Scientific Racism: Phrenology, Its Utility & Legacy.

Orson and Lorenzo Fowler were the pre-eminent spokesmen for phrenology in the U.S. during the 1830s and 40s. They zealously promoted phrenology as a practical tool for self-improvement. The advertisement above featured in the 1850 guide to Barnum's American Museum directs people to their nearby establishment, The Phrenological Cabinet, which combined a publishing house, mail-order business, and museum, the latter featuring human and animal skulls, and casts from the heads of "the most distinguished men that ever lived."

As I read the source, the line "It teaches us for what profession BY NATURE we are best qualified, and in what pursuit we will be most successful" seemed to simultaneously define both the utility of Phrenology and the danger of such "science." This science justified condemning Blacks to fieldwork and menial labor well into the 20th century.

Now React, Post-Millennial Scientific Racism:

As we study the post-Reconstruction era, I think that it is important to consider the growing role that "science" and "technology" played in the dehumanization of Blacks and general stereotyping of "undesirables" at the beginning of the last century. It is critical to note the role that science and technology continues to play in the dehumanization and "othering" of Blacks. After examining the advertisement above and reading the articles below, I want to hear you react: Describe the role that you see "science" and "technology" playing in these works. Use evidence to support your assertions. How do you respond to the post-millennial articles that examine deep seated racism and conceptions of Black female beauty?" 

1. Subliminal Experiments Uncover Deep-Seated Racism (2008)
2. Psychology Today: ‘Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?’ (2011)

Further Reading (More on Phrenology):

• Phrenology Archive, City University of New York (CUNY)
• Phrenology, The Mismeasure of Man (Gould, 1984).