Aryan "race"
The term "Aryan" has been historically linked to a group of peoples associated with the Proto-Indo-European lineage, and it was once utilized in academic discourse, particularly regarding the Indo-Aryan languages of South Asia. However, in the 19th century, the concept was co-opted by proponents of "scientific racism," including figures like Arthur de Gobineau, who posited the idea of a superior Aryan race, primarily identifying it with White Europeans. This ideology gained traction in Germany and was later adopted by Adolf Hitler, who misused the term to promote notions of racial superiority and justify the persecution of Jews and other groups he deemed non-Aryan.
While the early scholarly understanding of Aryans has largely been abandoned in favor of more nuanced and accurate representations of human diversity, the term has unfortunately persisted in certain extremist circles, particularly among white supremacist groups in the United States. These groups continue to advocate for racial superiority and segregation based on distorted interpretations of the Aryan identity. Modern anthropology firmly rejects the notion of inherent racial superiority, emphasizing the shared humanity and equality of all people, regardless of racial or ethnic backgrounds.
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Aryan "race"
The term Aryan is used by White supremacists to refer to a race of White, non-Jewish, European-descended people alleged to be superior to other races. The Proto-Indo-European peoples, the ancestors of Europeans as well as Indo-Iranians, were known in the nineteenth century as Aryans, and an Aryan invasion of India is one theory about how Vedic culture began. However, the term Aryan has largely been abandoned in scholarly circles, except in reference to the Indo-Aryan languages, the main language family of South Asia.
In the 1850s, the French aristocrat and writer Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882) launched an intellectual movement that came to be called "scientific racism," with his book An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853), in which he suggested that the White race was superior to all others and that the Aryan race was supreme among White individuals. This theory gained popularity in Germany and was promoted by composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), among others. In the 1930s, it was espoused by the German dictator Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), who used the term Aryan to refer to Germans and certain other northern Europeans (the Nordic race) and indicated their racial superiority over all other peoples. Hitler used this theory to justify his persecution of the Jews, Gypsies, and other non-Aryans.
The racist use of the term has continued among certain white supremacist groups in the United States. The Aryan Nations—a group formerly headquartered near Hayden Lake, Idaho, and most active in the 1980s and 1990s—militantly advocated anti-Semitism and the establishment of a White racist state. However, the theory that there are pure or inherently superior human races or groups is rejected by modern anthropologists.
Bibliography
Arvidsson, Stefan. Aryan Idols: Indo-European Mythology as Ideology and Science. U of Chicago P, 2006.
Figueira, Dorothy Matilda. Aryans, Jews, Brahmins: Theorizing Authority through Myths of Identity. State U of New York P, 2002.
Fiske, John. "Who Are the Aryans?" Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1881/02/who-are-the-aryans/521367. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
Hale, Chris. Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race. Wiley, 2003.
Hutton, Christopher Mark. “Nazi Race Theory and Belief in an “Aryan Race”: A Profound Failure of Interdisciplinary Communication.” The International Journal of Science in Society, vol. 1, no. 4, 2010, pp. 149–56, doi.org/10.18848/1836-6236/CGP/v01i04/51498. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
"Origins of the Term Aryan." United States Holocaust Museum Encyclopedia, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/aryan-1. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.