You don’t have to have ever seen the 1965 poster “The Road to Homo Sapiens”, more commonly referred to as “The March of Progress”, or to have read Darwin’s Descent of Man to know that evolutionary theory if not the root than certainly produced the fruit of racism. But what would you think if I told you Darwin’s wife’s favorite pet name for him was….
…‘Nigger’. I had to reread this line several times. It’s from an undated letter from his wife Emma to Charles not long after they were married. It closes with, “I am rather afraid my own dear Nigger will think I have forgotten my promise not to bother him, but I am sure he loves me…” This letter is found in Mrs. Darwin’s papers and I read it in The Autobiography of Charles Darwin page 237. This was a 1959 edition “With original omissions restored Edited with Appendix and Notes by his grand-daughter.” And for you Internet and/or smartphone-weaned babies, I did verify this with your authorities. Go ahead. I’ll wait while you check for yourselves.
It’s true that slavery had only been outlawed in England 5 years prior to their 1839 wedding, and the “N” word seems to have been in vogue till Charles went to meet his Maker. Still, you don’t have to look hard in English authorities of Darwin’s time to find them crowing about how soon they outlawed slavery compared to us “colonists” across the pond.
I’ve read at least two dozen books about evolution. I’ve read books about Darwin’s thought, his milieu, his worldview, but never before had I read that his wife’s pet name for him was “Nigger”! You might argue that this is his wife’s doing not his, but everyone knows you can’t have a pet name for your spouse that is despised by that spouse. I tried. Doesn’t take. Or is this one of those “they can use that term but you cannot” sort of thing? If so, they would be the first white people I know of who had that ‘privilege.’ And we know the “it was a different time” defense has been roundly rejected as an apologia for anything to do with past racism.
Therefore, I conclude that this pet name is evidence of the sustained and unapologetic racism of the Darwinian household. He is to be stricken from the atheist poster; excised from textbooks, and ne’er to be cited again.
