Enlightenment antislavery coexisted with racist assumptions about Africans

Evidence

The Enlightenment, however, did not witness the abandonment of older prejudices. In both philosophical and popular writings, unflattering images of Muslims and Islam persisted. In fact, we have plenty of examples of Enlightenment philosophers who reiterated negative stereotypes even as they articulated more positive appraisals. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 161 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The fictional Englishman justified African slavery as a lesser evil until civilization arrives; Enlightenment universalism made racial exclusion the sole unjustifiable barrier to free-colored citizenship; The antislavery universalism of Grégoire inadvertently fueled planters’ fears of slave revolt (+11 more)

Related

• Enlightenment thinkers retained older anti-Muslim stereotypes (similarity 0.86)
• Enlightenment universalism made racial exclusion the sole unjustifiable barrier to free-colored citizenship (similarity 0.81)
• The fictional Englishman justified African slavery as a lesser evil until civilization arrives (similarity 0.81)
• Western definitions of Africans served domination rather than understanding. (similarity 0.81)
• The racialization of Muslims was anchored in Enlightenment-era colonial ideologies (similarity 0.80)
• Tempels’s work ended Enlightenment claims that Africans lack reason, while subtle prejudice persists (similarity 0.79)
• The Enlightenment laid the basis for modern ideas of race (similarity 0.79)
• European philosophical prejudice against Africa persists in subtle contemporary forms (similarity 0.79)
• Livingstone’s antislavery writings shaped British public opinion about Africa (similarity 0.79)
• Leading Enlightenment abolitionists also produced racist ideas (similarity 0.79)
• Enlightenment race theories spanned racist, neutral, and anti-racist positions (similarity 0.79)
• Colonialism replaced Enlightenment universalism with ideologies of inherent racial inferiority (similarity 0.78)
• Enlightenment abolitionists could hold segregationist racism and antislavery views together (similarity 0.78)
• The colonial image of Africa forced blacks into self-contempt (similarity 0.78)
• Capitalism capped the reach of Enlightenment emancipation through racialized colonial rule (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Proslavery rhetoric in revolutionary France portrayed blacks as incapable of citizenship #exemplifies (0.70)
• Pre-war Western thought deemed African belief illogical idolatry #corroborates (0.60)
• Enlightenment thinkers retained older anti-Muslim stereotypes #complicates (0.55) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 161
• Colonial racial thinking dehumanized Africans as they assimilated colonial culture #corroborates (0.50)