The manifesto of human diversity and unity, eighty years after the Italian racial laws

On July 14 of 1938, ten Italian scientists undersigned the “Manifesto della razza” - an emblematic example of the connections between ideology, race and racism - which paved the way for the laws directed against the rights of people of Jewish origin. Eighty years on, racism continues to poison Italian society. Our country is seeing a surge of intolerance and violence against migrants, while antisemitism is still alive and kicking and anti-Roma and anti-Muslim feelings have become more widespread in our country than in other European countries. All this tells us that we need new ways to foster a culture of unity in diversity. We have formed an interdisciplinary team including biological and cultural anthropologists, a school teacher, a science philosopher and a science communicator. Together we have prepared a dynamic document which opposes the racist Manifesto of 1938: the “Manifesto of Human Diversity and Unity” https://sites.google.com/uniroma1.it/ilmanifesto-eng/home. In choosing our title, we wanted to make it clear right from the very beginning that all humans share the same evolutionary history, a hyper-social behavior and extraordinary abstract capacities. Our Manifesto has been developed around four concepts: (i) human dignity and rights are not negotiable values; (ii) understanding human diversity is fundamental to keep our human sense of community and solidarity alive; (iii) both knowledge and humanity are indispensable to combat racism; (iv) the identity of Italians is deeply rooted in their biological and cultural diversity. Before publication, the text has been shared with thousands of non-specialists through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ManifestodellaDiversitaUmana/), whose feedback helped us to improve it. The document was written for a large audience, but the primary objective of our initiative is to start common educational activities with teachers and school students, who will be able to use the new Manifesto as a symbol and a reference.