I recently had an interaction that irritated me. The idea that Lovecraft was an awful person who was an abhorrent racist until the day he died had penetrated the common thought almost completely. That’s misleading and not entirely accurate.
To start things off. What Lovecraft racist? It was 1900′s America, of course he was racist.
Was Lovecraft horrifying racist even for the time? Yes and no. Early on, absolutely, but by the time he died Lovecraft had recanted many of his opinions.
You’ll note I didn’t say “recant his bigotry”. No, he was still racist, but many of the radical notions he held in his younger years had become moderate or softened.
He DID recant many of his opinions, going so far as to lament his being a reactionary who was blinded by fear. He was a supporter of the KKK and Nazis (note: this was prior to the start of WW2 and the reveal of what happened to the Jews) but by the time of his death he had turned his back on both organizations, even going so far as to call Germany at the time “a circus”.
Someone took issue with me claiming that by the time of his death, Lovecraft was a progressive for his time, when compared to this contemporaries. That does not mean he was progressive by today’s standards, that does not mean he became anti-racist.
What it means on a scale of 1-10 on the Racism Scale for the time, with 10 being Hitler and 1 being entirely anti-racist (5 being average for the time), Lovecraft started out as an 8 and by the time he died, he was a 4.
All you need to do is look at his opinions.
What were his opinions on Black people? That they were genetically inferior people and he was pro segregation.
When was this opinion common in America? All throughout until the 60s (and often beyond). In this way, Lovecraft was a contemporary. His opinion was commonplace until the 1960s. Unfortunate, but true, his opinion was average for the time.
What were his opinions on Asian people? That they were not genetically inferior and were only different due to cultural differences. And would say that Asians in general were able to boast some of the world’s historical artists, artisans and soldiers.
When was this opinion common in America? At the time of Lovecraft’s death, Asian people were still seen as inferiors and this sentiment would lead right up until after the World War, after the internment of the Japanese. This would put Lovecraft’s opinions on Asian people at least 15 years ahead of his contemporaries.
What were his opinions on Jewish people? Lovecraft was an anti-Semite. He had numerous issues with Jews, though he did marry a Jewish woman. His opinions were that Ashkenazi Jews were of an “alien, superior race” but that other Jews, like Polish Jews, were of “a lesser stock”.
When was this opinion common in America? Antisemitism has a long history but Lovecraft’s view that not all Jews were bad and, in fact Ashkenazi Jews were of a ‘higher stock’ was not an idea that became commonplace until after World War 2. Even then, the influx of Jews into America caused a great deal of resentment, which festered. At best, we can say Lovecraft’s view on Jews was starting to fade in the 1950s, putting him 10 years ahead of his contemporaries.
What were his opinions on race mixing? He was, more or less, against it. But he also stated that individual cases were not his concern, that it was widespread race mixing that caused issues and, in his own words, said “a dash or two of Mongolian or Indian or Hindoo or some such blood will not actually injure a white stock biologically”.
When was this opinion common in America? Miscegenation laws were only repealed in most of America starting in the late 40s or mid 60s. And ANY race mixing was considered to be bad by a large portion of the populace. To be fair, let’s say his opinions were 10 years ahead of his contemporaries.
What were his opinions on women? Lovecraft made a specific point of saying women were not inclined toward submission or being overly emotional, that such things were the result of historical influences from “The Orient” (which meant Middle East at the time, aka blaming Abrahamic faiths for subjugating women). He would state that women are not inferior, just different, and were destined to be the equal of men once societal limitations were removed.
When was this opinion common in America? Women only got equal pay in the 60s and this sentiment only started gaining traction near the 70s. This would put Lovecraft’s opinions a whopping 35 years ahead of his contemporaries.
So that’s what I mean by “progressive”. Because several of his ideas were between 10 and 35 years head of his current time. And by the time he died, his bigotry in several areas were of similar thought as most of American society.
In this way he WAS ahead of his time. For a lot of his beliefs, they were contemporary (and bigoted and wrong) but for several stances, he was well ahead of the curve.
It’s important to note that while he was a raging bigot for the first half of his life, Lovecraft improved and even outstripped a lot of society in several beliefs. Does this excuse his bigotry? No, absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the context, the time, that he lived in and realize that for all his faults and flaws, he DID manage to improve.
We don’t know how Lovecraft would’ve developed and progressed if he lived beyond the age of 46. If he saw the World War, the treat of the Jews, the Japanese internment camps, and the decades of events afterwards. But given his course, his remorse and his opinions during the latter years of his life, one might think (or hope) he’d have taken up even more progress and overcome more of his bigotry than he was able to at the time.
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