Racist Scientist Eats His Words

[NorthernSpy]

From the New York Times:

James D. Watson, who shared the 1962 Nobel prize for deciphering the double-helix of DNA, apologized “unreservedly” yesterday for comments reported this week suggesting that black people, over all, are not as intelligent as whites.

(...)

In a statement given to The Associated Press yesterday, Dr. Watson said, “I cannot understand how I could have said what I am quoted as having said. There is no scientific basis for such a belief.”

But his publicist, Kate Farquhar-Thomson, would not say whether Dr. Watson believed he had been misquoted. “You have the statement,” she said. “That’s it, I am afraid.”

Late yesterday, the board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research institution in New York, issued a statement saying it was suspending the administrative responsibilities of Dr. Watson as chancellor “pending further deliberation.”

What especially torqued me was that bit about how everyone who has had black employees supposedly knows that they're not very bright. That's quite a negative recommendation coming from an "expert", and it can only hurt the ability of blacks to compete for jobs and earn a living.

It's like singling out Andrew Fastow and claiming that the lesson of Enron is that Jews can't be trusted with the pension fund. That's not brave taboo-busting; it's just dishonest hate propaganda intended to give certain people -- non-Jewish whites -- a social and economic advantage over others.

[ima_sinnic]

1. oh--back-pedaling after he was suspended--what a surprise!

NOT

so he's not only racist but also a conniving scumbag who is not really committed to his "beliefs" if it hurts him financially.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Moccasin time.

"What especially torqued me was that bit about how everyone who has had black employees supposedly knows that they're not very bright. That's quite a negative recommendation coming from an "expert", and it can only hurt the ability of blacks to compete for jobs and earn a living."

How would you feel if you started a job and realized that everybody was looking over your shoulder to see if you made a mistake? If it were me, I'd be very cautious in my work and take very few risks, not venturing outside the box unless someone gave me the green light.

And you know what would happen? I'd probably be labeled as a follower and passed up for management.

[Buzz Clik]

3. So, next he'll be talking with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, Oprah, and Obama.

He'll tell us how much he admires Sammy Davis and Grover Washington and Bojangles Robinson.

Did he mention Martin Luther King, Jr or the Mandelas?

"Bill Cosby is a friend of mine, as is Puff Daddy ... err P Diddy ... whatever his fucking name is now."

He needs to go home and cuddle his Nobel Prize.

[populistdriven]

4. K&R because this is the most under-reported form of racism in US

Because it lacks sensationalism this white collar racism happens in every workplace and is (almost) never reported on.

[gratuitous]

5. Well, there is an inferior intellect on the Supreme Court who is black

But I don't know that we can draw a conclusion from that; it could be coincidence, rather than causation. Or it could be that Slappy Thomas is a bitter creep who would be more at home sharing a shack with Ted Kaczynski than sitting on the nation's highest court, but that's the Republican party for ya.

[NorthernSpy]

6. Boo hoo! Dolt blogging at Wired fears a chilling of "free speech"...

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/british-science.html

:eyes:


Not the slightest concern about a chilling of the economic prospects of blacks as a result of Watson's racial propaganda, or of their ability to participate in society on an equal footing with whites. How come the only "chilling" certain people ever seem to get upset about is the kind that involves denying some right-wing white dude a forum he wasn't entitled to anyway?

Watson's words were intended to bring about the economic and social ostracism of blacks. The retaliatory ostracism of Dokkktor Watson seems a perfectly appropriate -- and necessary response to me.



And gawd... check out that comments section.

:puke:

[NorthernSpy]

7. 'bbbut he's not a racist!' insist Watson's friends...

:eyes:


http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071019_1_A7_hTheD67863

Friends of Watson insisted he's not a racist.

"It's hard for me to buy the label 'racist' for him," said Victor McElheny, the author of a 2003 biography of Watson, whom he's known for 45 years. "This is someone who has encouraged so many people from so many backgrounds."

So why does he say things that can sound racist? "I really don't know the answer to that," McElheny said.

Mmmm-hmmm... I'm gonna go with my gut on this one...

:argh:


Here come the apologists:

"If he thought something was stupid, he would say it," said Lee M. Silver, professor of molecular biology and public policy at Princeton University, who did postdoctoral studies under Watson at Cold Spring Harbor. "It's tough love. Most people don't want to be like that, but his bluntness was very often on the mark."

Watson's comments sparked headlines this week when he was quoted by a London newspaper saying Africans are intellectually inferior to Europeans. He has also made off-color remarks about homosexuals and women.

But scientists like Silver said Watson's tongue has always been a sharp instrument, revered and feared in the coterie of molecular biologists, where Watson, for half a century, has had the loudest voice.

"It's extraordinary," said Eric Kandel, a Nobel laureate and professor of physiology and cellular biophysics, biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University, speaking of Watson's discovery. "He's a giant of the 20th century. Is he a racist? No. Is he wacky? Sometimes. He is in no way evil and he's done a lot of good. I don't share many of his views, but he's a very different guy."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-a5422086oct19,0,2812271.story


:dunce:

Kandel, you bubblehead!

[AspenRose]

8. What the mayor of London said was beautiful

"The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said his comments "represent racist propaganda masquerading as scientific fact.... That a man of such academic distinction could make such ignorant comments, which are utterly offensive and incorrect and give succor to the most backward in our society, demonstrates why racism still has to be fought."


Right on. :applause:


And check out what this idiot said about Latinos:

Watson is no stranger to making waves with his scientific views. In 2000, in a speech at the University of California, Berkeley, he suggested that sex drive is related to skin color. "That's why you have Latin lovers," he said, according to people who attended. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient." :eyes:

I guess we now know where Schwartzenegger got his comment from :eyes:

[Javaman]

9. this is a perfect example of how to end an career in one paragraph or less.

tools like watson should be put out to pasture.

fucking racist.

[hedgehog]

10. Maybe Mr. Watson needs a thorough physical. He is 79 years old.

It's not uncommon for people that age to say and do things that are uncharacteristic because of a variety of ailments.

[frustrated_lefty]

11. I'm inclined to cut the man some slack.

He contributed to one of the singlemost important revelations of the 20th century. And, realistically, I doubt anyone can reach 79 years of age without making a statement or two which is subsequently viewed with regret. He screwed up. He apologized for it. It's time to move on.

[NorthernSpy]

12. the comments on the Wired thread alone...

... incline me to disagree.

[LeftishBrit]

13. Charming man!

He is also revoltingly sexist. To this day, he sneers at the memory of Rosalind Franklin and tries to minimize her contribution to the research. In his earlier book, "The Double Helix", he expressed the view that 'the best place for a feminist is in someone else's lab'.

I have thought of getting hold of his latest book, but I'd probably end up throwing it, and hitting something breakable!

Certainly he played a crucial part in one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century, but that does not make him a nice man, or an expert in anything outside his field.