Charles Darwin Legitimized Racism
Starting with his infamous book, The Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin legitimized racism based on the theory of evolution, at one time. The complete title contains the essential phrase “preservation of favoured races” –
“On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life”
How his concept of “races” applies to humans was clarified in The Descent of Man (1871). Darwin explains –
“The sole objective of this work is to consider… the value of the differences between the so-called races of man.”
