The EquivocationInfectsthe Intellectuals 67call fromBookOnethatit wasthe Frankfurtschoolof culturalMarxistthought,led by
TheodorAdornoandMaxHorkheimer,whichmostprominentlypopularizedthis inter-
pretation.Unsympatheticto thatinterpretation,UCLApoliticalscientistandhistorian
AnthonyPadgensummarizesit: “Deludedby the convictionthathumanbeingscould
riseabovetheirconditionthroughreason,the Enlightenmenthadvisitedall kindsof
horrorson the world.... All the intellectualrevolutionsof the nineteenthcentury,... the
collapseof the humansciences” into rationalized“racism—the ‘self-assertionof the bour-
geoisindividual.. .’ [as AdornoandHorkheimersay it]—andfinallyneo-Darwinian
eugenics... were,in HorkheimerandAdorno’s view,but the inevitableoutcomeof the
eighteenthcenturybid to live by reasonalone.”^92 But contraryto FoxmanandSauland
SayetandGrayandBaumanandthe Frankfurtschool,the Nazisactuallyrejectedthe
Enlightenmentthinkers’ elevationof reasonabovefaithandsorcery.Thisis for a multi-
tudeof reasons.
First,the ideasof racialsupremacismand chattelslaveryhaveexistedfrompre-Bibli-
cal timeson everyinhabitedcontinent.Duringthe MiddleAges,the Chineseandthe
Japaneseeachproudlyproclaimedtheirownsuperiorityoverthatof everyothercul-
ture.^93 Thetransatlanticslavetradewasone consequenceamongmanyof Christopher
Columbus’s contactwiththe NewWorld,and suchEuropeanexplorationgrewout of the
EuropeanRenaissance-eraemphasison secularenterpriseandthe questfor knowledge.
Thisstill predatedthe Enlightenmentera. Priorto the Renaissance,Christianand Islamic
societiesbrazenlycondonedchattelslavery.“Localethnicslavery,” KevinKellyrecog-
nizes,“waspracticed...in prehistorictimes..., and still continuesin variousremoteareas;
its overalldiminishmentgloballyis due to the technologicaltoolsof communication,law,
and education.”^94
“AfricansknewslaverylongbeforeEuropeanssailedto theirshores,” disclosehisto-
riansDorothySchneiderandCarlJ. Schneider.“... Likeall otherpeoplein the long
historyof slavery,Africansenslavedoutsiders—membersof othertribesor erringmem-
bersof theirowntribes.” Intertribalwarfareprovedrampant,andslaveswerenormally
“prisonersof war,” but “sometimesa triberaidedits neighborsto takeslaves,and some-
timeskidnappersstolechildrenfromothertribesto enslavethem.” Likewise,“Slavery
existedin NorthAmericalongbeforethe arrivalof the Europeanexplorersandsettlers.
Theideaof slaverydid not outrageIndiansanymorethanit outragedEuropeansor
Africans.In NorthAmerica,as in AfricaandEurope,it wasa conditionof life thatfew
questioned.” As wasthe casewith Africantribes,Amerinidiantribesnormally“en-
slaved—sometimesfor a limitedperiod,sometimesfor life—maleprisonersof war whom
theydid not tortureor kill outright.... Thesepracticesled to slaveraidson neighboring
tribes,particularlyamongthe IllinoisandIroquois,as youngbravesviedto provetheir
skillsas warriorsby takingscalpsor captives.” Whenthe Iroquoisdid not outrightkill a
maleenemy,theywouldsometimeshumiliatehimby takinghimas a slave,loppingoff a
partof his foot to preventhimfromescaping.AmericanIndiansgenerallybelievedthat if
a mandiedin war,at leasthe diedhonorably.Oppositely,sucha manwouldbe spiritual-
ly dishonoredif enslavedandforcedto performwhatwasconventionallyconsidered
women’s work.Thus,the Iroquoispracticedslaverynot so muchfor economicgainbut to
humiliatetheiropponentsas spitefullyas possible.“Beforethe Europeanscame,most
tribesrefusedto acceptbacka memberwhohad beencapturedand enslaved.” Sometimes
“a tribemightbarterslavesto placatean unfriendlyneighboringtribeor in exchangefor
its owncapturedmembers.”^95 I mentionthatAfricansandAmericanIndianspracticed
slaverypriorto Europeancontactnot to downplaythe atrocitiesthatwhiteWesterners
committedin connectionwithslavery—thosecannotbe minimized—but as a reminder
that whiteWesterners,as a culture,werefar frombeingthat institution’s exclusivepracti-
tioners.Moreover,althoughslaverycontinuedto be practicedduringthe EuropeanRen-