Charles Darwin a racist? Look at his involvement in the Jamaica Committee | Letters

“Most early evolutionists were racist, Darwin included,” claims your correspondent (Letters, 30 March). Mid-Victorian intellectuals can conveniently be identified as racist or anti-racist by their reactions to the 1865Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica andthe brutal reprisals of Governor John Eyre.Darwin was a leading light of the Jamaica Committee, which tried to have Eyre prosecuted, and recruited most of the leading scientists of the day. The racists organised an Eyre defence committee, led by Thomas Carlyle, Charles Dickens and John Ruskin.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 2, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Letters Tags: Charles Darwin Race issues Science Jamaica Americas World news Source Type: news