Race

Speaking as a true humanitarian who sees the broader aspects of the issue, Benedict warns that racial discrimination has become a political machine, used to justify every kind of persecution and exploitation. . . . Benedict is a sane optimist, and her book is worthy of being reprinted again and again-as long as racial bigotry persists. Benedict exposes the stubborn fallacies of race prejudice and pleads for the kind of democracy that must eventually liquidate them. A tract for the times, and a genuine contribution to sound popular knowledge|An admirable book|Benedict effectively exposes the illusion that there is any scientific basis, anthropological or hereditary, for the Nazi religion of race. Benedict commands a thoroughly disciplined style which enables her to expound technical matters without heaviness or condescension. Excellent . . . It is well written and useful to the layman as well as to the scholar|A convincing refutation of the racialist position and a well-rounded statement of many aspects of our scientific knowledge concerning race. . . . In its broad outline and historic sweep the book will present new ideas to those who have already given thought to the nature of race differences. This is a clear exposition by a noted anthropologist of the distinction between race and racism. One is science; the other is propaganda. This is a distinctly worthwhile book on a timely topic. . . . Race prejudice smolders perennially and erupts periodically. . . . Benedict has written another exposure of its fallacies, but on her own showing there is little prospect that she has exorcised for good and all its evil spirit. Deserves to be widely read . . . It is soundly, sanely, and gracefully written and not written down to any assumed popular level. . . . Surely, the function of life is living according to the optimum level of our potentialities? Surely our function as social human beings is to make it possible for all our fellows so to live? Is the race problem any more complicated than that? As a physical anthropologist I believe not, and this, too, is the message of Dr. Benedict's book.

Ruth Benedict (1887-1948), a prominent American anthropologist, was a protege of Franz Boas and a contemporary (and close friend) of Margaret Mead. Benedict's other major books include Patterns of Culture and The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. She was also an accomplished poet, often writing under the pseudonym Anne Singleton.