South African Case Study

It is in this section that one begins to see some levels of racial inferiority within the races displayed. Although not directly stated by Prichard, he does include a good amount of quotes of other voyagers who concluded that the South Africans were “the greater number of savages of the rudest class”.[1] He breaks down a distinction between the higher class of Hottentot’s and the much lower Bushmen tribes. Although we still observe the underlying unity of mankind so strongly believed by Prichard, his commentary on the South African races portrays a much more European supremacist tone. This could be due to his underlying bias or purely just the lack of unbiased observation of South African peoples.