The Archive · 1937

RACIAL MIXTURE Some Questions for Dr

To the Editor of the "Norrt-Cuixa Dany News Sm—Dr, Wu Lien-teh, well-known particularly for his plague research work, recently. spoke on racial mixture.' In his speech he expressed, among other things, the pellet that in many eases the product of a mixed union' was superior to that of the pure stock. "As nowadays the amal-Hamation of races is making great progress in the big cities, this ques ion tg of great interest, and it seems important to me thatit should be dealt with from another standpoint, lee sides the one represented by Dr.

hell space ofa lets sua El doen ge ta cover the whale proven, f'n gong Sing out oe tie pant the rent res early ditions trad ti 5 REE minus to be de Although many people still uphold that men are equal by birth and that environment in gonerd and school education in parlicwar play an imypertant part, nobody will deny. that the Inherited mental qualities are even more important. For even the Best. school education and the most favourable environment will never succeed in making an eminent man out of a mediocre one. While the other side, q man with eminent inherited qualities wilt always make food, in spite of unfavourable environment. There are so many examples on record that names need not be mentioned.

This is true for the human races as well as for individuals: The Europeans, the Ohinese, the Indians, the Ancient Mexicans and many other races have produced great -elvilizations, whereas other nations are Known to have stayed behind, with a very backward culture, og, the AUStralian natives, the South Afcican negroes, And that happened in coun-{ries and In climates which are no the way of progress. civilization, as has been proved by their recent development, 'There Is no doubt therefore that we must ascribe to the European Chinese a very high capacity for developing " civilization, while the 'Australian natives and' the blacks possess that faculty ina very low degree only. In this sense we may call some races superior to, more Valuable than," the others, So our first question is answered' in' the negative: not all races are culturally equal.

Atter this statement we may ap: proach the second question, viz, if half-breeds are really superior" 40 the pure stock whose products they are. "According {0 our present Knowledge, we may. in case of any racial mixture, expect that the half breed in some qualities resembles hig father, in. others his mother, #0 that in general appearance he stands between his parents, the prevailing of paternal, resp. maternal qualities being due to the dominant, resp. recessive character of the qualities, part it Ig just accidental.

Corresponding to this theory are the results of researches that, many years ago, were made on the mixed population of Rehoboth, which composed of bastards from Europeans fand Hottentots. Many of those half-Loreeds possess higher mental quallties than the Hottentots but none of them is Superior to' an average European. If Dr. Wu, for an example, points at the fact, that the mulattos have produced more prominent men than the negroes, this is quite what was to be expeded, namely that in these cases the mulattos "have inhherited some of the higher properties from the Europeans. But if the average mulattos are superior to the average Europeans among their progenitors, that is the great ques tion, which certainly "must be answered in the negative.

Dr. Wu does not let us know it the half-breeds of Hawaii surpass not only the indigenous natives but also the Chinese, in their physical and psychical qualities.

From all this we see that in case of amalgamation of two racial groups fof unequal culture, the _half-breeds stand above the lower race, but do not equal the qualities of the higher race. In a complete fusion of a higher race with a lower race, the result will be an Intermediate the superior individuals of the pure stock will disappear and be replaced by the Inferior halt-breeds. But it certainly cannot be the end and aim the development of mankind that the various highly civilized races should make way fo a less prominent Matters are a little different i two races of a high standard intermarry The products of such q mixture may combine valuable qualities of both races, so that psychically highly-developed halt-breeds may be the result, who belong neither to the one nor to the other race, standing, 0 to-say, between the races.

(Continued on page 436)

Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.

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