$6.50

That's what this post will cost US readers. Canadians might pay a little more, but you won't be disappointed.

You must all run out right now and buy a copy of Harper's. The article is called "Mighty White of You - Racial Preferences Color America's Oldest Skulls and Bones," by Jack Hitt. It's about anthropology theories, the ridiculous (and constantly changing) social construct of race, how we perceive ourselves and our prehistoric ancestors, and above all, the persistence of racism - subtle but unmistakable - in every facet of our culture. It is fascinating and very entertaining. It's the kind of article that makes me grateful Sir Redsock still subscribes to Harper's.

Go. Buy. Read.

P.S. I just googled the "mighty white of you jack hitt" and found several other bloggers urging their readers to do the same - along with some highly offended junior anthropologists and white-power dudes. I promise you the story is worth $6.50, but if you'd rather send me postage, I'll send you a photocopy.

Comments

  1. Anonymous17 July 2005 at 11:14

    Can't wait to read the article. One of my current jobs is as a researcher/writer for an employer who puts out information on economic botany. Sounds cool enough, often involves reading in ethnobotany, but the main two bosses are just the sort of "whitist" types who get excited when there's a slight chance that the earliest people to come to the Americas might have been from Europe, probably because it might invalidate indigenous legal claims. If I recall correctly, the evidence for an ancient European entry into the Americas is slim indeed, consisting of a few spearpoints vaguely reminiscent of some from France and a skull or two with proportions that roughly approximate those of Japan's Ainu, who were considered somewhat Caucasoid before genetic analysis showed them to be derived from East Asians. Anyway, one of my two main bosses majored in anthropology; yet, when I even hint that Native Americans don't seem to have been as environmentally destructive as Europeans, she goes apoplectic: "They're cannibals! They slaughtered the pioneers!" I once shut her up by calmly pointing out that, as far as I know, the only people to have almost entirely wiped out three continents of people (North America, South America, and Australia) were Europeans. The Harper's article may turn out to be something I can casually leave lying open on her desk or something. By the way, if you like the Leakey book you might also enjoy "The Great Human Diasporas" by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza et al. The authors are geneticists who integrate evidence from genetics, linguistics, and archeology to reconstruct the peopling of the planet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. laura k17 July 2005 at 11:23

    Ding ding! My first sale! Yay Dean.

    The Europeans-were-here-first "evidence" (non-evidence, really) are slim pickins. From a scientific standpoint, non-existent.

    Thanks for the book recommendation, it does sound like something I would enjoy. I love multi-discipline stuff. I've heard of Cavalli-Sforza, which means he must be very famous.

    Thanks for stopping by, it's always nice to know you're reading.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FM17 July 2005 at 11:25

    oooh! how much would postage be? :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous17 July 2005 at 12:17

    I'll probably pick up a copy of Harpers at Chapters if they carry it.

    Currently im also reading Guns, Germs and Steel. Its an amazing book but i have yet to finish it.

    It very accuratly dismisses any racist theories of history and explains the movemnts of mankind from Africa to the other parts of the world. To claim that it was European ancestors who had first landed in North America is just as insane as it is impossible.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous17 July 2005 at 12:17

    Ahem. I believe you meant to say:

    Of course it would be illegal for me to send anyone a copy.

    Completely unrelated to that, I understand that some people like to collect envelopes with interesting postmarks. So if you send me some postage, I can send you an envelope with my local postmark for you. I'll just fill it with whatever random paper happens to be lying around.

    ReplyDelete
  6. laura k17 July 2005 at 12:21

    Slim Bacon: Guns, Germs & Steel is one of my favorite books! I am always recommending it to people.

    I found it useful to keep an atlas handy while I was reading it. My sense of geography is poor and this helped a lot.

    Wrye: It's not illegal to photocopy an article for private use. Believe me, as a writer, I am very sensitive to copywright laws. A copy for a friend here and there falls well within "fair use" guidelines.

    I think the editors of Harper's would be quite pleased - and magazine writers don't get royalties, so I'm not ripping off Mr Hitt.

    ReplyDelete
  7. David Cho17 July 2005 at 16:14

    Sounds interesting, but I am not finding it on amazon.com.

    ReplyDelete
  8. laura k17 July 2005 at 16:36

    I think you need a real live bookstore, not the online variety.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous17 July 2005 at 18:13

    It is a great article. I picked up that copy last week. Worth a read, definitely. The article on war injuries, their cost and how they've changed over the years, is equally brilliant.

    Thanks for posting that and spreading the word.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous17 July 2005 at 18:35

    Awwww, but being coy and speaking in hypotheticals has so much more humour value...

    Wait. Magazine writers don't get royalties?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous17 July 2005 at 18:47

    Just read it. Thank you for recommending that. He put into words a lot of the frustrations I've been feeling about the discussions of this topic. And his "I'm a direct descendent of Charlemagne" line is hilarious. A great writer. So much to comment on, but I especially liked how he contrasted the language used to discuss a skeleton presumed to be white with one presumed to be Asiatic/Native American. I'm currently reading a book about early Spanish entries into central Texas and the indigenous people they found ("The Native Americans of the Texas Edwards Plateau, 1582-1799" by Maria F. Wade) and am struck by the European habit of saying a region was uninhabited right after they'd listed all the indigenous groups they'd encountered - "supernumerary hordes" apparently. I wish Hitt had gone more into the reasons that some of the North American anthros dismissed South American pre-Clovis sites like Monte Verde and Pedra Furada. I know some of the questions surrounding Monte Verde, but I'd like to know why some of the whites-first types became disinterested. Could it have been because the South American sites couldn't be easily identified as European-ish but might more likely have been Asiatic, Polynesian, or Australoid? Hitt's musings on the malleability of race made me want to reread both Sally Morgan's "My Place" and Stephen Jay Gould's "The Mismeasure of Man", but since you sent me to the bookstore for this but weren't there to help control my book-buying impulses I doubt I'll have time to reread anything in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Crabbi17 July 2005 at 21:38

    Thanks for letting us know about this. I'll get a copy of Harper's this week. I have yet to get to Guns, Germs and Steel, which I bought several months ago..my pile is piling up. So many books to read!

    ReplyDelete
  13. laura k18 July 2005 at 05:11

    Bar none one of the top news magazines ever produced.

    I agree. The quality of writing turns me green with envy.

    Magazine writers don't get royalties?

    Nope. We are paid by the word or by the article, a flat fee.

    I wish Hitt had gone more into the reasons that some of the North American anthros dismissed South American pre-Clovis sites like Monte Verde and Pedra Furada.

    Word length. Much to cover and, even in Harper's, not unlimited space.

    Hitt's musings on the malleability of race made me want to reread both Sally Morgan's "My Place" and Stephen Jay Gould's "The Mismeasure of Man", but since you sent me to the bookstore for this but weren't there to help control my book-buying impulses I doubt I'll have time to reread anything in the near future.

    LOL! I am actually quite good at controlling book-buying impulses, which is why Redsock shops online without me!

    I haven't read that SJG book, but I plan to. He was terrific, plus a New Yorker and a great baseball fan. I once saw him on the subway.

    I have yet to get to Guns, Germs and Steel, which I bought several months ago..my pile is piling up. So many books to read!

    It's endless - but that's a good thing.

    Crabbi, I hope you'll make GG&S a priority. For me, it was one of those rare books that permanently changed my understanding of the world. I look forward to reading Jared Diamond's current book, Collapse, when it's out in pb.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Niobium18 July 2005 at 14:21

    I'll send you postage, just email me the address.

    n1obium at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete

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