Even Voltaire treated first racial contact as a moment of shocking surprise

Evidence

We have seen, moreover, how different the races are who inhabit this globe, and how great must have been the surprise of the first Negro and the first white man who met” (Article: Homme). — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2281

Categorization

• XREF: Arendt uses this to show Enlightenment thinkers treating race difference as natural and surprising — connects to Orientalism’s account of how Europe naturalized its encounter with non-Europeans.