Roger Pearson (born 21 August 1927) is a British
anthropologist, businessman,
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...
advocate, political organiser for the
extreme right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
, and publisher of political and academic journals. He has been on the faculty of the
Queens College, Charlotte, the
University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...
, and
Montana Tech, and is now retired. It has been noted that Pearson has been surprisingly successful in combining a career in academia with political activities on the far right. He served in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, and was a businessman in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
. In the late 1950s he founded the
Northern League. In the 1960s he established himself in the United States for a while working together with
Willis Carto
Willis Allison Carto (July 17, 1926 – October 26, 2015) was an American far-right political activist. He described himself as a Jeffersonian and a populist, but was primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and ...
publishing
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
and
anti-Semitic literature. He was a regular contributor to
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...
periodicals.
Pearson's anthropological work is based in the eugenic belief that "favourable" genes can be identified and segregated from "unfavourable" ones. He advocates a belief in biological
racialism
Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism (racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies can be more ...
, and claims that
human races
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
can be ranked.
["Evolution cannot occur unless 'favorable' genes are segregated out from amongst 'unfavorable" genetic formulae' ..any population that adopts a perverted or dysgenic form of altruism – one which encourages a breeding community to breed disproportionately those of its members who are genetically handicapped rather than from those who are genetically favored, or which aids rival breeding populations to expand while restricting its own birthrate – is unlikely to survive into the definite future." – Pearson, Roger (1995b). "The Concept of Heredity in Western Thought: Part Three, the Revival of Interest in Genetics,"] ''The Mankind Quarterly'', 36, pp. 96, 98."] Pearson argues that the future of the human species depends on political and scientific steps to replace the "genetic formulae" and populations that he considers to be inferior with ones he considers to be superior.
Pearson also published two popular textbooks in anthropology, but his anthropological views on race have been widely rejected as unsupported by contemporary anthropology. In 1976 he found the ''Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies'', which has been identified as one of two international journals which regularly publishes articles pertaining to
race and intelligence
Discussions of race and intelligence – specifically, claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines – have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of race was first introduced. With the inc ...
with the goal of supporting the idea that
white people
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
are inherently superior (the other such journal being ''
Mankind Quarterly
''Mankind Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed journal that has been described as a "cornerstone of the scientific racism establishment", a "white supremacist journal", and "a pseudo-scholarly outlet for promoting racial inequality". It covers phy ...
'').
In 1978 he took over the editorship of ''Mankind Quarterly'' founded by
Robert Gayre
George Robert Gayre of Gayre and Nigg (6 August 1907St. Martin's Press Staff (2001). ''Who Was Who 1996–2000 Volume X: A Companion to WHO'S WHO – Containing the Biographies of Those Who Died During the Period 1996–2000.'' Palgrave Macmillan, ...
and
Henry Garrett, widely considered a
scientific racist
Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism (racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies can be more e ...
journal. Most of Pearson's publishing ventures have been managed through the Institute for the Study of Man, and the
Pioneer Fund
Pioneer Fund is an American non-profit foundation established in 1937 "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences". The organization has been described as racist and white supremacist in nature. One of its first project ...
, with which Pearson is closely associated, having received $568,000 in the period from 1981 to 1991.
Pearson's opposition to
egalitarianism
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
extends to
Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
and
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
. In the 1980s, he was a political organizer for the American far-right; he established the Council for American Affairs in the 1970s and was the American representative in the
World Anti-Communist League during the second half of the 1970s. As World Chairman of the WACL he worked with the U.S. government during the cold war, and collaborated with many anti-communist groups in the organisation, including the
Unification Church
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or " Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Sp ...
and former German Nazis.
[Kuhl, S. (1994). The Nazi connection: eugenics, American racism, and German national socialism. Oxford University Press.]
On his website, Pearson disputes specific accusations of race-hate, of anti-semitism, of arguing in favor of
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
, involuntary
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...
, forced repatriation of legal immigrants, subjugation or exploitation by one group of another, extreme or fascist politics—including Nazism or any totalitarian system—as well as denying accusations of impropriety.
Early life
Roger Pearson was born on 21 August 1927 in London.
Pearson's only sibling and four of his cousins died in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Pearson later described World War II as a "fratricidal war" in which the mutual destruction of Germanic peoples contributed to the gradual downfall of the
Nordic race
The Nordic race was a racial concept which originated in 19th century anthropology. It was considered a race or one of the putative sub-races into which some late-19th to mid-20th century anthropologists divided the Caucasian race, claiming tha ...
.
Pearson joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
's Queen's Royal Regiment in April 1945 in England, and was commissioned in 1946 from the
British Indian Army's Officers Training School
Kakul
Kakul (Kakol) is a village situated in the Tehsil and District Abbottabad, at an elevation of 1300 metres, 5 km northeast of center of Abbottabad city near the Thandiani Hills. Abbottabad is a District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Paki ...
,
North-West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...
(today the
Pakistan Military Academy
Pakistan Military Academy ( ur, ), also referred to by its acronym PMA. PMA is an officers training school located near Kakul village in the city and district of Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa established in 1947. It is the sole service academy ...
). He served with the British Indian Army in
Meerut
Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
, (1946) before the
Partition of India, with the British Indian Division in the
Occupation of Japan, and with the British Army in Singapore (1948), before returning to university in England. Pearson later directed various British-controlled companies in
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...
(now
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
).
Political activity
In 1958 Pearson founded the
Northern League for North European Friendship, an organisation promoting
Pan-Germanism,
Anti-semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and
Neo-Nazi racial ideology.
The Northern League published the journals "The Northlander" and "Northern World" which described its purpose as "to make Whites aware of their forgotten racial heritage, and cut through the Judaic fog of lies about our origin and the accomplishments of our race and our Western culture." In 1959 in the Northlander, Pearson described the aim of the organization as preventing the "annihilation of our kind" and to lead Nordics in Europe and the Americas in the "fight for survival against forces which would mongrelize our race and civilization"
[ He also wrote of the need for "a totalitarian state, with conscious purpose and central control . . . to embark upon a thorough-going policy of genetic change for its population. . . . ere is surely little doubt that it could soon outstrip rival nations."][Jackson, John P. (2005). ''Science for Segregation: Race, Law, and the Case against Brown v. Board of Education''. NYU Press. . pp.43–144] Under the pen name Edward Langford, Pearson also wrote a series on "Authors of Human Science" with portraits of prominent racialists such as Arthur de Gobineau
Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French aristocrat who is best known for helping to legitimise racism by the use of scientific racist theory and "racial demography", and for developing the theory of the Ary ...
, Houston Stewart Chamberlain
Houston Stewart Chamberlain (; 9 September 1855 – 9 January 1927) was a British-German philosopher who wrote works about political philosophy and natural science. His writing promoted German ethnonationalism, antisemitism, and scientific ...
, Arthur Keith
Sir Arthur Keith FRS FRAI (5 February 1866 – 7 January 1955) was a British anatomist and anthropologist, and a proponent of scientific racism. He was a fellow and later the Hunterian Professor and conservator of the Hunterian Museum of the R ...
, Madison Grant
Madison Grant (November 19, 1865 – May 30, 1937) was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known primarily for his work as a eugenicist and conservationist, and as an advocate of scientific racism. Grant is less noted f ...
and Lothrop Stoddard
Theodore Lothrop Stoddard (June 29, 1883 – May 1, 1950) was an American historian, journalist, political scientist, conspiracy theorist, white supremacist, and white nationalist. Stoddard wrote several books which advocated eugenics and sci ...
.
Pearson also corresponded with American segregationist
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...
Earnest Sevier Cox
Earnest Sevier Cox (January 24, 1880 – April 26, 1966) was an American Methodist preacher, political activist and white supremacist. He is best known for his political campaigning for stricter segregation between blacks and whites in the Uni ...
, a dedicated member of the League, who had lobbied for a federal funding to "Repatriate" African-Americans to Africa since the 1920s. Pearson assured him that "I am entirely with you on your efforts to obtain Federal aid to American Negroes who wish to return to Africa."[
From the beginning the League was criticized because of its open emphasis on the dysgenic and fratricidal nature of intra-European warfare, and its tendency to attract prominent ex-Nazis such as scholar Hans F. K. Günther, who received awards under the ]Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
regime for his work on race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
, and Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
's former assistant Franz Altheim
Franz Altheim (6 October 1898 – 17 October 1976) was a German classical philologist and historian who specialized in the history of classical antiquity. During the 1930s and 1940s, Altheim served the Nazi state as a member of Ahnenerbe, a ...
, both of whom were members of the league in its early years. Other members of the league were British Neo-Nazi Colin Jordan
John Colin Campbell Jordan (19 June 1923 – 9 April 2009) was a leading figure in post-war neo-Nazism in Great Britain. In the far-right circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly "Nazi" inclination in his open use of the s ...
, and John Tyndall. Pearson resigned from the League in 1961, after which it became more politically oriented.
It was Cox who suggested to Pearson that they should hold a meeting at Detmold
Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...
, West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, near what was then believed to be the site where the Germanic tribes defeated the Romans in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius ...
. The first meeting of the League was indeed held there in 1959, with Cox and Hans F. K. Günther as keynote speakers, although Günther's participation, him being a prominent former Nazi, had to be kept low profile.[ The event was described by locals as akin to Nazism revived.
On his website, Pearson states that the Northern League never advocated ]Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
or political totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regu ...
, and that membership was open to anyone who wished to receive the league's publications.
Academic career
In 1967, Pearson began teaching anthropology as an assistant professor at the University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...
(USM). In 1969 he received a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. In 1971 USM granted Pearson full professorship and appointed him Chair of the department of anthropology and sociology. Three years later, Pearson left USM and taught at the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology for one year. After resigning from that school, Pearson founded the Institute for the Study of Man
Roger Pearson (born 21 August 1927) is a British anthropologist, businessman, eugenics advocate, political organiser for the extreme right, and publisher of political and academic journals. He has been on the faculty of the Queens College, Char ...
.[
]
Anthropological views
Pearson's anthropological views drew on the theories of British anthropologist Arthur Keith
Sir Arthur Keith FRS FRAI (5 February 1866 – 7 January 1955) was a British anatomist and anthropologist, and a proponent of scientific racism. He was a fellow and later the Hunterian Professor and conservator of the Hunterian Museum of the R ...
, who had argued that human races were distinct evolutionary units destined to compete for resources. Pearson's early writings directly cited Keith as a major influence even while recognizing that "many will see eith's observationsas a defence of Hitlerite philosophy." Pearson summarizes Keith's racial and evolutionary philosophy in the following manner: "If a nation with a more advanced, more specialised, or in any way superior set of genes mingles with, instead of exterminating, an inferior tribe, then it commits racial suicide, and destroys the work of thousands of years of biological isolation and natural selection."
In his work, Pearson describes racial types as subspecies, which he defines as "a distinctive group of individuals which are on their way to becoming separate species, but which have not been isolated long enough, or had time to become sufficiently diversified to lose the power to inter-breed". He argues that mixing between subspecies is detrimental as one subspecies will always be better suited for life than the other, and will therefore tend to avoid miscegenation
Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...
.[A. S. Winston. (1996). The context of correctness: A comment on Rushton. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 5, 231—250. "Pearson was clear about the problem of contact between races: ". . . evolutionary progress can only take place properly amongst small non-cross-breeding groups. Always, a cross between two types meant the annihilation of the better type, for although the lower sub-species would be improved by such a cross, the more advanced would be retarded, and would then have a weaker chance in the harsh and entirely amoral competition for survival." (1959a, pp. 9-1]
/ref>
In 1995 and 1996 Pearson published a trilogy of articles in ''Mankind Quarterly'' regarding the "Concept of heredity in Western thought", a defense of hereditarianism and a denouncement of the "onslaught of egalitarianism". Pearson here repeated his defense for the view of racial groups as subspecies and he repeated his dedication to eugenicist ideas, although with the caveat that negative eugenics ought to take place as a voluntary act of altruistic sacrifice for one's species. The same views were repeated in the 1996 book ''Heredity and Humanity: Race, Eugenics and Modern Science''.
Business in South Asia
Pearson served as president of the Pakistan Tea Association, Chittagong, in 1963. He also served on the managing committee of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Pearson sold his business interests in East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...
in 1965 and moved to the United States. It was during his time in South Asia that he became interested in Aryanism
Aryanism is an ideology of racial supremacy which views the supposed Aryan race as a distinct and superior racial group which is entitled to rule the rest of humanity. Initially promoted by racist theorists such as Arthur de Gobineau and Ho ...
, and the linguistic, cultural, and genetic connections between Northern Europe and the Indo-Aryan populations of the Subcontinent.
Academic career in the US
Recently arrived in the United States, Pearson contributed to some of the publications of anti-semite Willis Carto
Willis Allison Carto (July 17, 1926 – October 26, 2015) was an American far-right political activist. He described himself as a Jeffersonian and a populist, but was primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and ...
, such as ''Western Destiny'', and to Noontide Press.[Michael, George (2008). ''Willis Carto and the American Far Right''. University Press of Florida.] From 1966 to 1967 as "Stephan Langton", Pearson published '' The New Patriot'', a magazine devoted to "a responsible but penetrating inquiry into every aspect of the Jewish Question." As Lanton he published articles such as "Zionists and the Plot Against South Africa," "Early Jews and the Rise of Jewish Money Power" and "Swindlers of the Crematoria." His books of this era, all published in 1966 in London by Clair Press, including ''Eugenics and Race'', ''Blood groups and Race'', ''Race & Civilisation'' and ''Early Civilizations of the Nordic Peoples'' were later distributed in the United States by The Thunderbolt Inc., an organ of the National States' Rights Party
The National States' Rights Party was a white supremacist political party that briefly played a minor role in the politics of the United States.
Foundation
Founded in 1958 in Knoxville, Tennessee, by Edward Reed Fields, a 26-year-old chiropractor ...
. Pearson's co-founder of ''The New Patriot'' was Senator Jack Tenney, who for sixteen years was Chairman of the California Senate Committee on Un-American Activities and who wrote frequently for that journal. Pearson joined the Eugenics Society
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
in 1963 and became a fellow in 1977.
In 1973 Pearson founded the ''Journal of Indo-European Studies
The ''Journal of Indo-European Studies'' (JIES) is a peer-reviewed academic journal of Indo-European studies. The journal publishes papers in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, mythology and linguistics relating to the cultural history of ...
'', and in 1976 he founded '' Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies''.
In 1978 he took over the editorship of the journal ''Mankind Quarterly
''Mankind Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed journal that has been described as a "cornerstone of the scientific racism establishment", a "white supremacist journal", and "a pseudo-scholarly outlet for promoting racial inequality". It covers phy ...
'', which had originally been founded in 1960 by Robert Gayre
George Robert Gayre of Gayre and Nigg (6 August 1907St. Martin's Press Staff (2001). ''Who Was Who 1996–2000 Volume X: A Companion to WHO'S WHO – Containing the Biographies of Those Who Died During the Period 1996–2000.'' Palgrave Macmillan, ...
, Henry Garrett, Corrado Gini
Corrado Gini (23 May 1884 – 13 March 1965) was an Italian statistician, demographer and sociologist who developed the Gini coefficient, a measure of the income inequality in a society. Gini was a proponent of organicism and applied it to nati ...
, Ottmar von Verschuer and Reginald Ruggles Gates.[
*]
According to Pearson, in 1966 he toured the southern US and Caribbean, and in 1967 he visited South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, Rhodesia and Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
.
In 1971 he was appointed chair of the department of Anthropology Comparative Religious Studies at the USM. According to William Tucker's description, he fired most of the non-tenured faculty, hiring instead scholars such as Robert E. Kuttner and Donald A. Swan, both with similar political backgrounds to Pearson. The dean at USM later stated that Pearson had "used his post as an academic façade to bring in equal-minded fanatics." Pearson himself states that this is untrue and that "It is true that two faculty members from the formerly separate Religion department, which had recently been merged with Pearson's department to create a larger, combined department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Religion, were terminated, but this act was ordered by the Administration and not by the department Chair, Pearson."
In 1974 Pearson was appointed Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of Research at Montana Tech.[ During his tenure as dean, the school received $60,000 from the Pioneer Fund to support Pearson's academic research and publishing activities.][ When a journalist called the various universities at which Pearson had held positions, Montana Tech officials stated they were unaware that Pearson was the person who had edited ''Western Destiny'', a periodical laden with many pro-South Africa, anti-Communist and anti-racial mixing articles, who had penned both articles and pamphlets for Willis Carto's ''Noontide Press''.] These race-oriented titles included: "Eugenics and Race" and "Early Civilizations of the Nordic Peoples."[
Pearson's work in publishing the work of "scholars who are supportive of a free enterprise economy, and a firm and consistent foreign policy and a strong national defense" was commended by President Ronald Reagan for his "substantial contribution to promoting and upholding those ideals and principles that we value at home and abroad."]
World Anti-Communist League
In 1975, Pearson left academia and moved to Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, to become president of the Council on American Affairs, President of the American chapter of the World Anti-Communist League, Editor of the ''Journal on American Affairs'' (later renamed '' The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies''), and eventually President of University Professors for Academic Order (UPAO), an organisation advocating academic integrity, social order and that the university should not be "an instrument of social change" and working to depoliticize campus environments. He was also a Trustee of the Benjamin Franklin University.
He also served on editorial board of the several institutions, including the Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...
, the Foreign Policy Research Institute
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is an American think tank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that conducts research on geopolitics, international relations, and international security in the various regions of the world as well as ...
, and the American Security Council, and that a number of conservative politicians wrote articles for Pearson's Journal on American Affairs and related Monographs, including Senators Jake Garn
Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who served as a United States senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993. Garn became the first sitting member of Congress to fly in sp ...
(R-UT), Carl T. Curtis (R-NE), Jesse Helms (R-NC), and Representatives Jack Kemp (R-NY), and Philip Crane
Philip Miller Crane (November 3, 1930 – November 8, 2014) was an American politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 2005, representing the 8th District of Illinois in the northwestern s ...
(R-UT).
Pearson was elected World Chairman of the World Anti-Communist League in 1978. According to William H. Tucker he "used this opportunity to fill the WACL with European Nazis – ex-officials of the Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and Nazi collaborators from other countries during the war as well as new adherents to the cause—in what one journalist called 'one of the greatest fascist blocs in postwar Europe'."
Pearson presided over the League's 11th Annual Conference held in Washington that year. The initial session of the five-day session, which was addressed by two U.S. Senators and opened by the United States Marine Corps Band
The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in th ...
and Joint Armed Services Honor Guard, was attended by several hundred members from around the world. After the meeting had been condemned in ''Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'', ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' published an even more critical attack on both WACL and Pearson's extreme right wing politics.
Pearson resigned from the WACL in the wake of accusations that he "encouraged the membership of European and Latin American groups with Nazi or neo-Nazi ties". In a ''Wall Street Journal'' article subsequent chairman John Singlaub was quoted calling Pearson an "embarrassment" who is "not at all welcome in any activity"[Rich Jaroslovsky (28 September 1984). Politics '84 -- Controversial Publisher: Racial Purist Uses Reagan Plug. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. 1. Retrieved 6 November 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 27121258]
/ref> The same article claimed that Pearson's presidential commendation had been achieved only through the mediation of an associate of Pearson's who worked in the United States Department of Defense, Defense Department. The White House did not retract the letter, but made a public statement in which the Presidential secretary affirmed the Presidents' repudiation of any sort of racial discrimination. Pearson was requested to stop using the letter from Reagan in public promotion of his activities. One member of the WACL, conservative politician Geoffrey Stewart-Smith
(Dudley) Geoffrey Stewart-Smith (29 December 1933 – 13 March 2004) was a British Conservative politician. He served one term as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belper in Derbyshire after he defeated the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party George B ...
described the organization during its period under Pearson as "largely a collection of Nazis, Fascists, anti-Semites, sellers of forgeries, vicious racialists, and corrupt self-seekers."
After the ''Washington Post'' article, Pearson was asked to resign from the editorial board of the neo-Conservative Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...
's journal ''Policy Review
''Policy Review'' was a conservative journal published between 1977 to 2013.
It was founded by The Heritage Foundation and was for many years the foundation's flagship publication.Gillian Peele, 'American Conservatism in Historical Perspective', i ...
'', which he had helped to found, but his connection with other organisations continued, and in 1986 '' CovertAction Quarterly'' uncovered his association with James Jesus Angleton
James Jesus Angleton (December 9, 1917 – May 11, 1987) was chief of counterintelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1954 to 1974. His official position within the organization was Associate Deputy Director of Operations for ...
, former chief of CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
Counter-Intelligence
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...
, General Daniel O. Graham
Daniel Orrin Graham (April 13, 1925 – December 31, 1995) was a United States Army officer who ultimately rose to the rank of lieutenant general (United States), lieutenant general. Graham served in Germany, Korea, and Vietnam and received sever ...
, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence.
A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the ...
, General Robert C. Richardson, and other American Security Council members.["The Checkered Careers of James Angleton and Roger Pearson", ''Covert Action'', No. 25 (Winter 1986)]
Association with the Pioneer Fund
In 1981, Pearson received the library of Donald A. Swan through a grant from the Pioneer Fund
Pioneer Fund is an American non-profit foundation established in 1937 "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences". The organization has been described as racist and white supremacist in nature. One of its first project ...
. Between 1973 and 1999 the Fund spent $1.2 million on Pearson's activities, most of which was used for the Institute for the Study of Man which Pearson directed and which under Pearson acquired the peer-reviewed journal ''Mankind Quarterly
''Mankind Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed journal that has been described as a "cornerstone of the scientific racism establishment", a "white supremacist journal", and "a pseudo-scholarly outlet for promoting racial inequality". It covers phy ...
'' in 1979. Pearson took over as publisher and is said to have editorial influence, although his name has never appeared on the masthead. Pearson has used diverse pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
s to contribute to the journal, including "J. W. Jamieson" and "Alan McGregor", sometimes even using one pseudonym to review and praise the work of another. This publication was later taken over by The Council for Social and Economic Studies.
Pearson is also director of the Council for Social and Economics Studies, which owns the Scott-Townsend Publishers imprint (which has published most of his recent books), and General Editor of the '' Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies''.
Publications
* ''Eastern Interlude''. Thacker Spink, Calcutta; Luzac and Co., London (1953)
* ''This is a Republic, Not a Democracy! Let's Keep It That Way''. Los Angeles: Noontide Press (1965)
::Published under the pseudonym "Edward Langford."
* ''Eugenics and Race''. London: Clair Press; Los Angeles: Noontide Press (1958) .
* ''Blood Groups and Race''. 2nd ed. London: Clair Press; Los Angeles: Noontide Press (1966) .
* ''Race & Civilisation''. 2nd Ed. London: Clair Press; Los Angeles: Noontide Press (1966) .
* ''Early Civilizations of the Nordic Peoples''. London: Northern World (1958); Los Angeles: Noontide Press (1965) .
* ''Introduction to Anthropology: An Ecological/Evolutionary Approach''. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston (1974)
* ''Sino-Soviet Intervention in Africa''. Council on American Affairs (1977)
* ''Korea in the World Today''. Washington, D.C.: Council on American Affairs (1978)
* ''Ecology and Evolution''. Washington, D.C.: Mankind Quarterly Monograph (1981)
* ''Essays in Medical Anthropology''. Washington, D.C.: Scott-Townsend Publishers (1981)
* ''Anthropological Glossary''. Marla at, FL: Krieger Publishing (1985)
* ''Evolution, Creative Intelligence, and Intergroup Competition''. Cliveden Press (1986)
* William Shockley: ''Shockley on Eugenics and Race: The Application of Science to the Solution of Human Problems''. Preface by Arthur Jensen
Arthur Robert Jensen (August 24, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American psychologist and writer. He was a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen was known for his work in psychometrics an ...
. Washington, D.C.: Scott-Townsend Publishers (1992) .
* ''Race, Intelligence and Bias in Academe''. Introduction by Hans Eysenck. Scott-Townsend Publishers, Washington, D.C., 1991 (2nd. Ed. 1994).
* ''Heredity and Humanity: Race, Eugenics and Modern Science''. Washington, D.C.: Scott-Townsend Publishers (1991) nd ed. 1998
References
Further references
* Russ Bellant, ''The Coors Connection'' ( South End Press, 1989), p. 2
* John Saloma, ''Ominous Politics'' (NY: Hill & Wang, 1984), p. 8
*Bellant, Russ (1991). ''Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party''. Boston: South End Press.
*Harris, Geoffrey (1994). ''The Dark Side of Europe: The Extreme Right Today''. Edinburgh University Press.
External links
Pearson's personal website with additional biographic information and photos
Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Roger
1927 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of London
British eugenicists
British anthropologists
The Heritage Foundation
University of Southern Mississippi faculty
Queens University of Charlotte faculty
British anti-communists
Race and intelligence controversy
British white supremacists