Nonskew2 t1_jaxkwyj wrote on March 4, 2023 at 9:10 PM

Reply to comment by bangdazap in Weekly History Questions Thread. by AutoModerator

Did he say Swedes were swarthy? Sami maybe, but not Swedes..

elmonoenano t1_jaxsxpf wrote on March 4, 2023 at 10:08 PM

There was a good /r/askhistorians about this if you're curious.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6batyz/why_would_ben_franklin_call_germans_and_swedes/

Doctor_Impossible_ t1_jay6u01 wrote on March 4, 2023 at 11:54 PM

Racism is not just about actual skin colour, but perception of that 'race'.

bangdazap t1_jazqn53 wrote on March 5, 2023 at 8:57 AM

>Which leads me to add one remark, that the number of purely white people in the world is proportionably very small. All Africa is black or tawny; Asia chiefly tawny; America (exclusive of the new comers) wholly so. And in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians, and Swedes, are generally of what we call a swarthy complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted, who, with the English, make the principal body of white people on the face of the earth.

Benjamin Franklin, “Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, People of Countries, Etc.” (1751)

Prejudice blinds you to the facts of reality I guess.