In the 19th and 20th centuries the apparent assumed inferiority of blacks would become cloaked in supposedly scientific racist theories, such as those of Joseph Gobineau and Adolph Hitler, which consciously echoed the earlier language of Kant. Reservations about the character of blacks, even when not spoken, have been among the reasons for limiting entry of blacks into Europe and for opposing racial mixture.

On the other hand, this low opinion has only added to the popularity of blacks as symbols, because the commercial use of blacks as symbols tended to reinforce their dehumanization. In the course of the 19th century, industries throughout the Western world began to adopt trademarks featuring blacks; for example, those for tobacco products, cleansers, coffee, liquor, rice, shoe and metal polish, and toothpaste. Those for raw materials and foods were especially prominent. These trademarks were additional embellishment of imagery already manifested in the popular culture in literature, song, and story. This seems to reflect an association of blacks with the primitive and often with the sensuous. Similar attitudes can also be seen in the appreciation of blacks as athletes and entertainers. The ambivalence of Europeans, like their white American counterparts, toward equal acceptance of blacks in major sports and the exploitation of jazz music in the 20th century are good examples.

Thus, deeply embedded stereotypes have continued to overshadow the real role of blacks in European history and culture.

How does a teacher end a course on such a gloomy note without leaving the serious student with a sense of despair? How should an instructor respond to the skeptical white student who suspects that the black professor has biased the selection of information in order to make a point; or to the embarrassed black student who believes the professor is dredging up dated, sordid history that is better left forgotten? One approach is to admit to the first that there are also negative stereotypes about whites; but they are surrounded by enough positive images to leave a more balanced perspective.

For both students’ objections, resort to a medical school analogy can be useful: examination of a diseased cadaver has great value despite all the difficulties of stomaching it, just as the history of racism must be confronted before it can be properly addressed in the present. It might also be added that what is learned in this examination may be instructive concerning other forms of social bias, beyond that involving blacks and beyond Europe.