Brains & Race

Every now and again, someone or something seems to stir up a bit of controversy. In this situation, it was sparked by a well-respected DNA pioneer & one-time Nobel Prize winner for Medicine, James Watson. The 79 yr old scientist had, in a recent interview with a British newspaper, insinuated that Africans are genetically not as smart as whites. Yes, exactly what he said.Expectedly, this ignited condemnation from all over the globe. As a result of those shocking remarks, Mr. Watson was suspended from a renowned U.S Laboratory where he served as chancellor. He also had to cancel his planned book tour, as well as a visit to London’s Science Museum where he was to deliver a sold-out lecture. Even though he’s since apologized for his obviously ‘un-wise’ remarks, there are still a lot of displeased people (particularly of African descent) out there. Well, here’s my brief take on his brave, but politically incorrect utterances. We all know that this continent is largely underdeveloped,economically & democratically, compared to our western counterparts and that’s a big chunk of the problem. We are victims of our environment. There’s a lot of poverty here which restricts proper educational advancement & consequently literacy levels.Let's not forget the impact of corruption as well.Funds meant for educational infrastructure etc are diverted into private pockets.Also, racism & bias worsens the situation as many educated Africans, say who schooled/live abroad, find it difficult to get good & fair growth/job opportunities,a key avenue for intellectual progression.

However, for Mr. Watson to claim that,because of one's dark skin color/ancestry,you are inherently dumber than the average white guy is grossly untrue & has no scientific evidence.
On a more worrisome note, if an intelligent Nobel Prize winner like James Watson could have made such remarks during a newspaper interview, who knows how many more share similar views like his?

Worrisome indeed.