CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND RACE
In: Commentary, Band 23, Heft 2, S. 179-186
ISSN: 0010-2601
While the expose of racist theories has done much good in the field of ethnic relations, soc sci'ts should not forget that the mere denial of race as a factor in accounting for the cultural heterogeneity of mankind still leaves that heterogeneity unexplained. 3 other hypo's to account for such diff's have been advanced. The views of representative advocates are presented for (1) environmentalism, (2) evolutionism, & (3) the historical approach. With respect to (1), the hard fact is that quite diff cultures exist within the same physical milieu & similar cultures arise in contrasting environments. Theory (2) actually leaves the central question of cultural diff's untouched, (3) attributes diff cultures to diff's in the experiences of their carriers. The failure to explain cultural diff's in cultural terms has meant that racism could be combatted only negatively, & only on its own biological ground, since no positive alternative was offered that provided a better explanation of cultural diff's. The best early organized expression of the historical point of view is to be found in certain of Hume's essays. What particularly distinguishes this analysis of the problem is its insistence on regarding cultural diff's as having come to be in the course of certain classifiable historical experiences of contact & communication. J. A. Fishman.