Dr. James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner and a renowned scientific researcher, believes that African minds are inherently inferior to Westerners'. And he seems to feel there is nothing wrong with this research. In fact, he feels very, very right and wants us all to wake up.
The newly formed Equality and Human Rights Commission, successor to the Commission for Racial Equality, said it was studying Dr Watson's remarks " in full". Dr Watson told The Sunday Times that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really". He said there was a natural desire that all human beings should be equal but "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true".
His views are also reflected in a book published next week, in which he writes: "There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so."
Oh, I know. The plight of people who are actually forced to deal with those black employees with sub par intellects should truly not go unrecognized. I thank, no, I commend Dr. Watson for opening all of our eyes to the superiority of white intellect and the hopelessness of Africa. I'm sure white supremacists and Fox Newsies feel totally vindicated.
[NI]
*Thanks for the tip, BMD!
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Oh look! A KKK member won the Nobel Prize!
As a black woman in science, it's unfortunate enough that I frequently have to come in contact with people like this. The fact that there seems to have been a shift in society so that he now feels comfortable baldly stating (instead of quietly thinking) things like this, scares and sickens me.
He won his Nobel Prize through stealing the work of Rosalind Franklin. He also believes that women should have abortions if a test was invented that allowed them to see whether there child was going to be gay. He believes that we should use advances in the field of science to exclusively create genetically perfect (blonde) women.
The worst of it all is that people agree with him and I quote from a review on Amazon:
"Is it a sign of senile behaviour, stupidity or racism ?
None of the above, it turns out. Rather it is the sign of a distinguished scientist telling the truth. The truth is all around us but collectively in this society we are coerced into "pretending" that race is not an issue where intelligence and social behaviors are concerned."
Also: he is touring Britain with this nonsense this week, minor controversy has ensued as he is to host a lecture at the - government funded, natch - British Museum. What a way for me and my fellow Black Brits to celebrate our Black History Month, bu being told we're intellectually/culturally inferior.
Right. Which is precisely why in all my AP classes in high school, it was almost entirely first-generation children of Africans, West Indians, Asians and Eastern Europeans. Oh yes. I also tutor rich white kids who are forever behind. Am I particularly bright? No. My parents didn't just have high expectations. It was assumed that you'd do well in school which is something that most American kids lack. Americans give their kids money and gifts for getting good grades. Good grades were what I had to get for the privilege of living in the house.
His argument is bogus. If you adjust for income, those disparities would likely disappear and if you could quantify the manner in which people were raised, all differences would disappear.
Oh, btw, if it isn't black folks being slow, it's women. The last Harvard president resigned following similar ign't statements about women being genetically predisposed to be bad at math and science. Old white male bigots, even those with PhDs, are a dime a dozen.
we all know that there are people who think this way, but it is shocking and horrifying to hear these words spoken in what i'm assuming was a public forum. it's despicable, sad, and frightening.
Forgot to add that he didn't actually come up with the model of DNA by himself. He and Crick basically stole other people's work. The lady didn't get a Nobel Prize because she had died but I'm sure they still wouldn't have credited her since they failed to do so all along.
He's sounding a little Hitler-ish, isn't he?
Seriously, racists people are coming out of the woodwork! I think its about time these quietly racist people come out of the closet. I am actually more in tuned to see what the response is to these incidents. He recieved censure from science academies in his own country, and even here in the US he was denounced…Which surprised me, but I was shocked and glad to see such a denouncement. Even lectures he was scheduled to be given were canceled. My view point is let people and their superiority speak out about how they feel, and the discussion that happens next is the most important: They've always been here, now we dont have to fight the quiet racism, they're making it easy for us to target and go after them…