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In August of 1896, a book titled The Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro, written by Frederick Hoffman, hit the streets of America.. Hoffman was a statistician for Prudential Insurance. He wrote the book to justify higher life insurance premiums charged to African Americans at that time. Here is his reason:
“All the tables for various states and cities confirm the census data and show without exception that the criminality of the negro exceeds that of any other race of any numerical importance in this country.”
In this book, Hoffman used the racial proportion argument to base his claims of black criminality. His claim was that due to traits inherent to blacks, the black race was dying off faster, was more violent, committed more crime, and had a higher rate of illegitimate birth rates than whites. Please remember that his study was published in 1896, and in 1896, black codes, vagrancy laws, and convict leasing were in full effect. But that didn’t matter to Hoffman; blacks simply had a natural propensity for crime and immoral behavior.
He presented what is now the age-old claim of high black violent crime, illegitimacy and rape. Never mind that in 1896 a black person could get accused of crimes they did not commit, get arrested, tried, and found guilty even when evidence showed they were innocent of the crime. He even denies that race had anything to do with lynchings. Black leaders of that time almost immediately criticized his findings.
W.E.B. DuBois wrote a scathing critique of Hoffman’s work in a review published in the January 1897 volume of “Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.” Dubois found severe errors in Hoffman’s work. He begins by questioning the source Hoffman used for his analysis, the Eleventh Census of the United States.
“In the Eleventh Census, Mr. Hoffman expresses great faith, and thinks it as reliable as any of the previous enumerations. There nevertheless exists in the minds of many scholars grave doubts as to the accuracy of a large part of this census, and a disposition to base few important conclusions on its results. To this extent, therefore, many of Mr. Hoffman’s conclusions will be discounted. The anthropological material collected at war-time is of undoubted value, if, as Dr. Gould himself points out, the student remembers that they relate to one sex only, and to the most healthful years. Finally, in all deductions drawn from the vital statistics of large cities, the student must know that only in recent years are these figures reliable, and that they give little or no clue to conditions in the country where over three-fourths of the Negroes live.”
In his review, Dubois found numerous errors in sampling and logic. He points out Hoffman’s mistakes in understanding the impact of slavery on blacks and the response young blacks had at that time to the obstacles put in front of them due to white racism. Hoffman argued that what was happening was due to traits inherent in the black race. Dubois argued that circumstances and conditions were the cause. His argument boiled down to this: the root cause of the problems blacks faced was white racism.
Hoffman raised the issue of illegitimacy, just like some whites do today. However, Dubois contrasted the illegitimacy rates of American blacks presented by Hoffman to rates in European cities. Dubois debunked Hoffman’s claim by showing that black illegitimacy rates in the American cities Hoffman used for his study were lower than, Paris, Rome, Munich, Vienna, Stockholm, Paris, and Brussels.
Frederick Hoffman, “The Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro” pg. 228, Race traits and tendencies of the American Negro : Hoffman, Frederick L. (Frederick Ludwig), 1865-1946 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
W.E.B. Du Bois, “Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. By Frederick L. Hoffman, F.S.S.” [Review]. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, v. 9 (January 1897): pp.127-133., Review of Hoffman's Race Traits :: W E B Du Bois . org
So what we see here are the same beliefs about blacks that are expressed by many whites today. We read that stuff in THIS forum consistently then we get told how we should not blame whites now for what their ancestors did. Well, you guys have expressed the same beliefs as your ancestors so:
When will White People Stop Doing the Same Things They Did in the Past?
“All the tables for various states and cities confirm the census data and show without exception that the criminality of the negro exceeds that of any other race of any numerical importance in this country.”
In this book, Hoffman used the racial proportion argument to base his claims of black criminality. His claim was that due to traits inherent to blacks, the black race was dying off faster, was more violent, committed more crime, and had a higher rate of illegitimate birth rates than whites. Please remember that his study was published in 1896, and in 1896, black codes, vagrancy laws, and convict leasing were in full effect. But that didn’t matter to Hoffman; blacks simply had a natural propensity for crime and immoral behavior.
He presented what is now the age-old claim of high black violent crime, illegitimacy and rape. Never mind that in 1896 a black person could get accused of crimes they did not commit, get arrested, tried, and found guilty even when evidence showed they were innocent of the crime. He even denies that race had anything to do with lynchings. Black leaders of that time almost immediately criticized his findings.
W.E.B. DuBois wrote a scathing critique of Hoffman’s work in a review published in the January 1897 volume of “Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.” Dubois found severe errors in Hoffman’s work. He begins by questioning the source Hoffman used for his analysis, the Eleventh Census of the United States.
“In the Eleventh Census, Mr. Hoffman expresses great faith, and thinks it as reliable as any of the previous enumerations. There nevertheless exists in the minds of many scholars grave doubts as to the accuracy of a large part of this census, and a disposition to base few important conclusions on its results. To this extent, therefore, many of Mr. Hoffman’s conclusions will be discounted. The anthropological material collected at war-time is of undoubted value, if, as Dr. Gould himself points out, the student remembers that they relate to one sex only, and to the most healthful years. Finally, in all deductions drawn from the vital statistics of large cities, the student must know that only in recent years are these figures reliable, and that they give little or no clue to conditions in the country where over three-fourths of the Negroes live.”
In his review, Dubois found numerous errors in sampling and logic. He points out Hoffman’s mistakes in understanding the impact of slavery on blacks and the response young blacks had at that time to the obstacles put in front of them due to white racism. Hoffman argued that what was happening was due to traits inherent in the black race. Dubois argued that circumstances and conditions were the cause. His argument boiled down to this: the root cause of the problems blacks faced was white racism.
Hoffman raised the issue of illegitimacy, just like some whites do today. However, Dubois contrasted the illegitimacy rates of American blacks presented by Hoffman to rates in European cities. Dubois debunked Hoffman’s claim by showing that black illegitimacy rates in the American cities Hoffman used for his study were lower than, Paris, Rome, Munich, Vienna, Stockholm, Paris, and Brussels.
Frederick Hoffman, “The Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro” pg. 228, Race traits and tendencies of the American Negro : Hoffman, Frederick L. (Frederick Ludwig), 1865-1946 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
W.E.B. Du Bois, “Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. By Frederick L. Hoffman, F.S.S.” [Review]. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, v. 9 (January 1897): pp.127-133., Review of Hoffman's Race Traits :: W E B Du Bois . org
So what we see here are the same beliefs about blacks that are expressed by many whites today. We read that stuff in THIS forum consistently then we get told how we should not blame whites now for what their ancestors did. Well, you guys have expressed the same beliefs as your ancestors so:
When will White People Stop Doing the Same Things They Did in the Past?
