A Theory You've Never Heard Of | Michael Robinson | TEDxUniversityofHartford

The Hamitic Hypothesis was a 19th century anthropological theory that claimed that humans originated in Asia and then migrated to other regions of the world. The theory was used to explain the discovery of so-called “white races” in Africa in the late 1800s. The Hamitic Hypothesis was not simply a curiosity of anthropological science. It was an idea that changed lives: from those European colonists who relied upon it to justify their presence in Africa, to the scientists who used it to explain away the accomplishments of African civilizations as a result of “white” influence. Ultimately, the Hamitic Hypothesis anchored a global theory of human origins and migration that, when combined with the Aryan race theory, shaped anthropology, colonial policy, and even the attitudes of Africans themselves for a hundred years.

Michael Robinson is a historian of science and exploration at the University of Hartford. He is the author of "The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture." His new book The Lost White Tribe: Explorers, Scientists, and the Theory that Changed a Continent" comes out with Oxford University Press in December.

[MrJeffcoley]

This lecture underscores the importance of understanding the past on its own terms instead of projecting modern ideas and attitudes back into the past.

[superwildside]

"History is a set of lies agreed upon." - Napolean Bonaparte

[alelgnmass]

I'm Ethiopian. In Ethiopian you can find from the blackest to nearly white person. I think Ethiopians are the most diverse people in the world. And those people on the illusion are actually my ancestors. They live on the northern part of Ethiopia. That is how they use to live and dress back those days.

[Eng.Gatama]

As an African, I can't help but feel bemused by the attitudes of these early European travelers. I refuse to concede that they "discovered" anything really, because all these people and places had their own identity and heritage long before their vessels littered our horizons. Further, I am deeply saddened to learn that early Africans accepted and adopted these ideas regarding themselves. However, I am glad that there are scholars out there seeking the truth, for its own sake. Thank you for your work, Mr. Robinson. Love from Kenya.

[joshbarr]

Guys. This man is explaining history and a theory that existed; not his personal views/opinions. He ends the video explaining why it's wrong and the damage it has caused and why it's important to remember. He is trying to understand the point of view of the theory's author. There is no racism in this video. If you see racism, it seems like the mr Magoo effect.

[dolmanationable]

It's REALLY obvious that people commenting are not actually watching the video. He very clearly does not support this theory, he's outlining how it shaped European colonization of Africa. Watch the damn video before commenting.

[madoxxxx]

I'm Rwandan and this theory is very right, the Hamatic theory literally caused the genocide, Tutsi and Hutu used to be social classes, but when this theory was weaponized and used as part of the divide and rule policy of the Belgium what was a social class became a different race. That's why so many Tutsi were thrown into rivers, it was to literally send them back to the Mediterranean Sea through the Nile River, where they supposedly came from.

[aluxbalum]

As a Native American (Purepecha, Kickapoo, Comanche) it was always so interesting to me and questionable the history of humanity being so lineal. I always thought there was much more to it, talking solely of the Americas there is evidence and indications of world wide populations being present in the hemisphere. Australian aboriginie DNA is found in some Native American nations, so is African and European vestiges pre dating Columbus are wide spread. The folklore of the world has so much in common

[byamugishabrian]

I am Ugandan. 🇺🇬 The entire story surrounds my place of origin (Western Region of Uganda) so I feel particularly touched by such a discovery. I have for long sought to find the cause of difference in color among the natives, which is usually attributed to intermarriages with foreign nations.
This theory opens up a new field of discovery. Fascinating

[seanmcneill]

Amazing talk...Never forget history is written by a person, or even worse by governments.

[yu-haowang]

Amazing talk. this talk makes me feel that, anthropology nowadays has been developed by hundreds of years, and near half of them are misrecorded, in African history, especially.
I'm a stem student, but this video makes me give more attentions on the history and the development of different races.

[jonburton]

The Mr Magoo hypothesis is spot on, on how humans filter out what they accept as the truth

[userman]

11:26 Robinson: "Literally all of Africa had been carved up by Europeans."
Ethiopia: "Excuse me?!?"

[elsea]

...and in 5 more years it’ll be presented to me for the third time as “a theory youve never heard of”....testing my memory or some algorithmic dingus...

[stcenturion]

Those explorers very well may have misinterpreted what they saw, but "blonde" is a very specific descriptor that you can't mistake for anything else.

[balaam_]

“Noah parks the ark on top of Mt Ararat” 🤣

“Shem! Japheth! If you two kids don’t knock it off back there I swear to God I’ll turn this ark around!”

[anupamachannan]

Excellent command over the topic. Very profound and interesting talk. I wonder why some people have given thumbs down. They must be the ones with no interest in the topic and neither listened nor followed anything. Why did you have to comment if this was too over your head? Go look for something you'd follow.

[johnmcnulty]

Isn't it possible that some of the Inuit picked up some 'blond genes' from the Vikings that settled briefly in Greenland?

[mtlicq]

"Victoria is the ultimate source of de Nile" - Victoria's Secret

[JasenChase]

I'm baffled as an anthropologist, why he finds it fascinating to find caucasoid DNA in Africa because the Northern African regions have caucasoids called Berbers.. you also have carthaginian DNA, and Greek DNA, Roman etc... I always feel it's better called Southern Mediterranean than North Africa!