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A portrait of Douglass, a dark-skinned Black man with kinky hair and wearing a suit and coat.
Portrait of Frederick Douglass. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Frederick Douglass challenges "scientific racism."

1854

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Portrait of Frederick Douglass. (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Douglass argues against racist ideas of biological differences that are based on notions of "genetic inferiority," asserting that racial differences are instead based on social and economic conditions. He challenges scientists and scholars, such as Samuel G. Morton, who in the mid-1800's is serving as president of the national leading scientific societies in Philadelphia. Douglass challenges the use of science to condone chattel slavery, calling it a form of genocide towards Black people.