G. W. F. Hegel: The African Character

G. W. F. Hegel's "The African Character" is a short excerpt on the characteristics and behavior of African men. Written in the 1830s, it portrays a very racist depiction of the men living in Africa. Listed below are interesting points made from this short article.

• In order to understand the African man "we must lay aside all thought of reverence and morality–all that we call feeling–if we would rightly comprehend him." Hegel suggests that African men are so barbaric that they have no sense of feeling or morality whatsoever. 
• Hegel seems to turn his article as a way of justifying belief in a Higher Power. He mentions that because Africans believe in "magic" and not a higher being, man is the highest power. Hegel concludes, "From the fact that man is regarded as the Highest, it follows that he has no respect for himself; for only with the consciousness of a Higher Being does he reach a point of view which inspires him with real reverence."
• Finally, Hegel uses this article to almost justify slavery. While he mentions that slavery is "in and for itself injustice, for the essence of humanity is Freedom" he says that slavery is necessary because a man must be matured before he can understand the essence of humanity. He explains, "the gradual abolition of slavery is therefore wiser and more equitable than its sudden removal."

It is hard to judge whether Hegel's portrayal of African men is accurate at all. It is difficult to determine whether there was some fact mixed in with biased and racist judgement, or whether his biases tainted real information all together. In any light, this excerpt from The Philosophy of History gives light to how Europeans viewed Africans in the mid-19th century.