Editing Ruth Benedict (section)

==="The Races of Mankind"===
One of Benedict's lesser-known works was a pamphlet "The Races of Mankind," which she wrote with her colleague at the Columbia University Department of Anthropology, [[Gene Weltfish]]. The pamphlet was intended for American troops and set forth in simple language with cartoon illustrations the scientific case against racist beliefs.

"The world is shrinking," begin Benedict and Weltfish. "Thirty-four nations are now united in a common cause—victory over [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis]] aggression, the military destruction of [[fascism]]."

The nations united against [[fascism]], they continue, include "the most different physical types of men."

The writers explicate, in section after section, their best evidence for human equality. They want to encourage all types of people to join and not fight among themselves. "[A]ll the peoples of the earth," they point out, "are a single family and have a common origin." We all have just so many teeth, so many molars, just so many little bones and muscles, and so we can have come from only one set of ancestors, no matter what our color, the shape of our head, the texture of our hair. "The races of mankind are what the [[Bible]] says they are—brothers. In their bodies is the record of their brotherhood."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Benedict |first1=Ruth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27VflLFp0rwC |title=The Races of Mankind |last2=Weltfish |first2=Gene |date=1943 |pages=5 |language=en}}</ref>