2023PROSEAwardinEuropeanHistory“Aninvaluablehistoricalexampleofthecreationofascientificconceptionofracethatisunlikelytodisappearanytimesoon.“--WashingtonPost“Revealshowprestigiousnaturalscientistsoncesoughtphysicalexplanations,invain,forasocialidentitythatcontinuestocarryenormoussignificancetothisday.“--NellIrvinPainter,authorofTheHistoryofWhitePeople“Afascinating,ifdisturbing,windowontotheoriginsofracism.“--PublishersWeekly“Toread[theseessays]istowitnessEuropeanintellectuals,intheageoftheAtlanticslavetrade,struggling,oneafteranother,tojustifyatrocity.“--JillLepore,authorofTheseTruths:AHistoryoftheUnitedStatesIn1739Bordeaux’sRoyalAcademyofSciencesannouncedacontestforthebestessayonthesourcesof“blackness.“WhatisthephysicalcauseofblacknessandAfricanhair,andwhatisthecauseofBlackdegeneration,thecontestannouncementasked.Sixteenessays,writteninFrenchandLatin,wereultimatelydispatchedfromalloverEurope.DocumentedoneachpageareEuropeanideasaboutwhoisBlackandwhy.LoomingbehindtheseessaysisthefactthatsomefourmillionAfricanshadbeenkidnappedandshippedacrosstheAtlanticbythetimethecontestwasannounced.Theessaysthemselvesrepresentabroadrangeofopinions,whichnonethelesscirculatearoundacommontheme:thesearchforascientificunderstandingofthenewconceptofrace.Moreimportant,theyprovideanindispensablerecordoftheEnlightenment-erathinkingthatnormalizedthesaleandenslavementofBlackhumanbeings.TheseneverpreviouslypublisheddocumentssurvivedthecenturiestuckedawayinBordeaux’smunicipallibrary.TranslatedintoEnglishandaccompaniedbyadetailedintroductionandheadnoteswrittenbyHenryLouisGates,Jr.,andAndrewCurran,eachessayincludedinthisvolumelaysbaretheoriginsofanti-BlackracismandcolorismintheWest.
