The Origins of ‘Racism’ – A potted history

Like all of it’s fascist peers, the British National Party likes to repeat a lie about the origins and etymology of the word, ‘racism’.

In the 2010 election manifesto, Griffin states:

The word ‘racist’, which is of loose definition, was invented by the arch Marxist Leon Trotsky in order to suppress any debate on this important subject.

This is an out and out lie, for two reasons; firstly, because there are many more early uses of the term that cannot be attributed to ‘arch Marxists’, and secondly – and more importantly – because this was not the first term of this kind used.

What Griffin and co are failing to tell you is a simple fact that makes the whole situation look very different; according to most sources of any repute, the word evolved from the earlier terms, ‘racialism’ and ‘racialist’, which were first documented in 1907 and 1917 respectively, thus making their invention obviously nothing to do with communist  Russia.

From Etymonline:

racist

1932 as a noun, 1938 as an adjective, from race (n.2); racism is first attested 1936 (from Fr. racisme, 1935), originally in the context of Nazi theories. But they replaced earlier words, racialism (1907) and racialist (1917), both often used at first in a British or South African context.

In other words, the concept of racism was obviously alive and kicking way further back that Griffin’s claim would have you believe; it is just convenient for him to reference early uses of ‘racism’ itself, and not the concept it describes, as these would make it appear that the notion was conceived by his perceived enemies, the Marxists.

A wealth of evidence suggests this is not the case at all, and that, in fact, most early cases of the use of all terms relating to what we now know as racism were in fact coined, popularised and used predominantly by racists and fascists throughout history. Notably, the origins of the word ‘racialism’ would suggest that such phrases were invented to coincide with changing attitudes towards black slavery and mistreatment in the USA and South Africa.

The Oxford English Dictionary – commonly lauded as an excellent source of etymological history – has this to say on the subject:

[f. RACE n.2 + -ISM; cf. F. racisme (Robert 1935).]

a. The theory that distinctive human characteristics and abilities are determined by race. b. = RACIALISM.

1936 L. DENNIS Coming Amer. Fascism 109 If..it be assumed that one of our values
should be a type of racism which excludes certain races from citizenship, then the
plan of execution should provide for the annihilation, deportation, or sterilization of
the excluded races.

1938 E. & C. PAUL tr. Hirschfeld’s Racism xx. 260 The apostles and energumens of
racism can in all good faith give free rein to impulses of which they would be
ashamed did they realise their true nature.

1940 R. BENEDICT Race: Science & Politics i. 7 Racism is an ism to which everyone
in the world today is exposed.

1952 M. BERGER Equality by Statute 236 Racism, tension in industrial,
urban areas.

1952 Theology LV. 283 The idolatry of our timeits setting up of nationalism, racism,
vulgar materialism.

1960 New Left Rev. Jan./Feb. 21/2 George Rogers saw fit to kow-tow to the incipient
racism of his electorate by including a line about getting rid of “undesirable
elements”.

1964 GOULD & KOLB Dict. Social Sci. 571/2 Racism is a newer term for the word
racialism… There is virtual agreement that it refers to a doctrine of racial supremacy.

1971 Ceylon Daily News (Colombo) 18 Sept. 8/5 Mr. Seneviratne is welcome to his
ideal of inter-racial marriages as panacea for Racism.

1972 J. L. DILLARD Black English iii. 90 In the British sailors’ reactions to the
slaves.., the very early existence of racism is as well documented as the difference in
language.

1974 M. FIDO R. Kipling 50/2 In The Story of Muhammad Din he wrote one of the
most economical and bitter attacks on British racism ever penned.

1976 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 4 Mar. A2/4 The Vatican radio said,..”Racism might have different faces but it will always be reprehensible.”

1977 M. WALKER National Front vi. 155 A strike of the Asian workers against racism
in the factory.

Bit different to what Griffin’s ‘facts’ would suggest, isn’t it?

This is textbook propaganda – manipulating and even falsifying parts of a word’s history in order to apply bias; bias which is then used to further manipulate anyone who believed the false etymology in the first place.

By claming that his political opponents invented the term, Griffin is hoping to draw attention away from the fact that it’s origins were in fact fascist. This tactic is double-edged – it not only seems to mock the ideology of Trotsky and co, but also enables Griffin to claim that ‘the left are the real fascists’. It works, as does most propaganda, by relying on the supporters to not check this ‘fact’ and find out that it is actually a blatant lie.

Interestingly, even the inherently biased and racist Sovereignty.org.uk acknowledges that Trotsky was not the inventor of the term ‘racist’, attributing it instead to American fascist Lawrence Dennis, who was indicted for sedition in 1944, for his involvement in a international Nazi conspiracy.

It says:

According to the second edition (1989) of the OED, the earliest known usage of the word “racism” in English occurred in a 1936 book by the American “fascist”, Lawrence Dennis, The Coming American Fascism.

© One Million United