126 lines
5.9 KiB
Markdown
126 lines
5.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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created_at: '2014-12-13T16:47:39.000Z'
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title: 'Einstein: The Negro Question (1946)'
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url: http://www.onbeing.org/program/albert-einstein-the-negro-question-1946
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author: juanplusjuan
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points: 441
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 307
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1418489259
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_juanplusjuan
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- story_8745540
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objectID: '8745540'
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year: 1946
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---
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> In the years after World War II, Albert Einstein took up the mantle of
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> confronting racism in America. He became a good friend and comrade of
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> the prominent opera singer Paul Robeson, co-chaired an anti-lynching
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> campaign, and was an outspoken [supporter of W.E.B. Du
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> Bois](https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/01/06/albert-einstein-w-e-b-du-bois-racism/).
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> But, it was in January 1946, that he penned one of his most articulate
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> and eloquent essays [advocating for the civil rights of black people
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> in
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> America](http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/04/albert-einstein-civil-rights-activist/).
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> And, as described in [Einstein on Race and
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> Racism](https://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Race-Racism-Professor-Jerome/dp/0813539528),
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> the iconic physicist equated the ghettoization of Jews in Germany and
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> segregation in America, calling racism America’s “worst disease.”
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> Originally published in the January 1946 issue of Pageant magazine,
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> Albert Einstein’s essay was intended to address a primarily white
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> readership:
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>
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> **The Negro Question**
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> by Albert Einstein
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>
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> I am writing as one who has lived among you in America only a little
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> more than ten years, and I am writing seriously and warningly. Many
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> readers may ask: “What right has he to speak about things which
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> concern us alone, and which no newcomer should touch?”
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>
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> I do not think such a standpoint is justified. One who has grown up in
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> an environment takes much for granted. On the other hand, one who has
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> come to this country as a mature person may have a keen eye for
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> everything peculiar and characteristic. I believe he should speak out
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> freely on what he sees and feels, for by so doing he may perhaps prove
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> himself useful.
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>
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> What soon makes the new arrival devoted to this country is the
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> democratic trait among the people. I am not thinking here so much of
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> the democratic political constitution of this country, however highly
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> it must be praised. I am thinking of the relationship between
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> individual people and of the attitude they maintain toward one
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> another.
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>
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> In the United States everyone feels assured of his worth as an
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> individual. No one humbles himself before another person or class.
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> Even the great difference in wealth, the superior power of a few,
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> cannot undermine this healthy self-confidence and natural respect for
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> the dignity of one’s fellow-man.
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>
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> There is, however, a somber point in the social outlook of Americans.
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> Their sense of equality and human dignity is mainly limited to men of
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> white skins. Even among these there are prejudices of which I as a Jew
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> am clearly conscious; but they are unimportant in comparison with the
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> attitude of the “Whites” toward their fellow-citizens of darker
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> complexion, particularly toward Negroes. The more I feel an American,
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> the more this situation pains me. I can escape the feeling of
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> complicity in it only by speaking out.
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>
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> Many a sincere person will answer: “Our attitude towards Negroes is
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> the result of unfavorable experiences which we have had by living side
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> by side with Negroes in this country. They are not our equals in
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> intelligence, sense of responsibility, reliability.”
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>
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> I am firmly convinced that whoever believes this suffers from a fatal
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> misconception. Your ancestors dragged these black people from their
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> homes by force; and in the white man’s quest for wealth and an easy
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> life they have been ruthlessly suppressed and exploited, degraded into
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> slavery. The modern prejudice against Negroes is the result of the
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> desire to maintain this unworthy condition.
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>
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> The ancient Greeks also had slaves. They were not Negroes but white
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> men who had been taken captive in war. There could be no talk of
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> racial differences. And yet Aristotle, one of the great Greek
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> philosophers, declared slaves inferior beings who were justly subdued
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> and deprived of their liberty. It is clear that he was enmeshed in a
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> traditional prejudice from which, despite his extraordinary intellect,
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> he could not free himself.
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>
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> A large part of our attitude toward things is conditioned by opinions
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> and emotions which we unconsciously absorb as children from our
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> environment. In other words, it is tradition — besides inherited
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> aptitudes and qualities — which makes us what we are. We but rarely
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> reflect how relatively small as compared with the powerful influence
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> of tradition is the influence of our conscious thought upon our
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> conduct and convictions.
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>
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> It would be foolish to despise tradition. But with our growing
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> self-consciousness and increasing intelligence we must begin to
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> control tradition and assume a critical attitude toward it, if human
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> relations are ever to change for the better. We must try to recognize
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> what in our accepted tradition is damaging to our fate and dignity —
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> and shape our lives accordingly.
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>
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> I believe that whoever tries to think things through honestly will
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> soon recognize how unworthy and even fatal is the traditional bias
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> against Negroes.
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>
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> What, however, can the man of good will do to combat this deeply
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> rooted prejudice? He must have the courage to set an example by word
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> and deed, and must watch lest his children become influenced by this
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> racial bias.
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>
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> I do not believe there is a way in which this deeply entrenched evil
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> can be quickly healed. But until this goal is reached there is no
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> greater satisfaction for a just and well-meaning person than the
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> knowledge that he has devoted his best energies to the service of the
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> good cause.
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