The Father of White Supremacy

Dear Friends,

Charles Darwin is lauded as one of the greatest investigative scientists of his day and is considered to be one of the most influential men of all time. His 1859 book On the Origin of Species presented his theories on evolution that were quickly accepted as “science.” Darwin then wrote The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex in which he examined how humans evolved from apes.  Darwin was a celebrity in the field of science and that book also was considered to be scientific fact. Darwin is known as the “Father of Evolution.” You may want to think of him as the “Father of White Supremacy.”

Charles Darwin begins The Descent of Man by theorizing that the laws governing the evolution of man must coincide with the “laws” governing the evolution of the “lower animals.” He writes that “at some future period..the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate the savage races throughout the world.” Darwin was convinced that the white “civilized races” would exterminate the less evolved and more “ape-like” Negroes. He believed that the Negro and Aboriginal Australians (using Darwin's terms) were closer in appearance to the gorilla, (p.521) and the Negro was a “sub-species” somewhere in the evolutionary lineage between the Caucasian and the ape. In addition to these “scientific” race theories, Darwin also wrote that “The average of mental power in man must be above that of woman and man has ultimately become superior to woman.”

Darwin’s closest student, biologist Thomas Huxley, helped to expand Darwin’s theories by writing, “It may be quite true that some Negroes are better than some white men; but no rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average Negro is the equal, still less the superior, of the white man.” Huxley advanced Darwin’s theory that the Negro had mental faculties closer to the ape than to the more evolved superior Caucasian. He wrote, “..the highest places in the hierarchy of civilization will assuredly not be within the reach of our dusky cousins.” As Darwin’s student and a fellow scientist, Huxley’s expansion of Darwin’s ideas were also recognized as “scientific facts.”

According to the “brilliant” scientists, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution “proved” that some groups of humans are superior to other groups. That’s the dogma and sin of White Supremacy that became “science” 150 years ago when God’s Creation was explained by atheist scientists instead of by theologians. The Descent of Man is still used by White Supremacists today because.. it’s their “science.” But Darwin’s racist “science” is not the Word of God.

There is one human race that God created. He created male and female in His image. Genesis 1:27 All of humanity was created from Adam and Eve and as we bear their image, we bear the image of our Heavenly Father. 1 Cor 15:45-49 In God’s Kingdom there is no distinction between people groups. Romans 10:12-13 In Christ, even the minor distinctions between us as individuals fade away. Gal 3:27-29 

The Bible does refer to people groups who have different shades of skin and hair color but it was not until the 1700's that society assigned race labels to people according to their skin color. The Bible refers to different families, tribes, nations and the languages they speak, but God sees all people as one people that the Bible calls “man” (in this context used as a generic term for both sexes.)

Our DNA shows that God created all humans to be 99.5% alike and the .5% difference is caused by natural genetic variation. Society likes to use skin color as the separator of “races,” but the skin color of European Caucasians range from pale white to a very dark brown. Darwin’s conclusions about skin color being a marker of how far we’ve evolved from apes are nonsense. 

The bottom line is that there is only one race – the human race. God gives life and breath to all and He has made “from one blood” every person who has ever dwelled on this earth. Acts 17:25-26 The sin of racial hatred didn’t start with Darwin but his evil theory of white “superiority” over other “races” needs to end. Some churches need to teach the reality of God’s creation. It’s one blood. One race.

In the news last week, Dylaan Roof appealed his death conviction for murdering nine people during a Bible study at the Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. When we first heard about those horrific murders in 2015, we were stunned to hear his ELCA Lutheran pastor describe Roof as a committed Christian who was a member of the church and who regularly attended youth camps and worship services. 

White supremacy is vehemently denounced by Christian believers and yet, Roof had been taught to hate African Americans believing Darwin's "science" that they were of a race inferior to his. Did he not know that the blood he shed that day was the exact same that runs through his own veins? That he was killing his brothers and sisters in the Lord? Roof’s church denomination has responded to racism in the church with a zealous focus on political activism but today’s Critical Race Theory doesn’t unite people groups, it divides them. Churches need to teach the Word of God. There is one blood. One race. Period.  to be continued...