Study: Many Americans View Muslims, Mexicans As “Less Human”

Not Quite as Human?

Now, the basis of this study was an evolutionary view of mankind in which participants were asked to rate different people groups on a “’humanness’ scale.”

Survey takers rated different groups by using the famous “Ascent of Man” diagram, which displays human ancestors that begins with a primitive, ape-like figure and leads through several iterations all the way to an upright modern human.

Of the 1,100 Americans surveyed, Muslims and Mexican immigrants were thought of as less human than U.S. residents on the whole. . . .

On the whole, the survey of Americans, who were majority white, rated Muslims a 70 on a "humanness" scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the most fully evolved modern man. Mexican immigrants were rated at about a 75. Americans were awarded about a 95 on the scale.

The Answer to Racism

Racist attitudes are consistent with an evolutionary worldview (though this certainly doesn’t mean all evolutionists will be racist), but, in a biblical worldview, there is absolutely no room for racism or bigotry. The results of this study should deeply sadden Christians. Jesus came, died on the Cross, and rose again to provide salvation for people from every nation, tribe, people, and language. Eventually, there will be

a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9–10).

Genesis (and other passages in Scripture) makes it clear we are all descendants of the first couple, Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:27, 3:20). We’re one race, or “one blood” as the book of Acts puts it (Acts 17:26).

And Genesis even provides the history to help us understand why we look a little bit different from one another. After the global Flood of Noah’s day, mankind rebelled against God’s command to spread out and fill the earth. So God divided their languages, forcing them to spread out. Different language families took certain genetic combinations with them as they spread out. The different groups became separated by language and geography, so they tended to only marry one another and, eventually, different characteristics, such as skin shade or eye shape, became characteristic of different groups.

There are different people groups because of the events in Genesis 11—the Tower of Babel. But, as we teach in a striking exhibit in the Creation Museum and in some of our books, we’re all one race, descendants of Adam and Eve. Science has even confirmed this. When geneticists mapped the human genome, they confirmed there’s only one race—the human race. We’re all relatives!

As Christians, we need to be dedicated to standing against racism. The Bible provides the only answer for racism, and we need to be the ones leading the way for reconciliation between people groups.

Befriend those who are different from you—invite them over for a meal or to a church or family function. Go out of your way to make those who are new to our country feel welcome and loved by bringing them a meal, helping them unpack their moving truck, or providing for a physical need. And always, always be ready and willing to share the good news of the gospel with our relatives from around the world!

You can learn more about how the Bible provides the only answer for racism in my coauthored book One Race, One Blood, available on our online store.

Also watch this recent presentation I gave on “One Race, One Blood” at Bob Jones University.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.