I want to unmask the lie that evolution denial is about religion and recognize that at its core, it is a form of white supremacy that perpetuates segregation and violence against Black bodies. Under the guise of “religious freedom,” the legalistic wing of creationists loudly insists that their point of view deserves equal time in the classroom. Science education in the U.S. is constantly on the defensive against antievolution activists who want biblical stories to be taught as fact. In fact, the first wave of legal fights against evolution was supported by the Klan in the 1920s. Ever since then, entrenched racism and the ban on teaching evolution in the schools have gone hand in hand. In his piece, What We Get Wrong About the Evolution Debate, Adam Shapiro argues that “the history of American controversies over evolution has long been entangled with the history of American educational racism.”
At the heart of white evangelical creationism is the mythology of an unbroken white lineage that stretches back to a light-skinned Adam and Eve. In literal interpretations of the Christian Bible, white skin was created in God's image. Dark skin has a different, more problematic origin. As the biblical story goes, the curse or mark of Cain for killing his brother was a darkening of his descendants' skin. Historically, many congregations in the U.S. pointed to this story of Cain as evidence that Black skin was created as a punishment.
The fantasy of a continuous line of white descendants segregates white heritage from Black bodies. In the real world, this mythology translates into lethal effects on people who are Black. Fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible are part of the “fake news” epidemic that feeds the racial divide in our country.
For too long, a vocal minority of creationists has hijacked children’s education, media and book publishing. Statistics on creationist beliefs in the US vary. Depending on the poll, up to 40 percent of percent of adults believe that humans have always existed in their present form (i.e., they believe in an unbroken human lineage stretching back to Adam and Eve).
We have seen some progress in the classroom. From 2007 to 2019, the percentage of teachers who present evolution without a creationist alternative grew dramatically, from only 51 percent to 67 percent. But it’s still not enough. My hope is that if we make the connection between creationism and racist ideology clearer, we will provide more ammunition to get science into the classroom—and into our culture at large.
It’s common knowledge that some school boards, especially in the South, have fought long and hard to keep evolution out of school textbooks. What you might not know is how the policing of educational content morphs into what might be called “self-censorship” within the children’s book industry as a whole. Scientific findings about human origins have been slow to trickle down into books written for young people. This major omission reflects the outsize effect that science-denying voices have on the books that find their ways not just into classrooms, but also into libraries, bookstores and children's homes. Fear of economic punishment within the publishing industry creates a self-perpetuating lack of teaching materials about evolution.
If you go on Amazon and look up “children’s books on evolution” you will find about 10–15 relevant titles. This is in contrast to the hundreds of children’s books on other scientific subjects such as chemistry, astronomy and other less controversial subjects. I found only one book on evolution for preschoolers, called Grandmother Fish. The author had to self-fund the book through Kickstarter.
On the other hand, there are hundreds of children’s books available on Amazon that focus on biblical origin stories. Science deniers are pumping money into a well-funded antievolution machine. In 2007, the creationists built their own Bible-themed museum and amusement park. What they understand is that to reach young children you need music, colorful characters and celebration.
In the Adam-and-Eve scenario, the Creator bestows both physical and cultural humanity on the first people. From the get-go Adam knows how to name the animals. No one has to invent language or figure out how to make tools. Science, of course, tells us otherwise. The process of natural selection shaped our bodies and capacities. Our humanity emerged over the millennia as creative ancient people figured out the crucial skills—from storytelling to cooking to rope making—that we now take for granted.
And yet, even in the current literature about human origins that we do have, the end point of evolution is often depicted as a white man carrying a spear. This image not only eliminates our African heritage but also erases women and children from the picture. Because evolution is foundational knowledge, we need the story to be told in many different ways, by many different voices.
As we move forward to undo systemic racism in every aspect of business, society, academia and life, let’s be sure to do so in science education as well. Embracing humanity’s dark-skinned ancestors with love and respect is key to changing our relationship to the past, and to creating racial equity in the present. These ancient people made the rest of us possible. Opening our hearts to them and embracing them as heroic, fully human and worthy of our respect is part of the process of healing from our racist history.
Forget evolution—what we are facing is a Woke devolution that will turn homo sapiens into a bunch of mindless apes.
And the Culture War continues on new fronts.
Lol, even SciAm has gone woketarded.
People from Apes, or other lower forms is still a Theory.
Sorry folks, they’re still searching for the “Missing Link”.
It’s a “Theory”, albeit backed by lots of seemingly reasonable” science.
Call it what it is, a Theory.
Racists are people who are obsessed with race, make everything about race, and project their own maniacal racism onto all the people they hate.
Just like the editors of unScientific American.
So, if people don’t accept macroevolution because of a lack of credible evidence to back the hypothesis up, scientists will resort to name calling and shaming inorder to convert the masses now?
Nope. It’s a form of Christianity and recognizing where we come from. light and dark skinned alike
The only systemic racism I am aware of is affirmative action, which requires discrimination against straight, white males in favor of everybody else.
The only things consistent about progressives is their intellectual inconsistency.
Okay.
Walk up to a random Black person and tell them they were descended from Apes and see that happens.
Make sure to make a Tik Tok Video to record the action (for entertainment purposes only).
In the 1970s I was a monthly subscriber and collector of every issue of Scientific American.
Sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s I stopped. It was no longer a “science” magazine unbent by politics. The same thing happened with the Economist.
The earliest “woke” venues were some quality U.S. magazines.
If we all evolved from the accidental collision and formation of atoms, then being a white supremacist is neither good nor evil. It simply is the result of such natural formation.
What an embarrassment Scientific American has turned into. Never mind that I agree with their position on evolution - the fact that they would accuse anyone disagreeing with them of any kind of racism is disgraceful and weak. It’s a way to silence dissenting voices and suppress questions - this is politics, not science.
What isn’t considered ‘white supremacy’?
Ironic. Origin of Species is arguably a very racist work to promote white supremacy!
The original title of Darwin’s infamous book “Origins of the Species” PROVES that it is EVOLUTION which is racist in nature.
Here it is:
“On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life”
(by Charles Darwini)
Funny how that works huh???
Scientific is raciss because logic.
American is raciss because slavery.
Since the Left are the main proponents of evolution and since according to them all humans evolved from blacks (Africa), then they are admitting whites are in fact more evolved then blacks. Do they realize this implication ?
And you HAVE to acknowledge that this kind of jealousy and anger represents massive leftist “tinydick energy”.
Or prove me wrong and let’s see if the leftist whiners and haters STFU.
They won’t because…leftists have tiny dicks.
People who claim there is white privilege and white supremacy = leftist “tinydick culture”. End of story.