Bio-Psychological Equality

Boas in old age on the cover of Time MagazineBoas argued (and did experiments to show) that biology played no role in culture.

All differences between groups are the result of their cultural-historical experiences. There are no meaningful biological differences between groups and no superior or inferior groups.

Boas wrote and spoke extensively on this topic. He had a large effect on W.E.B. Du Bois (and vice versa) and on the early NAACP. His arguments were used by the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education.

Next: Boas and ethnocentrism

Cover, Time Magazine, May 11, 1936, Cover Credit: R. H. Hoffman
For more information about Franz Boas, see Herbert S. Lewis's essay "The Passion of Franz Boas" American Anthropologist 103(2): 447-467. 2001. available by clicking here (not required, will only work from on-campus computers or with TX State library login)