From the series Race: Science’s Last Taboo. “The Human Zoo: Science’s Dirty Secret”.
Only 100 years ago, many scientists agreed with A. C. Haddon, when he wrote in his 1898 book Study of Man, that, “on the whole, the white race has progressed beyond the black race.”
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists fascinated by race put thousands of people from all over the world on display in human zoos. They were intended as entertainment and as scientific demonstrations of racial difference. Across the western world millions looked at these people and left convinced of the superiority of the white race.
This documentary explores the phenomenon of human zoos and tells the story of Ota Benga, a Batwa pygmy from the Belgian Congo, who was 1st put on display at the Bronx Zoo where he was labelled as the ‘missing link’.
As the film reveals, it was only a short step from these human zoos to the horrors of Nazi Germany.
Director: Srik Narayanan. Broadcast on Channel 4, 1. Nov. 2009.
