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More interesting to me is that it was written in 1890 - which doesn't make it "not racist", but it's about a half century before the word "Aryan" acquired its c
by Ancapistani 5y ago
More interesting to me is that it was written in 1890 - which doesn't make it "not racist", but it's about a half century before the word "Aryan" acquired its current connotations.
I'm going to have to spend some time at some point learning about the history of that word and concept prior to the Nazis.
- jcranmer 5y agoSo this is using "Aryan" in exactly the sort of manner that the Nazis did--referring to the Indo-European (white) "race" as Aryans. The racial theories of the Nazis actually originate in the mid-1800s, although during and after World War II, these theories fell out of fashion quickly. The term itself comes from the self-demonym of Indo-Iranian peoples (ultimately from Sanskrit), and Indo-Iranian has generally replaced the term 'Aryan' in scholarly contexts to avoid the racial connotations of the Nazis.
- gumby 5y agoAnd of course the country name itself, Iran, is just that: "Aryan".
- Symbiote 5y agoUsing or not using the word Aryan isn't particularly relevant. The ideas themselves are racist. I would quote bits, but you can pick any sentence of the original quote.
- mshockwave 5y agoagree, whether it's Aryan or not, domination by a single race is purely racism.