Genetics / Stereohyped

Let Jamaicans Win In Peace

Because Slate just had to find out why more white people aren't winning sprinting medals, the folks there turned to the old argument that people of West African descent are genetically predisposed to running better than whites. Culture — which affects the racial makeup of champions in sports from track to water polo — is mentioned, but the focus is on genetics. Now what? Once again assured that they are at some sort of genetic disadvantage, white runners can feel better about losing? [Racialicious]

Aug 20, 2008 · posted by Lauren Williams, Stereohyped · Link · 14 Responses

NEWSFLASH: WE'RE ALL THE SAME I recommend the whole article, but here's a taste: "'I am an African American,' says Duana Fullwiley [professor of anthropology and of African and African American studies at Harvard], 'but in parts of Africa, I am white.' To do fieldwork as a medical anthropologist in Senegal, she says, 'I take a plane to France, a seven- to eight-hour ride. My race changes as I cross the Atlantic. There, I say, Je suis noire, and they say, Oh, okay—métisse—you are mixed. Then I fly another six to seven hours to Senegal, and I am white. … Is race, then, purely a social construct? The fact that racial categories change from one society to another might suggest it is. … Genetic science has revolutionized biology and medicine, and even rewritten our understanding of human history. But the fact that human beings are 99.9 percent identical genetically, as Francis Collins and Craig Venter jointly announced at the White House on June 26, 2000, when the rough draft of the human genome was released, risks being lost, some scholars fear, in an emphasis on human genetic difference. Both in federally funded scientific research and in increasingly popular practice—such as ancestry testing, which often purports to prove or disprove membership in a particular race, group, or tribe—genetic testing has appeared to lend scientific credence to the idea that there is a biological basis for racial categories. In fact, 'There is no genetic basis for race,' says Fullwiley, who has studied the ethical, legal, and social implications of the human genome project with sociologist Troy Duster at UC, Berkeley."

2 Responses

Minority Report

• European-Americans are less genetically diverse than African Americans. Uh, rocket science? [NG]

• McCain's like, there's no way in hell the historic nature of Obama and Clinton's campaigns will influence me to have anything other than a white male as my running mate. No way in hell! [WP]

• Calm down people, Eminem is not writing a book. Eminem was writing a book? [BS]

• According to a poll, 72 percent of blacks would like to shop at black-owned establishments, but many feel there are not enough to suit their needs. [GMI]

Feb 21, 2008 · posted by Lauren Williams, Stereohyped · Link · 8 Responses

Race & Intelligence — Is There An Actual Scientific Link or Just A Racist One?

James Watson is nearly 80 and looks it — his skin is dotted with liver spots, a shock of wispy white hair (half) covers his head, wrinkles surround his blue eyes, and his teeth… Well, don't get me started on his teeth. But it's the Chicago-born Nobel laureate's ideas, not his physical appearance, that age him the most. Lauded almost 50 years ago for determining, with the help of an unrewarded female researcher named Rosalind Franklin and others, the structure of DNA, it seems like his mission since has been to sully his notable scientific works with off-color comments.

From CNN:

In 1997, Britain's Sunday Telegraph quoted Watson as saying that if a gene for homosexuality were isolated, women who find that their unborn child has the gene should be allowed to have an abortion.

During a lecture tour in 2000, he suggested there might be links between skin color and sexual prowess and between a person's weight and their level of ambition.

And in a British TV documentary that aired in 2003, Watson suggested that stupidity was a genetic disease that should be treated.

Watson's latest comments, about a link between race and intelligence, may have destroyed his reputation in the scientific community and his legacy for good. Stereohyped spoke to Dr. Joseph L. Graves, Dean of University Studies at North Carolina A&T University and the author of The Emperor’s New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium and The Race Myth: Why We Pretend Race Exists in America about James Watson, scientific racism, and the need for more scientific literacy.

CONTINUED »

Oct 29, 2007 · posted by Lauren Williams, Stereohyped · Link · 3 Responses