“ … among the hundreds of thousands of blacks who are transported elsewhere from their countries … not a single one was ever found who presented anything great in art or science or any other praise-worthy quality, even though among the Whites some continually rise aloft from the lowest rabble, and through superior gifts earn respect in the world. So fundamental is the difference between these two races of man, and it appears to be as great in regard to mental capacities as in color.”

“Humanity is at its greatest perfection in the race of the Whites. The yellow Indians do have a meagre talent. The Negroes are far below them and at the lowest point are a part of the American peoples.”

Immanuel Kant
Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime (1764)