was racist but that hardly gets a mention anymore. All of the early leaders of the United States were racist. For census reasons, black Americans were not counted at the same rate as whites. This practice continued for many years and was condoned by Lincoln.
Personally, I believe it is important to include the harsh facts when examining history. If we fail to include all the nitty-gritty, we are setting ourselves up for more of the same in the future.
Further, I believe it is necessary to have the difficult conversations based on current trends. One of the dilemmas faced in our school is with the weaker academic performance of black students. To better support our students, we have engaged the community in discussions about this concern and we have gotten support from the African-American community.
When it comes to the value of art, that is in the eye of the beholder. We should not use public funding mechanisms to support bad art just for its own sake. Let the artists find supporters who enjoy their styles and buy the products. As a musician, I have heard some really horrible music presented in the name of art. The junk fades away and the good stuff hangs around.
Yerkes: Should history soft pedal racism and sexism? | Get Schooled | Museum And Art
October 12th, 2009
12:41 pm
[...] is the original: Yerkes: Should history soft pedal racism and sexism? | Get Schooled Connect and [...]
catlady
October 12th, 2009
12:50 pm
I agree with Tony re racism/sexism. We need to use these opportunities to TEACH. I know my kids sit wide-eyed when I tell them about my own observations, when I was their age and even older, with separate water fountains and bathrooms, and with literacy tests and poll taxes for voting. I also tell them about the colleges I could not go to, the LL baseball I couldn’t play, because I am female. Then we talk about some of the current restrictions on people in other countries.
DeKalb Conservative
October 12th, 2009
1:59 pm
I think there is alot of guilt around this topic. Its important when looking at stats, in this case averages, you’re doing just that; Looking a one statistic.
To have an adult conversation, it is important look at everything comprehensively. Look not only at the average, but also the range of scores (high to low) and also the median. The median will give additional insight that an average won’t because it also tells what quadrant most of the scores fall in.
This topic is too politically hyped. The question that needs to be posed is “why should all scores be equal in all area regardless of sex or race?”
Jebs
October 12th, 2009
2:59 pm
Tony gets it wrong again. The south wanted to count the black people as one (1) complete person during the mid 1800’s because it would inflate their population count and subsequently give them more representation in congress. Since the number of congressmen that a state has is based on population it would enable the southern states to vote for their causes, namely slaverly and state expansion. The north didn’t want to count the blacks at all since the majority of blacks lived in the south in the mid 1800’s, and they wanted to discontinue slavery but couldn’t get the votes to do so. As a compromise congress decided to count the blacks as 3/5th of a person, but I hope you can see that it would have been much better for the black people if they weren’t counted at all prior to the 13th amendment being passed in 1865. People still use the “less then a whole person” arguement without really knowing the history behind it.
Ed Johnson
October 12th, 2009
3:14 pm
First, let’s get over the belief that “race” is real. It is not. It is just a social construct, albeit one with insidious and damaging consequences.
Now, without “race” there cannot be “racism,” obviously. What is so conveniently called “racism” is but a form competition framed to rationalize self-worth to the extreme extent of exterminating and enslaving other human beings. It is but win-lose competitive behavior that plays out is so many other ways today, some seemingly not harmful. For example, much of schooling teaches getting ahead at the expense of others with rationalization rather than by working together with bonds of humanness.
There are those who think and behave as if the Civil Rights Movement was a competition, that certain people won and certain people lost, and that it is the winners’ turn, now.
It is an absolute puzzlement that some people embrace and perpetuate “race” and “racism” instead of actively, madly, and profoundly casting it off.
Might this help: http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm
DeKalb Conservative
October 12th, 2009
3:15 pm
@ Jebs
What does the 3/5’s Compromise (political) have to do with performance on test’s and abilities (science)?
Atlanta Native
October 12th, 2009
3:18 pm
“On the day that the first African American US President received the Nobel Peace Prize, you have to ask why Emory University would name a building in honor of a racist?” is a complete non-sequitor. It is an attempt to attack the program by discrediting the name on a building and accuse people at Emory of being racist by implication. (Or speciesist, which I expect to start hearing soon). Also, Emory is not naming it that at this time, it was already named.
When Robespierre renamed Notre Dame in Paris “the Church of Reason” did the sins committed by churchmembers in the past in the name of the church magically vanish? Did the mass re-naming last? No.
Should this be brought to light? Yes. The context of the times in which one did one’s life work are important in understanding it. Don’t throw out the bad to “cleanse” the good. However, one must remember that eugenics and social darwinism were very much en vogue at one time. The scientific community had embraced both theories and there was much talk about “improving” the human race. We all know how that went, especially in Germany – a country that has been recently been touted as having universal healthcare since the 1880’s.
Should Emory change the name to assuage these people who are against their research? Only if they want to emulate Neville Chamberlain and let the camel’s nose under the tent. Either end the research completely or leave things as they are, but Emory should not try to “tidy up” the views held by Yerkes.
Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
Atlanta Native
October 12th, 2009
3:21 pm
Jebs,
The three-fifths compromise is found in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution:
“ Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. ”
Not the mid-1800’s, at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Are you sure you “know the history behind it”?
The Carnivore
October 12th, 2009
3:28 pm
Reality and truth are more important than revisionist history, sugarcoating, or any other attempt to disguise what was really going on in any historical period. The positive and negatives of anyone’s body of work should both be made available, without comment and without judgment. The Primate Freedom Project has no grounds to attack anyone just because political and social winds change direction from time to time.
Atlanta Native
October 12th, 2009
3:40 pm
I wrote two posts that have disappeared.
I agree with the carnivore and point to Robespierre renaming of Notre Dame the Cathedral of Reason. Stupid and did not stick.
Jebs – the 3/5’s compromise is from the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Not the mid 1800’s
Black Man
October 12th, 2009
4:09 pm
The perspective and POV by which one is viewed and judged varies by the subject doing the viewing. History is written by he who prevails.
Anytime we are looking at ones achievements and/or accomplishments or recognition of ones acheievements and/or accomplishments, we must look at the context by which they are done or given. Yes, Thomas Jefferson own slaves but does that negate the genius of his accomplishments, I say not.
The discussions of one’s greatness and shortcomings humanizes the individual; making their accomplishments relatable and possible for me to acheive something equal or greater.
Maureen Downey
October 12th, 2009
4:58 pm
AN, Both are now up. They were in the filter.
One tired American!
October 12th, 2009
5:07 pm
As a high school teacher, I teach history with all of its warts included. I agree with the previous blooger who commented this is a real opportunity to allow for genuine student inquiry and discussion. Students are very knowledgeable and user friendly especially when social studies teachers establish true frameworks where students think critically and evaluate information. This process is more beneficial than ramming content down students’ throats simply to pass end of course tests, graduation tests,or CRCTs (in grades 1-8). However, one must be careful to facilitate student inquiry based on the time period being studied rather than enforcing 21st century hindsights.
Students can handle reality. Establish a genuine classroom climate presenting viewpoints rather than indoctrination. In this way, we model the proactive citizenship we want our children to practice when they assume control of the world in the all-too-soon future.
Tony
October 12th, 2009
6:53 pm
Jebs – I’m confused. What did I get wrong?
V for Vendetta
October 12th, 2009
7:35 pm
What about topics other than race? What about the strong sexuality present in Romeo and Juliet? What about the history books that whitewash the intellectual achievements of the West in order to raise up some sort of technologically insignificant people elsewhere? This is an issue that extends well beyond race.
(I personally believe in full disclosure. We discuss the sordid details in my classroom.)
Lee
October 12th, 2009
9:12 pm
Interesting to see all these educators talking about “telling history as it occurred” and “full disclosure.”
But next January, they’ll be telling the politically correct, sanitized version of Martin Luther King while ignoring the drunken extramarital affairs, the ties to communist leaders, the instigation of riots, etc, etc.
DB
October 12th, 2009
10:35 pm
The further you move away from a historical event or a historical person, the more clouded your view of the event or the person becomes. You begin to apply your own cultural understandings and conventions to a completely different time and place, and that is NOT accurate. It is almost impossible to garner a complete understanding of a historical event, because the people reporting the event at the time had their own cultural issues to deal with, and the people reading it are also filtering it through an entirely different set of issues.
I’m not sure you can ever get to the “truth” of a matter, because even the truth shifts somewhat over time — one reason why we have new laws being made every day. Additional facts that are unearthed are always interesting and useful, and help lead to our understanding of an event or person, but it’s rare to find anyone who can study history without the blinders of their own prejudices and cultural baggage.
We tend to make heroes of our historical figures. We forget that people are usually only heroic in a very narrow slice of time — the rest of the time, they are usually an ordinary human being, making the same mistakes that the rest of us make in both their personal and professional life. Why do we demand our heroes to be perfect?
EducationCEO
October 13th, 2009
1:46 am
This is all very interesting commentary, but I curious to know how mant educators actually correlate the ‘true history’ with what is going on today in regard to public education classrooms, e.g., overrepresentation of minorities in Special Education and underrepresentation in Gifted Programs. I refuse to believe that minorities are more well-suited for remedial programs. Yes, schools have been segregated for long periods of time but they are still far from equal. Until real change, e.g., leadership, personnel, and truth about and in Education is made, then we will continue to have the same dialogue.debates about these sordid events/leaders from the past who believed that Blacks were inferior. Sadly, there are still many people today (Superintendents, teachers, etc.) who still hold to thoes beliefs.
Jean
October 13th, 2009
7:47 pm
Perhaps the point is that those who can blind, maim and kill primates just to make money are the same people who would own slaves today if it was legal. They are using the bodies of other beings for their own profit—how is that different from using the bodies of blacks 150 years ago? It’s first necessary to find a reason that another race/species is deficient so you can ‘in good conscience’ subjugate them.
SET
October 13th, 2009
8:24 pm
I see nothing wrong with a building named for Yerkes. Or for that matter, Shockley or even – (Gasp) Charles Murray.
As far as the IQ thing and blacks – well the numbers speak for themselves – and so does all the other measures such as the mortality tables, crime rates and prison percentages, HIV rates, etc etc.
Truth is truth. We do not, as a society, blame the messenger or play games with science and statistics in order to lie to ourselves, our children or anybody including black folks.
Decadent and declining civilizations lie, delude themselves and speak in Newspeak.
If you don’t like the fact that black folks or any other favored group have a lot of problems do something about it don’t cover it up.
Pey Parisi
October 14th, 2009
9:52 am
I am astonished that Emory has not changed the name of this building. If this were a confederate memorial the public outrage would be overwhelming! This just goes to show how people can make excuses for anything they want to justify. The animals who are languishing over there in those cages for 50+ years so that the “researchers” can line their pockets is just a continuation of what is wrong over there. Emory/Yerkes is built on racism, speciesism and greed.
DGV27 in chamblee
October 14th, 2009
1:53 pm
Researchers at Yerkes squander millions of taxpayer dollars on specious research every year. At the expense of tremendous pain, suffering and death of innocent non-human primates (many of whom have IQs equivalent to 3-4 year old human children and many who have been imprisoned at Yerkes for over 50 YEARS in 4×8 concrete cells). All the while producing virtually no benefit to humans. So, in that vain, I think the name of Yerkes, and the despicable legacy his name carries with it, from the insidious actions of the man himself, should be emblazoned across the evil empire that is Emory University.