Discovery Institute Co-Sponsors Debate on Darwin and Scientific Racism at African American History Museum
On Thursday, October 28 the world’s largest museum of African American history will host a debate exploring the impact of Darwin’s theory on eugenics and scientific racism. Organized by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, “Darwin’s Legacy: Scientific Breakthrough or Breakdown?” is co-sponsored by Discovery Institute and WLQV-AM 1500. Moderator for the event is author and broadcast journalist Edward Foxworth.
“Too often the serious connections between Darwinian ideology, eugenics, and scientific racism are simply ignored,” says Discovery Institute senior fellow Dr. John West, one of the featured speakers at the upcoming event. “The Charles Wright Museum is to be commended for sponsoring a forum to explore this topic head-on.” Dr. West is author of Darwin Day In America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science.
Held in conjunction with the museum’s LUCY: The Story of Human Origins exhibition, the “Darwin’s Legacy” event will feature four scholars with four different views of the relationship between scientific racism the advancement of Darwinian evolution.
In addition to Dr. West, speakers include Dr. Morris Goodman, distinguished professor with the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics at the Wayne State University School of Medicine; Dr. Damon Salesa, associate professor in the History Department, the Program in American Culture, and Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies at the University of Michigan; and Dr. Jerry Bergman, professor of physics, biology and chemistry at Northwest State Community College in Archbold, Ohio.
The Charles H. Wright Museum describes itself as “the world’s largest institution dedicated to the African American experience” and houses over 30,000 artifacts and archival materials, including the Blanche Coggin Underground Railroad Collection and the Harriet Tubman Museum Collection.
The event will take place on Thursday, Oct. 28th from 7-9 pm in the museum’s state-of-the-art General Motors Theater, located at 315 East Warren Ave., Detroit, MI. The cost is $8 for museum members ($10 for non-members) and museum admission is included in ticket price. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/131800.
For more information, please contact the museum at (313) 494-5817.