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Enslaved Servant
This painting by the French artist Largillière portrays the reality of a societal structure based on theories of pseudoscientific racism formulated in government-sanctioned academies. A black child is visible in the back, wearing a hinged metal slave collar. French families with wealth derived from the slave trade owned slaves in their own homes. Additionally, so did monarchs and aristocrats, personal servants were not as rare as it may seem. -
The Hierarchy of Races
Pictured is the German physician Blumenbach's classification of human races, of which he claimed there were 5. His teachings in comparative anatomy included a description of sixty human crania. He was the first to use the term Caucasian -- referring to people of European origin. Further anatomical study led him to the conclusion that Africans were inherently different, thus inferior, to White Europeans. His ideas were adopted by other researchers who encourage scientific racism. -
The British Empire
Pictured is an elaborately decorated world map by Walter Crane, glorifying the late 19th c. British Empire. The words "Freedom, Fraternity, Federation" are placed along the map's top margin, but the rest of the map implies the exact opposite. Britannia (female personification of Britain) is seen on top of the world, ruling over her subjects: India is identified with an elephant while Australia is identified with a kangaroo etc. This is an obvious peace of Imperialist propaganda. -
Human Zoo
Pictured is the public display of African indigenous people regarded as 'natural' or 'primitive', and therefore showcased on display in an "ethnological exposition" in Paris. Africans were treated like animals, the existence of such zoos is proof of just how broken our society was and the despicable mindset that majority of Europeans had, viewing non-Caucasians as if they are 'less human'. -
Genealogical Chart
Displayed is a poster summarizing the new Nazi Nuremberg Race Laws in Germany. The family tree graphic includes an "Aryan" family in red and a Jewish family in blue. Marriage (Ehe) between Aryans and Jews was forbidden (verboten) and marriages between people with Jewish ancestors were subject to government approval. The statement at the bottom reads "Maintaining the purity of blood ensures the survival of the German people". -
Antisemitic Children's Book
Exhibited is a page out of a children's book published in Nazi Germany titled "Der Giftpilz" or, "The Poisonous Mushroom". The book's central analogy compares Jews to a poisonous mushroom, hidden among other mushrooms that it may resemble, but the poisonous one is extremely dangerous and must be removed from the rest. A sentence in the book reads: "Just as it is very difficult to tell the poisonous from the edible mushrooms, it is difficult to recognize Jews as thieves and criminals..."