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A List
1/14/08
Retired SLU Prof's New Book Looks At Race & Racism In America
CANTON - The origins and development of racism in North America are traced in a
new book by St. Lawrence University Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Richard J. Perry.
'Race' and Racism: The Development of Modern Racism in America was recently
published by Palgrave Macmillan. The book explores the diverse ways in which
people in a variety of cultures have perceived, categorized and defined one
another without reference to any concept of "race." It follows the history of
American racism through slavery; the perceptions and treatment of Native
Americans; Jim Crow laws; attitudes toward Irish and Southern European
immigrants; the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II;
the civil rights era; and other topics.
In the book, Perry examines the inception and persistence of the concept
of "race," and discusses the biology of human variance, addressing the
fossil record of human evolution. Also explored are the relationship
between creationism and science; population genetics; and "race-based" medicine.
University of Michigan Professor of Anthropology C. Loring Brace, curator of
biological anthropology at the University of Michigan's Museum of Anthropology,
says of 'Race' and Racism, "Perry clearly understands that 'race' has no
scientific basis, and his treatment of racism throughout is admirable. While this
book is bound to ruffle some feathers, that is, in fact, a good thing. There are
many innovative points made not readily available in other published works, and
this is such an important subject that scholars will find this an invaluable resource."
Perry retired from St. Lawrence in 2004, after being on the faculty since
1971. He earned a B.A. in anthropology at Harvard and his M.A. and Ph.D.
in anthropology at Syracuse University. Perry has done field work on the
San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona and co-directed the St. Lawrence
University Kenya Semester program. He is the author of four other books,
Western Apache Heritage; Apache Reservation; From Time Immemorial: Indigenous
Peoples and State Systems; and Five Key Concepts in Anthropological Thinking.
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