Ernest van den Haag
Encyclopedia
Ernest van den Haag was a Dutch-American
sociologist, social critic, and John M. Olin Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University
. He was best known for his contributions to National Review
.
Van den Haag was born in The Netherlands
and raised in Italy
, where, as a left-wing activist, he was nearly killed by a political assassin from Benito Mussolini
's Fascist
regime. In 1937, he was jailed by Mussolini's government and spent almost the next two full years in solitary confinement. After escaping from Italy, and then from Nazi-occupied France, he settled in the United States in 1940. He eventually met and befriended William F. Buckley, Jr.
He began writing articles for Buckley's National Review, though he was never hired as a staff member. He would contribute columns to the publication for the next 45 years. Van den Haag was also a well-known defender of the continued use of the death penalty in the United States. He also defended racial segregation in the 1960s arguing that integration would cause psychological harm to black children.
But he argued that continued school segregation was desirable for another reason as well: the genetic inferiority of blacks in terms of intelligence. In an article in the pages of the National Review, one given pride of place on the magazine's front cover, van den Haag dismissed recent research debunking innate ethnic differences in intelligence, and stated that he himself believed such differences to exist and to account for "much" of the poorer academic performance of black students, and that such differences necessitated separate schooling. This article in fact caused quite a shock even among the conservative readers of the National Review, several of whom wrote angry letters against the decision to print such "bigotry.". In another article, from 1965, he criticized recent legislation that replaced the ethnic-quota immigration system instituted in the 1920s with a less restrictive and less eurocentric one, which enabled an increase in immigration from Asia. Van den Haag instead advocated greater rather than less immigration restriction. He also expressly defended the practice of fashioning immigration policies in favor of European ethnicity, arguing that "The wish to preserve... the identity of one's nation requires no justification." He likened such a practice to a harmless expression of sentiment, similar to preferring to associate with one's own family rather than strangers. "The wish not to see one's country overrun by groups one regards as alien need not be based on feelings of superiority or 'racism.'" Interestingly, in each case, van den Haag adopted the morally relativistic vocabulary of positive science to fend off the charge that the white privilege he was espousing had anything to do with ideas of inherent racial superiority; thus, according to van den Haag, preferences for white skin, European culture, or intelligence were mere subjective values, and none could be proved desirable in themselves. This marks van den Haag as an early practitioner of the rhetorical style of Neoconservatism
: the use of the methods, vocabulary, and tone of modern social science in defense of traditional conservative issues.
. His works include:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sociologist, social critic, and John M. Olin Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
. He was best known for his contributions to National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
.
Van den Haag was born in The Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and raised in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where, as a left-wing activist, he was nearly killed by a political assassin from Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's Fascist
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
regime. In 1937, he was jailed by Mussolini's government and spent almost the next two full years in solitary confinement. After escaping from Italy, and then from Nazi-occupied France, he settled in the United States in 1940. He eventually met and befriended William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
He began writing articles for Buckley's National Review, though he was never hired as a staff member. He would contribute columns to the publication for the next 45 years. Van den Haag was also a well-known defender of the continued use of the death penalty in the United States. He also defended racial segregation in the 1960s arguing that integration would cause psychological harm to black children.
But he argued that continued school segregation was desirable for another reason as well: the genetic inferiority of blacks in terms of intelligence. In an article in the pages of the National Review, one given pride of place on the magazine's front cover, van den Haag dismissed recent research debunking innate ethnic differences in intelligence, and stated that he himself believed such differences to exist and to account for "much" of the poorer academic performance of black students, and that such differences necessitated separate schooling. This article in fact caused quite a shock even among the conservative readers of the National Review, several of whom wrote angry letters against the decision to print such "bigotry.". In another article, from 1965, he criticized recent legislation that replaced the ethnic-quota immigration system instituted in the 1920s with a less restrictive and less eurocentric one, which enabled an increase in immigration from Asia. Van den Haag instead advocated greater rather than less immigration restriction. He also expressly defended the practice of fashioning immigration policies in favor of European ethnicity, arguing that "The wish to preserve... the identity of one's nation requires no justification." He likened such a practice to a harmless expression of sentiment, similar to preferring to associate with one's own family rather than strangers. "The wish not to see one's country overrun by groups one regards as alien need not be based on feelings of superiority or 'racism.'" Interestingly, in each case, van den Haag adopted the morally relativistic vocabulary of positive science to fend off the charge that the white privilege he was espousing had anything to do with ideas of inherent racial superiority; thus, according to van den Haag, preferences for white skin, European culture, or intelligence were mere subjective values, and none could be proved desirable in themselves. This marks van den Haag as an early practitioner of the rhetorical style of Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
: the use of the methods, vocabulary, and tone of modern social science in defense of traditional conservative issues.
Literary works
Throughout his life, Ernest van den Haag wrote many books and articles about society, and more specifically about capital punishmentCapital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. His works include:
- The Death Penalty: A Debate, 1983 (co-authored with John P. Conrad)
- The Jewish Mystique, 1968
External links
- The war in Katanga; the United Nations in the Congo, report of a mission. by Ernest van den Haag