Comments on black aptitude stir outrage
By By Malcolm Ritter
Associated Press
Friday, October 19, 2007
NEW YORK -- James Watson, the 79-year-old scientific icon made famous by his work in DNA, has set off an international furor with comments to a London newspaper about intelligence levels among blacks.
Watson, who's chancellor of the renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, has a history of provocative statements about social implications of science. But several friends said Thursday he's no racist.
And Watson, who won a Nobel Prize in 1962 for co-discovering the structure of DNA, apologized and says he's "mortified."
A profile of Watson in the Sunday Times Magazine of London quoted him as saying that he's "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."
While he hopes everyone is equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true," Watson is quoted as saying. He also said people should not be discriminated against on the basis of color, because "there are many people of color who are very talented."
The comments, reprinted Wednesday in a front-page article in another British newspaper, The Independent, provoked a sharp reaction.
London's Science Museum canceled a sold-out lecture he was to give there today. 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."
In the United States, the Federation of American Scientists said it was outraged that Watson "chose to use his unique stature to promote personal prejudices that are racist, vicious and unsupported by science."
Watson is in Britain to promote his new book, "Avoid Boring People."
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It is obvious that these individuals have not taken anytime to do a little research. Most of the comforts that they enjoyed have been invented or improved upon by African-Americans. Let's take a crash course in African-American History 101: Black Inventors.
Not too take up much space, I will only list a few of the creature comforts that African Americans have invented or improved upon. Click to see full list of Black inventions.
Toilet - T. Elkins
Refrigerator - J. Standard
Mop - T.W. Stewart Baby Buggy - W.H. Richardson
Traffic Signal - Garrett Morgan
Hair Brush - Lyda Newman
The all important Golf Tee - George F. Grant
Thermo Hair Curlers - Soloman Harper
Clothes Dryer - G.T. Sampson
Remote Controllers - Joseph N. Jackson
Telephone System, Telephone Transmitter, Electric Cutoff Switch, Roller Coaster, Auto Air Brake - Granville T. Woods
So the next time you are brushing your hair, drying your clothes, or at the 9th hole, just remember if it hadn't been for these African-American men and women, none of the simple things that we have today would be nonexistent.