Contemporary Racial Moods

The Reith Lectures

BBC

Society & Culture, Science

4.2 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 21 November 1965

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Robert Gardiner discusses the issues of race in his Reith series entitled 'A World of Peoples'. Born in Ghana, he has worked as the Head of the Ghana Civil Service, is a former Deputy Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Africa and has authored the book 'Development of Social Administration'.

In this lecture entitled 'Contemporary Racial Moods', Robert Gardiner explains why the concept of race resists precise definition and why race theorists persist in searching for proofs of racial differences in mentality. He explores myths which purport to explain racial differences by investigating past history and current frustrations. He provides examples of misconceived ideas by both white and black people and asks, how much of the colour conflict is due to fear? And if these fears were gone, would there be a chance of solving racial problems?

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a podcast from the archives of the BBC Reith Lectures.
0:04.8	This lecture in the series World of Peoples, given by Robert Gardner, was originally broadcast in 1965.
0:12.6	The title of this year's Reith Lectures is A World of Peoples, their theme, race relations.
0:21.6	The speaker is Robert Gardner, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
0:28.8	His subject in today's talk is contemporary racial moods.
0:34.7	There is literally a multitude of myths and dogmas which purport to explain racial differences.
0:42.6	They range from biblical explanations to zoological classifications.
0:48.1	As one explanation loses its novelty or its power to convince, another emerges.
0:54.9	The persistence of race theorists is astonishing.
0:59.2	Why do they go to such lengths to find proof for what they obviously take for granted?
1:05.2	The concept of race resists precise definition.
1:09.7	All the same, the layman knows perfectly well
1:12.7	that there are certain major human groups
1:15.7	that differ noticeably from each other,
1:18.7	even though there are also noticeable differences
1:21.5	between members of any one of these groups.
1:26.2	Racism begins with the attempt to attach values to real or imaginary differences,
1:32.7	and the attempt plums the depth of absurdity when it produces statements like these.
1:39.0	Races which are hairy are inferior to and less human than those which are free from body hair.
1:47.1	Thick lips are more human than thin lips because apes have thin lips.
1:52.6	Straight, lank and wavy hair is more semen than woolly hair.
1:59.0	Where does this kind of analysis take us, if it can be honoured with that name?
	...

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