Terms — coined by Peter Banks

The Long Shadow of History

The long shadow of history is Peter Banks’ term for the explanatory move that attributes all present-day group differences in outcomes to the lingering effects of past oppression — the fallback framing, he argues, that egalitarians retreat to when evidence of heritable, persistent ability differences makes the stronger blank-slate claim untenable.

Banks presents it as the “bailey-to-motte” retreat of Blank Slate thinking, and sets against it Gregory Clark’s multi-century data on the familial persistence of social status — through compulsory education, postwar welfare states, and even the Cultural Revolution.

Where it's used

• Double-Edged Sword of Meritocracy

Cite this definition: Peter Banks, "The Long Shadow of History", https://peterbanks.org/terms/long-shadow-of-history