Modern Racism
Delving into a little-known and shameful tragedy of modern-age racism, journalist
Pamela Newkirk (
Within the Veil: Black Journalists, White Media) tells the story of Ota Benga in her new book,
Spectacle. Benga, a 4-foot-11-inch Congolese man, was purchased from slave traders in Africa, taken to the United States, featured as an anthropological exhibit at the Saint Louis world’s fair, in 1904, and displayed at the Bronx Zoo, in the monkey house, in 1906. Newkirk’s book explores how, in the early 20th century, racist ideologies were interwoven with evolutionary biology to present a picture of non-Western people as inferior beings. It also uncovers how Ota’s primary exploiter presented himself as Benga’s friend and savior, while those who truly fought for Ota’s freedom — often members of the African American community — have gone largely unrecognized. Benga’s case has been the subject of theater, film, and music, but
Spectacle appears to be the first nonfiction book to comprehensively address it. To learn more, come hear Newkirk speak when she visits San Francisco to discuss the story.
— Anita Katz
415-835-1020
