ABSTRACT
The concept of ‘race’ was evident in sixteenth century English literature when there was a rather vague (racial) awareness of, for example, Jews and Muslims as non-Christians. The concept developed into the modern idea of race during the rise of European power and its conquest of the Americas.1 Major figures during the (European) ‘Enlightenment’ of the eighteenth century expounded what are now seen as racist views but then mere wisdom of the times; for example, ideas voiced by David Hume and Immanuel Kant.2 As Darwinian ideas penetrated European thinking, race was seen as subspecies on the basis of which scientific racism developed.3 Today, there is some confusion about what is meant by ‘race’, essentially whether it is a mere illusion, a purely ideological construct or an essence, something fixed and objective. But on the whole ‘race’ is seen very much as a social concept rather than a biological one.4
