Harper's Introductory Geography

Is an 1896 school geography textbookpublished by the American book Company in New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago. I purchased a copy at my local antiques store yesterday, if for no other reason than to gain some insights into how people in the late 1800s thought of foreign peoples and cultures, as well as themselves. Here's a sampling of quotations (with italics added for emphasis):

On the Races of Men:
The inhabitants of the Earth differ from each other in their general appearance . . . and for this reason they have been divided into classes. . . These classes are called the "Five Races of Men:"

The White, or Caucasian, race is the most numerous of all. The white people of America and Europe, and the Persians, Arabians, Jews, and Hindoos in Asia, beling to it. It is known chiefly by a fair skin and regular features.

The Yellow, or Mongolian, race ranks next to the Caucasian race in numbers. The people of this race have a yellowish skin, straight black hair, broad, flat faces, and the almond-shaped eyes. The Turks, the Tartars, the Japanese, and the Chinese belong to this race.

The Black, or Negro, race has a very dark skin, thick lips flat noses, and woolly hair, and is found chiefly in Africa.

The Brown, or Malay, race is found in the Malay peninsula, in the southern part of Asia, in the neighboring islands, and in the groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Malays have brown skins, flat faces, large mouths, and coarse black hair.

The Red, or Indian, race consists of the descendants of those who inhabited North and South America when those continents were setlled by white men. They have reddish skins, straight and coarse black hair, and high cheek bones.

On the inhabitants of North America:
. . . To the south, on the Western plains, there are many tribes of native Indians. The Indians were formerly an uncivilized people, spending their time in hunting and fishing, or in fighting among themselves; but many of them are now partially civilized, and have, in a measure, adopted the customs and manners of the white people. We shall learn that some of the tribes even have their own schools and churches, and have entirely abandoned the savage habits of their ancestors.

The greater part of the continent is now occupied by white people, whose ancestors came from Europe. They are not only the most numerous, but they are the ruling race.

In Mexico and Central America are creoles, who are the descendants of the Spanish conquerors of that country. They are better educated than the rest of the population, and are very proud and haughty. Then come the mestizos, or mixed race - the descendants of Spaniards and native Indians. These are the soldiers, merchants, and mechanics, and form the middle class. The Indians, who form a third class, live in villages and till the ground, but are for the most part ignorant and degraded.

On the British:
The "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" is one of the most important countries in the world. The British are a very remarkable people. They have possessions in every part of the world, and are rulers over a great many millions of people. The people of Britain have not only been brave and bold in enlarging their dominions, but have been wonderfully ingenious in inventing machinery and manufacturing a great variety of goods.

On Africa:
There is not much to be told about Africa as about the other continents; for, except in the northern part and in the settlements bordering upon the coasts or the great rivers, it is inhabited only by uncivilized negroes.


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I anticipated a hint of ethnocentrism out of this book, but the blatant, matter-of-fact racism and ethnocentrism was pretty unexpected. It makes me both happy and sad to see how far, or little, we have come in the past 110 years.

Fun With My New Friend

The light raindrops pattering my windshield are keeping the survey crew and I from getting back out to the site so we can finish our job. Rain means wet soil, and wet soil can't be dug, so we wait in our cars for the storm to pass. I tune my radio to the local NPR station, which happens to be playing some rather soothing classical music which I feel goes well with the patter of raindrops. I turn it up.

Just then I notice a small insect inside my car, resting on the windshield. Its miniscule body (maybe 1/20th an inch long) with miniscule wings is dwarfed by the two antennae that extend from its head, each one probably four times the length of the its body. The light rainfall outside would surely kill my new little buddy, so I decide to let it stay. I watch as I see the bug moving its antennae back and forth, back and forth, picking up the sound vibrations in the air, swaying to the beat of its environment.

And as I watch it, I notice something fascinating. Its antennae are moving back and forth at very precise intervals, intervals which match the beat of the music in my car. My new insect friend is listening to Schubert, and seems to like it. For twenty minutes he stayed like that, stuck ot my windshield, listening to the great classical composers with his oversized ears. I wonder if he likes Queen. I go to put in the CD, but then the thunderstorm strikes, startling my little friend, and scaring him to the back of the car.

I'm Not Hiding From You

It's just that my job is constantly stealing me away and throwing in Milan, Illinois. Where they do not have internet access.

Be back June 24th.

Thoughts On The World Cup

Trinidad & Tobago tied Sweden today. A scoreless tie: 0-0.

This probably doesn't mean much to most of us, the fact that two teams from these starkly contrasting nations ran around a field on the other side of the world and that for ninety minutes neither of them were able to kick a ball into what seems like an amply-sized net.

But in Trinidad, the fact that nobody scored in those ninety minutes means that today is a national holiday. Because the smallest nation in World Cup history (yes, even smaller than Togo) was able to force a tie against a perennial World Cup power that was favored by four goals. On the biggest stage in all of sports; bigger than the World Series, bigger than the Superbowl, bigger than the Olympics; Trinidad & Tobago scored the tiniest of victories against the biggest of odds. To us in the United States, a tie seems boring and inadequate. But when that game ended, when the final score read 0-0, the Swedish fans buried their heads in sorrow while the small but vocal contingent of Trinidadian fans jumped and screamed and hugged each other. Their team celebrated on the field, while the Swedes sulked back into the locker room. At no other time will a tie seem so much like a win.

Will Trinidad & Tobago win the World Cup? Probably not. They have three more games to play before a points system determined who makes it into the 16-team single elimination bracket that decides the eventual champion. But at this point, it really doesn't make a difference. Against all the odds, two teams managed to do absolutely nothing - and for both of them, it means everything.

There are a thousand other story lines in this World Cup. Cote d'Ivoire (never to be called the "Ivory Coast," says the Ivorian government) ceased its three-year civil war because the Elephants (their fantastic team name) made the cup for the first time. Cote d'Ivoire played Argentina today, one of the world's great soccer powers, and fought valiantly before losing 2-1. And you should have seen how proud the fans were.

Tomrrow Angola will play Portugal, its colonial overlord, and if they win there will be parties in Luanda like you have never seen. Senegal pulled a similar feat in 2002, beating defending champion France, its colonial ruler, and the momentum carried the Senegalese all the way to the quarterfinals.

England, now 40 years removed from its last win, carries the #2 seeded team into battle in hopes of ending its drought and relieving the pain and frustration of some of the world's greatest soccer fans.

Togo, a small west African nation, was so shocked it made the World Cup that the government has loaned $500,000 to send a small group of fans to support the team. Sadly they can't go, since to get a German visa you need a bank account. But they live in Togo, where most people are self employed - they don't have bank accounts.

I personally am rooting for any African nation to win. Because if England or Germany or Sweden wins, their fans will just be exuberantly, euphorically happy, enough to literally burst out of their skin. But if Togo, or Angola, or Ghana wins - the world will turn upside down. Wars will end, poverty will cease, the pain of a continent will subside if only for a moment. And, gotta be honest, I would probably cry tears of joy. If it doesn't happen this time, I hope it happens in 2010 - the Cup will be in South Africa, and home-continent advntage always helps.

So sit back and enjoy the next thirty days, the greatest spectacle in sports. During the day, keep worrying about the world's problems, and try to fix them. But at night, relax and watch the highlights of the most uninmportant thing that matters so much to everyone on this planet.

(For more stories about the World Cup and its international importance, check out this month's issue of National Geographic).

The New Median

A fascinating blog I've been reading incessantly - I highly recommend checking it out. It is about the cultural impact of new media technologies, as well as how new media is influenced by society. Sometimes it scares me, sometimes it makes me happy, but it always makes me more informed.

We Win Again!

Congratulations to Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe who together captured the 2006 NCAA men's doubles tennis championship! This is the Illini's 3rd title in this category, adding to wins in 2000 and 2003. In case you didn't know, Illini tennis is something of an up-and-coming dynasty, winning the 2003 National Championship (undefeated) as well as nine consecutive conference titles (a streak sadly broken this year).

And yes, I even get excited about Illini tennis. I'm an equal opportunity fan.