The piece contradicts itself. Buffon is excused as an environmental determinist, hence a non-racist and points to a long history of. e. determinism in antiquity. But condemns ancients for racism DESPITE their embrace of e. determinism. 1/
-
This Tweet is unavailable.
-
-
Replying to @jpjjr1961 @adamgurri and
It also overstates Benjamin Isaac's claim who does NOT claim "racism was invented in antiquity"--he carefully labels it "proto-racism." And, it should be noted that Isaac is almost alone among classicists in holding this position. 2/
2 replies 0 retweets 3 likes -
I explicitly say. "The racism common to the ancient world was not modern racism" I also say Buffon's racism is not .modern racism.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @MarkKoyama @jpjjr1961 and
So why use the word racism for both or what do you see as the difference? In the Roman Empire we see manumitted slaves rising to the highest rank. Perhaps we can refer to Peter Temin's comparison of slave systems in ancient Rome and the antebellum South?
2 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @postdiscipline @jpjjr1961 and
I think I am clear in distinguishing between racist thinking (something we would condemn as racist) and which pre-dates the Enlightenment and modern racism (or scientific racism) which is more accurately dated to 19th century.
4 replies 0 retweets 1 like
For the sake of clarity, it's useful to describe that earlier thinking as xenophobia rather than racism.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.