Black People are Less Intelligent, Says Dr. James Watson, Nobel Prize Winner and DNA Pioneer.
October 18, 2007 by Abdul Kargbo
Well, there you have it folks, irrefutable scientific proof of what we’ve secretly known all along. Black people are less intelligent than White people. This latest confirmation comes from no less an intellectual giant than Dr. James Watson, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1962 for his role in discovering the molecular structure of DNA. It looks like the guy who said stupidity is a genetic disease that should be cured should be his own first guinea pig.
Apparently, Dr. Watson said in an interview with 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.” CNN online also reports:
In the newspaper interview, he said there was no reason to think that races which had grown up in separate geographical locations should have evolved identically. He went on to say that although he hoped everyone was equal, “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true.”
Dr. Watson, it seems, has a history of making insensitive and inflammatory comments. The online edition of Scientific American has compiled a list of Watson’s other foot-in-mouth utterances.
- After showing images of women in bikinis and veiled muslim women, he suggested that there is a link between exposure to sunlight and libido. Then he said, “That’s why you have Latin lovers. You’ve never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient.”
- After showing a picture of Kate Moss, he asserted that thin people are unhappy and therefore ambitious. “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you’re not going to hire them.”
- Fat people may also be more sexual, Watson asserted, because their bloodstreams contain higher levels of leptin.
- “If you are really stupid, I would call that a disease. The lower 10 percent who really have difficulty, even in elementary school, what’s the cause of it? A lot of people would like to say, ‘Well, poverty, things like that.’ It probably isn’t. So I’d like to get rid of that, to help the lower 10 per cent.”
Like all prejudiced people, Dr. Watson tends to be well-rounded in his bigotry, as shown by a trail of sexist remarks. According to Charlotte Hunt-Grubbe, who worked for Watson in the late ’90s, he often found himself the target of feminists’ ire for insensitive statements he made about women’s appearance and personality. Hunt-Grubbe also writes that Watson was accused of using data gathered by Rosalind Frankin, a colleague and fellow researcher, without her knowledge and without sufficiently acknowledging the contribution of her data to his own discovery. By the time Watson and his male colleagues won the Nobel Prize, Franklin had already passed away from ovarian cancer. Lest this be passed off as a one-off incident, New Scientist publishes this Watson gem on their website: ”People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great.”
For a guy who is so critical of others, Dr. Watson sure has a lot of work to do on his own personality and attitudes. I would write more but being from Africa, I’m clearly not intelligent enough to do so. Instead, I’ll just agree with my man Scooter when he says, “Less work on the DNA double helix and more work on the common sense gene.”
oooh… this reminds me of a torah scholar i once met who insisted in his infinite learned wisdom that the jewish soul is superior to that of the gentile as it consists of three parts more than the traditional 5 that every person posesses. not that it’s any reason to discriminate against all gentiles, he said. merely irrefutable proof of superiority. that’s all.
Well I’ll be damned. Glad to know this. I guess my superior Jewish soul balances out my inferior African intellect.
I think Dr. Watson is guilty of nothing but lacking tact. His points are valid and not necessarily racist. I think most people who have any knowledge of history would agree that the ancient Greek and Roman societies were far more technologically advanced than any other societies of that time. If we are to beleive that human intellect evolved at exactly the same ratedespite race and geography, than there would be overwhelming evidence that Africans made similar advances in enginerring and science during the same era as the Greeks and Romans. Unfortunatley, the historical evidence shows that this did not happen in Africa. So we need to ask ourselves why this didn’t happen in Africa. In 2000 B.C. the failure of Africans to make intellectual advances was ceratinly not due to racism. They were the only race in Africa.
I’m not putting forth this argument to sound like a racist. I just think that we have no chance of fixing the problems that face Afican Americans if we ignore this issue of intellect.
Well I guess SOMEONE should point out to the premier geneticist Mr. Watson that since race doesn’t exist biologically, he needs specifiy exactly which ethnic-group or kline of blacks he’s referring to. Oh, my bad, as a scientist he hasn’t taken the time to even think that far ahead before making assinine statements! Is this really the 21st century?
Nick, you might not intend to sound like a racist but you’re certainly coming across as one.
First off, the definition of intelligence is vague. People think intelligence is a measure of knowledge or technical ability and most “tests” of intelligence focus on this. However, there is always a cultural and geographical context for this. You do what you need to survive and not much more. The ancient Greeks and Romans did what they needed to do to survive. Their “technology” was both home-grown and borrowed. Take the chariot, for example, a major component of the Greek and Roman armies, which was adopted from the Egyptians. As for the “Africans” you refer to, I can only assume you mean Black Africans or sub-Saharan Africans. The fact that generations of Africans survived, traded, made music, created art, and basically thrived south of the Sahara is proof of their intelligence. Why produce machines when there’s an abundance of manual labor? Of course, there were lots of other social, cultural, and economic constraints that affect innovation and the production of new technology but basically, you produce what you need. People who live in cold climates might show more “intelligence” when it comes to staying warm and not freezing to death. Likewise, imperial cultures like the ancient Greek and Roman societies will show more “intelligence” and innovation in machinery, weaponry, water delivery systems, etc.—all necessary for providing for and protecting a lot of people scattered over a wide territory. Nomadic peoples, then, would have had less need for armies and heavy machines since they have to pick up and go. Does this make them less “intelligent”? I don’t think so but, based on your comment, I assume you do.
So, Nick, to answer your question, you are equating “intelligence” with the ability to build machines and urban infrastructure, products of a very different geographical and cultural environment. Of course, art and literature flow out of the social and economic changes produced by that sort of urban society but that’s another issue. AND nomadic or other non-urban societies also produce art and literature. However, ask yourself this: “If the Greek and Romans were so ‘intelligent,’ how come they never conquered the Sahara desert or the dense tropical jungles south of the Sahara?” Don’t forget that there were thriving societies in both these areas. Why don’t you look at is from this standpoint, that these people were MORE intelligent than the Greeks and Romans because THEY were able to build successful societies in these harsh environments?
And, for what it’s worth, you’ve clearly never heard about the great urban societies of sub-Saharan Africa, North, Central, and South America, the Middle East and Asia. If you had, you wouldn’t say something as ignorant as “the ancient Greek and Roman societies were far more technologically advanced than any other societies of that time.” Clearly, you’ve never heard about Dahomey, the Congo Kingdoms, the Futa Djallon Kingdoms, or any of the other great urban societies in sub-Saharan Africa, further proof of your ignorance.
Moreover, you talk about race as if it were something real. You’ve probably been raised to believe that the ancient Greeks and Romans were “White” in the same way the English or Germans are. It’s not the case at all. The ancient Greeks and Romans were a lot closer to North Africa and the Middle East in their culture, religious belief and practice, etc. Again, you are relying on an arbitrary and frankly racist reading of history. Hannibal and St. Augustine were both from what is today Tunisia. St. Anthony lived in a cave in Egypt. Yet these men have all been claimed by Western society and “Whitened” so racists can convince themselves that all the great thinkers of the classical period were White.
A little knowledge is indeed a terrible thing.
And let’s not forget the expropriation of all white expropriations, Jesus Christ himself. At any rate, thank you Abdul. The only point I wanted to make, which you have in essence, is that while Nick or Mr. Watson may not want to come off as racist, they are unmistakably and absolutely ethnocentrist. Western society bases its measure of other cultures on its own values (machinery, technology). Humans inevitably value what their own culture excels at, and excel at what their own culture values. Measuring another culture by these same values is self-serving. It’s like me saying “I’m the best at tennis, therefore, because no one else is as good at tennis as I am, I am the best of all people.” Ridiculous. That said, as Abdul pointed out, Western society still is not the shining beacon of intelligence and technology it pretends to be. It’s simply the culture that’s been writing the history books for the past century.
Thank you, Derrick.
Two more points for Nick.
First, only an ignorant person would try to equate Black Africans with Black Americans simply based on skin color. Black Americans have been in the New World for so long that they have much more in common with White Americans than they do with Black Africans. For someone like Nick, however, skin color takes primacy so whatever factors limit Black Africans’ and Black Americans’ “intelligence” must be based solely on skin color, not poverty, disenfranchisement, malnourishment, etc.
Secondly, I’m curious about the studies Dr. Watson alludes to. Who was studied? Poor, rural “Africans” or wealthy, well-educated urban Africans? I come from an upper-class background in Sierra Leone and I had a fantastic education in Africa and the guys I went to school with are all super intelligent, super hard-working, and now super successful in their chosen professions. I challenge anyone to test our “intelligence.” Likewise, I can go to any number of economically deprived rural or urban communities in the United States and test any number of poor and poorly educated people and prove that White people are less intelligent than Africans.
The problem with people like Nick and Dr. Watson is that when they look at people, they see only skin color (i.e., race) and ignore all other factors like economics, class, culture, etc. That’s why they think that Africans’ “lack of ‘intelligence’” is somehow related to Black Americans’ “lack of ‘intelligence.’” After all, they have the same skin color, right, so they MUST be the same.
It’s disappointing that someone like Dr. Watson still holds such archaic and outdated notions. After all, genetically speaking, there is MORE diversity on the African continent than there is in the entire rest of the human population because the African populations are older and their genes have had much more time to mutate. This means that a “British” person is more genetically similar to a “Chinese” person than two Africans from neighboring tribes. If there is a biological or genetic basis for race (and I maintain there isn’t), then there would be many more different “races” on the African continent than there are in the rest of the world. However, because racism and race theory are based on morphological difference (skin color, hair texture, physical stature), real genetic and cultural differences are overlooked or deliberately ignored in favor of a totalizing approach that focuses exclusively on people’s physical attributes.
Consequently, ignorant people like Nick can convince themselves that Black Africans and Black Americans are, after all, one and the same.
Empty vessels make the most noise! Nick & Watson (no Dr. in my eyes, or else he would have known better; but I guess thats a different story) seems to be empty intellectually thats why they made commments like the ones they did. I work w/ different races of people on a daily basis and by far whites are not the smartest-just very good at pretending/faking/make believe.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy learning about different cultures/races and by far is not racist-after all my spouse is bi-racial. But it saddens me when minorities, especially blacks are constantly being verbally attacked for belonging to a “DIFFERENT race and culture”. When people are sad they hurt the same. Hurt knows no color, race, gender and certainly has no intellectual ability, unless I’m not smart enough to notice.
Please people, think before you speak!
This is very interesting. If Dr. Watson and Nick’s comments are true, then I guess the Chinese are more intelligent than the whites because they were the first to develop explosives and some of the first weapons that are still being used today like guns, bombs, ballistic missiles. Anyways, both Dr. Watson and Nick don’t realize the importance of trade, culture and social environments. Obviously they have never been to Africa either.
And it really anion me when people still think Africa is one big country.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think the main reason why the northerners (middle east, Europe, Asia) became more advanced during the A.C. period is their cultural belief about education (mainly because of religion) and trade. They also had to do it to survive all the wars that are still going on today.
I totally agree with K’s Comment to “Think before you speak.” People don’t realize that even comments making fun of someone who smell bad can be devastating to others. There are some people who have generic disorder or illness that cause them to emit foul odor. Imagine how horrible and embarrassing that would be if you had that problem.
Watson is a nincompoop. First, how are we defining intelligence ? Through standardized test scores and grades earned in school…. Please, that relates more to socilogical conditions than genetic factors. Family structure, income and environmental conditions influence and help shape what we call “intelligence”.
Now if Watson said, “Blacks score lower on standardized test and get lower grades in class due to unequal access, institutional racism and other uncontrolable environmental factors”. I would probably have to agree because that would be a truer statement, especially given the sociopolitical climate in this country.
Watson sounds like an old, sex pervert that probably visits Thailand quarterly to get his fix from little brown boys. He totally fits the profile.
And Nick, please do some reading, it’s obvious that you need to read Stolen Legacy by George G.M. James. That’s your start point, I gurantee you’ll be surprised.
People like Watson really don’t even deserve press coverage.
Likewise, I can go to any number of economically deprived rural or urban communities in the United States and test any number of poor and poorly educated people and prove that White people are less intelligent than Africans.
who is the ignorant now?? ha?? who is the ignorant?? you messed up at the end,sierra leone boy!
just look at germans, after the second world war they were ruined and now are the greatest country in the world, and than look at sudan or other african countries they are still organized in tribes, like the afro-americans here all they know is shooting each other.
Lucian,
Sounds to me like you’re grasping at straws in an attempt to make me look stupid. I’m not even sure what you’re referring to but I guess I should probably have used quotation marks around “prove” and “intelligent” in the sentence you referenced.
So let’s try that again. Hopefully this’ll make my meaning more clear:
Likewise, I can go to any number of economically deprived rural or urban communities in the United States and test any number of poor and poorly educated people and “prove” that White people are less “intelligent” than Africans.
There. Is that better?
And what’s up with the poor grammar? “who is the ignorant now?? who is the ignorant??”
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume English is not your first language. For future reference, though, in English, you don’t use an article (”a/an” or “the”
before an adjective if the adjective stands alone. So for example, you should never say something like “Who is THE ignorant now” because there’s no noun after the adjective (”ignorant”). However, it’s perfectly correct to say “Who is ignorant now (without “the” 
OR “Who is the ignorant PERSON now (with a noun after the adjective). And, of course, you should know to use capital letters at the start of a sentence. 
Dr Watson just made a wonderful discovery. He deserves a new Nobel prize for Racism.
There are no suprises here, we live in time of controversy.
It appears it always a convienent pratice to mock ethnic minorities & women for shock value especially blacks the PROBLEM RACE.
Dr Watson is not saying anything new which we haven’t already heard about black peoples, the difference is that he has openly brough it to debate again. We all know blacks run faster , have higher libidos, have lower IQ all based on scientific thesis/ explanations by eminent white scholars/scientists.
Intriguingly, white people always seem to the persons espouing these stories, we never hear eminent black scholar/ scientist making prouncements on biological race differences between white’s and blacks .
One wonder whether these prouncements and therories has any thing to do with insecurities and ignorance of a few racist bigots
It’s funny that so many people claim speaking out against this man’s statements is an attempt at being politically correct. In the science world, as any scientists knows you don’t make a claim that you don’t already have sufficient evidence to back up and you look at all the facts. He obviously didn’t. All these scientists today with fancy equipment and high priced laboratories still can’t rebuild a pyramid built without all of that.
I’d also point out that it’s funny he mentions Black and White people with no mention of Asian, indigenous, or any other groups. This alone shows his way of thinking when it comes to Black people. He lets his negative views towards them influence his scientific work and therefore makes baseless claims, which haven’t been proven even to the most minimal extent.
Someone needs to tell him to read up on who it was that brought Europe out of the Dark Ages.
Define “intelligence.” All the research is proving is that whites are better adapted to a eurocentric definition of intelligence. Develop an afrocentric IQ test and let’s see who does better…
To nick,
In 2000, the eminent professor shocked a scientific audience at the University of California at Berkeley by making connections between skin colour and sex drive.
He said that a chemical called pom-C, which produces melanin, also affected other factors including sex drive and weight, and made a correlation between sun exposure and libido. This was why black people and Latinos had reputations as lovers — something, he said, of which the English could not be accused. Bizarrely, he also came to the conclusion that fat people were less ambitious than thin ones. “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad because you know you’re not going to hire them,” he said.
He is also an advocate of abortion where genetic screening reveals undesirable traits.
In 1997, he even said a woman should be allowed to abort a foetus if tests had shown it would be a homosexual and the mother deemed this undesirable.
It is fitting that a scientist with such controversial views has worked in the most controversial science of our time — genetics.
so how is this finding different from his current stupid comment?
please answer me nick.
So you might think this a very inappropriate time for some 79-year-old white professor to be digging up long disproved theories of black racial inferiority.
But American scientist Dr James Watson has been all over the British newspapers with his theory that black people are less intelligent than white people.
He went on to say that he hoped that everyone was equal, but that “People who have to deal with black employees find this is not true.”
He has been taken seriously because he is a Nobel Prize winner. But he was awarded his Nobel Prize nearly 50 years ago. In more recent years he has a history of unpleasant remarks about race, gender and sexuality.
In 2001, he wrote an article for a German newspaper advocating diagnostic tests early in pregnancy for untreatable diseases such as Tay-Sachs. He made it clear that he thought such children should be aborted. But Tay-Sachs is a condition that is restricted to Jews.
Steven Rose, a professor of biological sciences at the Open University, said of Watson’s most recent outburst about black people: “This is Watson at his most scandalous. He has said similar things about women before, but I have never heard him get into this racist terrain. If he knew the literature in the subject, he would know that he was out of his depth scientifically, quite apart from socially and politically.”
But there is a long history of racist pseudo-science about black intelligence. In 1855, the US secretary of state, John C Calhoun, argued that “Scientific confirmation is proof of the necessity of slavery. The African is incapable of self-care and sinks into lunacy under the burden of freedom. It is a mercy to give him the guardianship and protection from mental death.”
A 19th century British psychologist, Sir Francis Galton, estimated that black people were “two grades” below white people in general mental ability. He was just one of a whole generation of scientists who peddled notions of black intellectual inferiority.
They often argued that black people literally had smaller brains. As late as 1916 a scientist called Lewis Terman wrote: “Black children are uneducable beyond the nearest rudiments of training. No amount of school instruction will ever make them intelligent voters or capable citizens in the sense of the world. Their dullness seems to be racial, or at least inherent in the family stock from which they come.”
theories about black intellectual inferiority obviously strike a chord with the British. Otherwise his remarks could not have been taken as seriously as they were.
Dr Watson’s words will be forgotten before all the leaves have fallen from the trees and Christmas draws near. But many notions of inherent black inferiority still linger on in the British psyche.
Mightyminnow
I too was fascinated by this gentleman when reading the Times UK and mused if I should write about him. He was afterall suggesting I was a dimwit.
Does mixed race give me an edge?
On the other hand is he being completely misunderstood!
Hi, I work for BBC World Service radio on an international discussion programme called, World Have Yours Say. Today (Monday) we are discussing what is acceptable debate, in light of the reported comments by Dr James Watson. The programme is on air from 6pm to 7pm London time (1pm to 2pm East Coast Time in the States). If you would be interested in taking part in the discussion, please email me back with your phone numbers to martin.vennard@bbc.co.uk or call me on +442075570635 and I will call you straight back.
Many thanks
Martin Vennard
Gomez, completely misunderstood i think not. He is going exactly the same thing that alot of people have being going in the past. and this attitude is what is responsible for the unachievement of black people in the west today. The idea that blacks are good at sport but can think.
For years societies (especially the west) have being trying to dehumanise africans/black for as long as we could remember. first it as the look, that africans compare to other race are ugly.
It does not come to me as shock that Dr watson or other white person would come with is conclusion. one question, why does comparison studies of different races alway come down to black and white.
This is one of many way in which the Whites promote white superiority over black. we have seen this done over and over again and i can assume you that this is not the last time that a stupid narraow minded, attension seeking man like Dr watson would come up with his own theory about white Superiority over black or any other race for that matter.
i have been to some sites, you should read some of the most ignorant comment made by some white people with respect to Dr watson comments about Africans. it just shows that alot of white people believe this rubbish, and as long as they do, black in the west are in big trouble.
Someone tell me where is the is the scientific evidence to back this findings,
Dr Watson is another idiot, trying what alot of white before him has done.
Mustafa,
Thank you for that response.
I am not surprised that there are still people willing to accept the views of prejudice.
However in order to defeat this type of stupidity we need to allow these morons to voice their views and then academically prove that these views are false.
I a firm believer of free speech.
The fact that Dr Watson has been allowed to return back without being publicly confronted, is, in my opinion allowing him to stir up the flames and depart in safety.
He could just be looking to publicise his book, in which case, he has won.
Or it could be that what he is saying is, that the tests themselves were weighted against the average Black African i.e. the black person would come out with a lower score because it was written from a white and western subjective perspective.
That was one possibility after reading the article however the comments on this article point to a different, eugenics ideal and demonise the old fart, sorry molecular biologist!
Could it not be that a 79 year old,views the world through old prejudiced glasses? In which case he needs a visit a beliefotician.
[...] Because of a post I had written last week about Dr. James Watson’s statements (see this posting and the associated comments), I was invited to be a guest on the BBC’s “World Have [...]
I’ve been thinking about the views Dr Watson has presented linking intelligence with race.
(1) The definition of intelligence Dr Watson is basing his views on needs to be understood.
The point on populations as a whole is vital - the lack of understanding of that point is clear in this thread.
(2) There are a number of definitions of intelligence around which there are arguments as to their appropriateness and validity. That isn’t really the main point at hand - this discussion is not primarily concerned with different definitions of intelligence rather on whether there is or is not a link between Dr Watson’s definition and race. It is important that Dr Watson’s definition is within the set of potentially acceptable definitions.
(3) Dr Watson refers to experimental work that has been carried out and bases his views on his interpretation of the results of that work.
(4) I have not seen anything in this thread which casts scientific doubt either on the experimental work to which Dr Watson refers nor to his interpretation of that work.
(5) Responses which are not based on solid scientific foundations are meaningless - the advancement of knowledge must not be based on anything other than the most reliable experimentally tested hypotheses available at the time.
(6) My understanding of his views is that (a) the difference in intelligence is small but not small enough to be dismissed within the bounds of statistical error and (b) only relevant when considering whole populations.
(7) The difference such as it is could arise from the testing methodology or other socio-economic factors or the bounds of statistical error in this field could be larger than previously thought. Conversely, Dr Watson could actually be correct.
(
(9) Considerations on the utility derived from scientific investigation in this area are missing - just what do we expect to gain from this work and where will it take us? Do we want to be taken to that place?
I am undecided on whether to accept Dr Watson’s views purely on scientific reasons or not. I certainly would not dismiss them on non-scientific grounds. I uphold Dr Watson’s academic freedom to advance his views, based as they are on scientific underpinnings.
This is not an issue of race. If Dr Watson’s views are correct that would simply imply a difference between certain populations. Differences are not the same as inequalities - people can be different but of equal value. This is an issue of science.
Tony, all your points are valid.
However, I must point out again that Dr. Watson did not cite any scientific studies. He used anecdotal evidence about people who have Black employees. Where’s the science there? Secondly, Dr. Watson DID say the races are not equal. Did you see the quote? Here it is again, as reported by CNN: “He went on to say that although he hoped everyone was equal, ‘people who have to deal with black employees find this not true.’”
I’m a strong believer in science and where there is scientific evidence, let it speak for itself. But Dr. Watson does not provide any scientific proof for his speculation on the intelligence of Black people, using only a racist anecdote to prove a racist point. Whether or not Dr. Watson is correct, let science be the proof. In the meantime, I will continue to denounce him. He is living proof that racists and scientists are not mutually exclusive categories.
I repeat that if he had suggested there is an avarice gene which predisposes Jews to greed, he would have been crucified. How many people would have been defending his right to free speech? But because he expressed his racist opinions towards Black people and Africans, he’s being defended. As a Black person, I’m sick and tired of having to defend against racist insinuations that I’m less intelligent or whatever, simply because of my skin color and hair texture. Not a day goes by without someone saying or doing something that disparages, devalues, or even dehumanizes people of color yet we’re expected to stay silent and accept it. Well no more! Scientist or not, Dr. Watson has to be challenged and taken to task for his racism and insensitivity. He’s been getting away with it for too long!
He ceased to be a “living proof” on Oct.26th 2007 [yesterday]
African Immigrants:
African-born blacks comprise 16 percent of the U.S. foreign-born black population and are considerably more educated than other black immigrants (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000). The vast majority comes from minority white countries in East and West Africa (e.g. Kenya and Nigeria), and less than 2 percent originate from North or South Africa (World Factbook 2004; Yearbook of immigration Statistics 2003).
In an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Journal of Blacks in higher education African immigrants to the United States were found more likely to be college educated than any other immigrant group. African immigrants to the U.S. are also more highly educated than any native-born ethnic group including white Americans (Logan & Deane, 2003; Dixon, 2006; Journal of Blacks in higher education, 1999-2000; Onwudiwe, 2006; Otiso and Smith, 2005; The Economist, 1996). Some 48.9 percent of all African immigrants hold a college diploma. This is slightly more than the percentage of Asian immigrants to the U.S., nearly double the rate of native-born white Americans, and nearly four times the rate of native-born African Americans (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 26 (Winter, 1999-2000), pp. 60-61).
In 1997, 19.4 percent of all adult African immigrants in the United States held a graduate degree, compared to 8.1 percent of adult whites and 3.8 percent of adult blacks in the United States, respectively (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 26 (Winter, 1999-2000), pp. 60-61). This information suggests that America has an equally large achievement gap between whites and African immigrants as there is between white and black Americans.
The Canadian sociological literature on immigrants also paints a similar picture, however, less stark. All visible-minority immigrant groups whether from the Caribbean or India do better academically than their native born (non-visible) cohorts, on average. Both foreign-born and Canadian-born blacks have graduation rates that exceed those of other Canadians. Similar patters of educational over-achievements are reached with years of schooling and with data from the 1994 Statistics Canada survey. (Guppy and Davies, 1998; Boyd, 2002).
In the UK, 1988, the Commission for Racial Equality conducted an investigation on the admissions practices of St. George’s, and other medical colleges, who set aside a certain number of places for minority students. This informal quota system reflected the percentage of minorities in the general population. However, minority students with Chinese, Indian, or black African heritage had higher academic qualifications for university admission than did whites (Blacks in Britain from the West Indies had far lower academic credentials than did whites). In fact, blacks with African origins over the age of 30 had the highest educational qualifications of any ethnic group in the British Isles. Thus, the evidence pointed to the fact that minority quotas for University admissions were actually working against students from these ethnic groups who were on average more qualified for higher education than their white peers (Cross, 1994; Also see, C, Dustmann, N, Theodoropoulos, 2006).
According to the report The State of Working Britain, published by the Centre for Economic Performance at the highly regarded London School of Economics, 21 % of adult blacks in Britain with African origins have a university degree. Only 14 percent of adult white Britons are college educated. It has also been shown that black immigrants from Africa earn more money than do native born white Britons (C, Dustmann, N, Theodoropoulos, 2006):
Of the African-born population in the United States age 25 and older 86.4% reported having a high school degree or higher, compared with 78. 9% of Asian born immigrants and 76.5% of European born immigrants, respectively. These figures contrast with 61.8% percent of the total foreign-born population. Immigrants groups in general tend to have higher high school graduation rates than the native-born general American population.
Those Africans born from Zimbabwe (96.7 percent), Botswana (95.5 percent), and Malawi (95 percent) were the most likely to report having a high school degree or higher. Those born in Cape Verde (44.8 percent), Mauritania (60.8 percent), and Somalia (63.3 percent) were the least likely to report having completed a high school education (Dixon, D., 2006)..
Of the European born those born in Bulgaria (92.6 percent), Switzerland (90.5 percent), and Ireland (90.4 percent) were the most likely to report having a high school degree or higher. Those born in Portugal (42.9 percent), Italy (53.7 percent), and Greece (59.9 percent) were the least likely to report having completed a high school education (Dixon, D., 2006).
Of the Asian born Mongolia (94.8 percent), Kuwait (94.7 percent), the United Arab Emirates (94.5 percent), and Qatar (94.3 percent) were most likely to report having a high school degree or higher. Those born in Laos (48.1 percent), Cambodia (48.4 percent), and Yemen (49.9 percent) were the least likely to report having completed a high school education (Dixon, D., 2006).. (Most people think the Asian group includes Orientals exclusively, this is not true)
Dodoo (1997) finds that while African immigrants are indeed the most educated of black groups in the U.S., he finds a negative return on African immigrants’ education attainment for diplomas obtained outside the United States. However, the same does not hold true for Caribbean immigrants. Although he finds that among blacks – native and immigrants – Africans earn the most, when earning-related endowments such as educational attainments are included in the analysis, this expected African advantage disappears (Dodoo, 1997).
Distortion and Group Differences:
In the United States researchers often muddle group difference data by aggregating divergent geographical, historical, cultural and ethic groups into crude and arbitrary categories with whom they then compare with the general population. This in practice misleads unwary readers into the false belief that those aggregated group mean scores objectively characterize the individual groups who have contributed to the overall figures. Take for example: Only 5.3 percent of Central American immigrants have earned a bachelor’s degree, and only 19.5% percent have graduated from high school (Davy, M. 2006). This difference is often coupled with data relating to South American immigrants who, according to the Migration Policy Institute (Dixon, D., and Gelatt J., 2006) 23.4 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher and 74.3 percent reported having a high school degree. These skewed grouping methods; the Hispanic category in this case, creates the false impression in the minds of readers that South American immigrants are poor students based on the fact that they speak Spanish or Portuguese, alone.
The African born and Employment:
The African born are concentrated in management or professional and sales or office-related occupations. Of the employed population age 16 and older in the civilian labor force, the African born were much more likely than the foreign born in general to work in management and professional occupations as well as sales and office occupations. Additionally, the African born were less likely to work in service, production, transportation, material moving, construction, and maintenance occupations than the foreign born in general.
Ethiopians, Sudanese and Somalis, who mostly immigrate as refugees, do not do as well as their counterparts from English speaking African countries such as Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya. The reason was because most people from the three countries immigrate to the United States as refugees and asylum seekers, following crises in their home countries (Otiso and Smith, 2005).
Source Materials:
African Immigrants in the United States are the Nation’s Most Highly Educated Group. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 26 (Winter, 1999-2000), pp. 60-61doi:10.2307/2999156
African-Born Blacks in the United Kingdom Are Far More Likely than Whites to Hold a College Degree. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 34 (Winter, 2001-2002), pp. 29-31 doi:10.2307/3134095
African-Born U.S. Residents are the Most Highly Educated Group in American Society The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 13 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 33-34 doi:10.2307/2963153
Boyd, M. (2002). Educational Attainments of Immigrant Offspring: Success or Segmented Assimilation?
C, Dustmann, N, Theodoropoulos (2006): Ethnic Minority Immigrants and their Children in Britain. Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, Department of Economics, University College London
Cross, T. (1994). Black Africans Now the Most Educated Group in British Society. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 3 (spring, 1994), pp.92-93
Davy, M. (2006). The Central American Foreign Born in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. April 2006
Dixon, D. (2006). Characteristics of the European Born in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. February, 2005
Dixon, D. (2006). Characteristics of the African Born in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. January, 2006
Dixon, D. (2006). Characteristics of the Asian Born in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. April 2006
Dodoo, F. N-A (1997). Assimilation differences among Africans in America. Social Forces 76: 527-46
Gelatt, J. and Dixon, D. (2006). Detailed Characteristics of the Caribbean Born in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. July 2006.
Gelatt, J. and Dixon, D. (2006). Detailed Characteristics of the South American Born in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. May 2006.
Guppy, Neil and Scott Davies (1998). Education in Canada: Recent Trends and Future Challenges. Ottawa: Statistics Canada and the Minister of Industry.
Kefa M. Otiso and Bruce W. Smith, (2005). “Immigration and Economic Restructuring in Ohio’s Cities, 1940-2000”, Ohio Journal of Science, 105 (5): 133-137 December 2005
Logan, J.R, Deane, G (2003). “Black Diversity in Metropolitan America.” Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban Regional Research University Albany
Onwudiwe, E. (2006). “Reflections on African Brain Gain Movement.”
The Economist (1996). 339 (7965): 27-28
In Educational Attainment, Black Immigrants to the United States Outperform Native-Born White and Black Americans. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education © 2003 CH II Publishers
Thank you, Dave.
Brad, you scared me for a minute.
I thought you meant Dr. Watson passed away.
Tony Maione, from your comment it wouldnt come to me as surprise if you are fact White individual.
Please answer me this, why does very comparative with respect to race whether being looks or in case intelligence alway comes down to black and white. never asian or white etc
And as know suprise, surprise the whites has always come top, so do you think that is racist pseudo-science about black intelligence come as a shock to African? no it doesnt. For centuries, blacks all over the world have been dealing with the whites dehumanising africans.
So does your comment come as a surprise to me, no it doesnt as it is what i except from people like you.
and also, is alway a matter of race.
if i were i say africans are stronger than White, with no scientific evidence to back it, what would be your response?
Please dont come here to make comment on issues you obviously know nothing about or have first hand experience about.
Nick, you are absolutely an idiot! Go back to your history, unbiased history that is. Go back to Noah’s three sons; historical scholars will be happy to share their very educated wisdom with you by showing you the historical contribution that Blacks have made in history. Where do you think the original letter of the alphabet comes from? Who are the Egyptians and what contribution have they made? Do you understand Hieroglyphics? Do you know who the Phoenicians are and what their contributions were? Etc. Let’s talk about African American contributors to America. Who finished building Washington, D.C? And I’m not talking about forced slave labor. You eat peanut butter? Who came up with that? Used soap lately? Washer agitator, the original hazard suit, that has brought about fire uniforms, space suit, hazmat uniform, who designed the new armed forces uniform? Stop at a traffic light lately? Nick, the list goes on and on. If you ever decide that you don’t want to be an ignorant, demonic idiot, please shut your biased mouth and do some research. Most white Americans destroy, downplay, steal, or demonize what they do not understand, and this they did to a people who they could not understand so you could feel superior! Are you superior? Not! That is why you have to kill us, maim us, imprison us, demoralize us, among other things, just so you can feel superior. Check out true history, and not the one White people have twisted and bend in their favor. Check out true history and, NOT the one they use to keep another group of people down. Their fear caused them to attack and attempt to destroy another group of people by stealing them, killing, them, and oppressing them, all in the name of feeling superior? Look at the history of Whites, they have plundered, destroy, and stolen everything they have ever “gotten” in history. America belongs to Indians and Mexican, but where are the Indians and Mexican? They are on reservations, or stuck behind an imaginary border. California, Texas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Utah, and other border states belonged to them. Why? “Because you feel you are superior. Idiot!
Two things-I would appreciate publicity and seat not sit with that dreaming giant and great scientist on a round table!
I shall appreciate first,greet him later on and address him in some languages that we was born not speaking-he will revise his remarks and definitely the book-whatever BIBLE it is-others he will add on himself and finally give me a Jambo!
http://www.africanunitymovement.com
Thanks Dave,
You have highlighted a substantial body of work on attainment by different group and it certainly does make interesting reading. I was aware of some, but not all of this material.
Attainment is not the same thing as intelligence. Over whole populations the studies referenced do appear to indicate higher than average levels of academic ability (perhaps coupled with application?) within certain groups.
There may be socialisation factors. Members of certain groups may believe that they need to outperform their competitors in the employment market - having to pedal harder to get to the same place is an issue that I have heard before.
Alternately there may simply be a disposition based on some other factor for this higher level of performance. I remain open-minded on the underlying causes of the differences.
Different people are equal. I believe the differences to be interesting and worthy of study.
Thanks Mustafa,
Although you have little to go on other than a name, you’ve correctly guessed that I am a white man. I’m an immigrant to the UK from Italy.
The body of knowledge Dave highlighted indicates that the population I come from enjoy far lower levels of academic attainment than most others. That does not cause me anguish at all. That work is only accurate on a population basis and is utterly meaningless on an individual level. It shows, just like Charles Murray’s book did, that the data means nothing on an individual level and that we should deal with the individual in front of us rather than the group we think they may belong to.
Mustafa - by referring immediately to my ethnicity, do you think you are dealing with me as an individual or as a member of a group that you have certain (possibly accurate) views on? I’m sure the answer is no and that you do not seek to treat anyone differently based on your perceptions of the ethnic group they may belong to. I certainly don’t - I’m a scientific determinist which informs my attitude to Dr Watson and that is why I remain uncertain on this point.
It remains the case that if somebody asked me whether I believed there to be a link between ethnicity and certain measures of intelligence I remain unable to give an answer either way. Any answer I would give would be based on scientific analysis of the existence of a link or not.
I accept that it is possible for scientists, like any other people, to be racists and vice versa. I don’t believe Dr Watson to be a racist for reasons that I’ll cover below.
It is probably fair to say that we lack a definitive study on this point. It is also possibly fair to say that if there were found to be a difference either way it would be minimal and possibly within the bounds of statistical error and only relevant over large populations. There are other factors that might cause differences between communities too and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to design a study that negated these factors. I would also wonder whether the benefit that could be gained from carrying out such a study would outweigh the resources needed.
Nevertheless that in itself, and my views on all persons being of equal value, regardless of their differences, does not immediately lead to the conclusion that Dr Watson is wrong.
My main interest in Dr Watson comes from his views on Tay Sachs disease which is a degenerative metabolic disease which is passed on by autosomal recessive inheritance. One of the interesting things about this disease is that the gene is 10 times more common in the Ashkenazi Jew population than in general population.
Whilst speaking in Germany some years ago Dr Watson suggested that all foetuses carrying the gene be aborted in order to remove or at least massively reduce the incidence of this terminal disease. The foetuses would not grow up, and pass the gene on to their own children being the logic. Of course such action would have any enormously disproportionate effect on the Ashkenazi Jew population. To air this views in Germany may well have been highly insensitive.
The first time I read these comments I was shocked - I have a daughter who suffers from a different metabolic disease albeit with a much better prognosis than Tay Sachs. Then I realised that if you strip emotion away from what Dr Watson said, in stark narrow terms he is right - the consequence he seeks would be achieved by the measures he suggests. That is the nature of scientists - see a problem, find a solution. Very often the solution will not have been considered in any wider context and may have all sorts of other unintended consequences rendering it an academic exercise only.
Dr Watson’s views linking ethnicity and intelligence may have been formed in an equally insular way. Alternately, he may be a racist. I don’t have enough information to make a conclusion.
What is certain is that he has made an enormous contribution to one of the greatest scientific advances of the 20th century. His work is underpinning the work of Craig Venter who is getting ever closer to creating life which gives us some more issues to debate.
Thanks again.
Tony Maione
Tony Maione
From you you comment is sounds to me that you have not done enough research on Dr Watsons interview. His comments were disrespectful to Black Africans all over the world, and some people like myself would in fact interprete it as racism.
i can see that you have kindly commented on my post, but there are thing in my original post that you have not comment on which i would very much to read your views on.
why does intelligence comparative studies alway compares Africans (blacks) and whites, but never black and Asian, or Asians and whites?
why is it that people with black skin l(ike that Australian aboriginals, africans etc) have lower IQ. i have an interpretation for this but i just cant be bother to explain at this time.
if the findings were the opposite your and fellow White men’s reaction be different?
if the findings showed that Whites are less intelligent than African would the findings be published, i think not.
When i was in the UK, a friend said that there is no way that a white man would allow his race to come second (especially with respect to intelligence) to Black African.
am sorry Tony if am coming a racist and disrespectful, but a comment like that of Dr Watson, only promote the idea that Africans inferiority to White, and that blacks are stupid, an idea that has been promoted for centuries and can be seen in all social institutions in the West, a reason for my leaving the West for african. There are things stated in your comment that reflex this views, like dismissing Daves comment with regard to African attainment ((Attainment is not the same thing as intelligence))
Blacks in the west are not treated as individuals, rather as a group, so is is hard for me to treat you as an individual especially from your initial comment.
Define “intelligence.” All the research is proving is that whites are better adapted to a eurocentric definition of intelligence. Develop an afrocentric IQ test and let’s see who does better. (et el aja)
well i hope you child feels better
I’m Susan B’s husband and a psychometrician. At her urging, I am responding to the remarks on Africans’ IQ. First, such a low average score must have been partly the result of a written test applied to illiterates, or a complicated non-verbal test for which the goals were not made clear. (If you were handed a test in Swahili and told to mark boxes on it, you would likely score in the retarded range as well.) But an IQ test, unless very limited and carefully designed, is also partly a test of literacy, test-taking experience, and cultural knowledge.
Aside from the language barrier, I would be willing to bet that a couple of weeks’ instruction in testing and Western conventions would have vastly improved the African subjects’ scores. If so, the test was only masquerading as an IQ test, if we believe that IQ is relatively fixed in each person.
Second, there is plenty of evidence that even intelligence conceived of as entirely culture-free can be improved with practice up to certain limits. I do not have the capability to be a professional rugby player no matter how much training I get, but practice would certainly make me better at the sport. On the other hand, the greatest natural athlete in the world will not be good at a sport without some training. In the modern Western world, most of us have had the opportunity to train our intellects up to our highest potential. Therefore, we tend to view IQ test results as a reflection of our upper limits of intelligence. A century ago here or today in Africa, this was/is not the case.
However, this does not imply that the best way to improve Africans’ intelligence is to train them up to be able to do well on Western IQ tests. I suspect that training in logic and practice at thinking would vastly improve the Africans’ “African Intelligence”, whether or not it is the same as our “Western Intelligence”, and that the African version would would serve them better at succeeding within their own cultures.
Finally, I will note in passing that cultures and religions vary more in Africa than they do in the homogenized West, so even referring to an “African IQ” is a gross oversimplification of the issue.
Susan B’s husband,
Thank you for your reading the blog and posting your comment. I agree with you entirely.
The people who are respectfully “considering” Dr. Watson’s words are also working from the racist premise that Black people—regardless of where they live or are from—are universally the same, i.e., less intelligent than White people. But let’s remember that the belief that Black people—first Africans and Australian Aborigines, then Black Americans, then Black West Indians—predates genetics and IQ testing. It has existed and thrived even in the absence of “science.” In fact, it has popped up and thrived wherever and whenever Europeans have had to interact with non-Europeans. In the context of colonialism, etc., the interactions between Europeans and non-Europeans have never been equal or fair, so is it any surprise that Western attitudes towards Black and African peoples are always so one-sidedly negative?
Susan B’s husband, thanks again for contributing to this discussion and for presenting your thoughts in an eloquent, articulate, and comprehensible manner.
Tony please read:
Far from the modern conservative utopia of a “colour-blind society,” Euro-centric racial chauvinism seems to rear its ugly head in the popular press every few years or so — from the eugenics of Arthur Jensen to Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein’s Bell Curve to Dr. Watson, renowned for his role in describing the double-helix structure of DNA and for representing America on the international Human Genome Project.
Watson told the London Sunday Times 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. He expressed a hope for human equality but added that “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true. And here we go again.
But did you hear about the recent work of African-American economist Roland Fryer of Harvard University and University of Chicago economist Steve Leavitt, who co-authored the popular book Freakonomics?
Fryer and Leavitt responded to Watson’s scientifically-unfounded claims by pointing to Department of Education research that includes test data of the mental abilities of one-year-olds.While you might think it would be impossible to capture anything meaningful at such a young age,” Leavitt writes, “it turns out that these measures of one-year-olds’ intelligence are somewhat highly correlated with IQ scores at later ages, as well as with parental IQ scores. They found “no racial differences in mental functioning at age one, although a racial gap begins to emerge over the next few years of life .The observed patterns are broadly consistent with large racial differences in environmental factors that grow in importance as children age.
Much is made of the present Black IQ score of 85. White racists use it to show why they feel that Black societies, including ancient ones, have accomplished little. Not only is the Black IQ the same as it has always been, but it is irremediable, as IQ is, so the White racists say, 80% genetic.There are some serious problems with this analysis.
First of all, one must understand just what an IQ score really is. An IQ score is merely a relative score, and as scores rise, the tests are regularly re-normed at the 100 average here in the US. Therefore, the 20 point IQ rise has been completely masked.
Whites scored 100 and Blacks scored 85 in 1925. In 1995, after a 20 point rise in both groups, Whites scored 100 and Blacks scored 85 once again. Do you follow? The regular renorming 8of the tests reduced the gains to invisibility. Further, a score of 85 is not necessarily “low” and a score of 115 or even 130 is not necessarily “high”. With average set at 100, the scores work like this: 66% of the group will score between 85 and 115 - 15% of the group will score between 70 and 85 and another 15% will score between 115 and 130. 2% will score below 70 and another 2% will score above 130.
Suppose we ran into some aliens on another planet who had managed to design their own IQ tests. Suppose they were 10 times more intelligent on average than we are. Suppose they normed their tests exactly the way we do above.
The aliens who scored in the lowest 2% might still be, say, seven times smarter than the average human! If they gave their tests to us, we might receive an average score of 30, or below the lowest 1% of their society. On their test, that would be considered seriously retarded. Do you follow?
Now suppose we went to another planet and found another population. Suppose this group of aliens was not very intelligent yet. Suppose some of the brighter ones had set up their own IQ test with the score breakdown above and normed for their population.
We might find that the upper 2% of their population, scoring over 130 on the test, actually has an IQ equivalent to humans of 85. 85% of us would be considered “gifted” on their test. Understand?
The tests are relative. Set at 100, 15% of any population will score 70-85. Whether or not that is “slow” depends on the intelligence level of the population itself.
Second, Blacks of all ages, not just Black children, are reducing the Black-White IQ gap. Between 1972-2002, Black IQ at age 24 rose from 79 to 84.5, a gain of 5.5 points. A similar gain was seen amongst Black children. Even racists Arthur Jensen and Phillipe Rushton agree that the Black-White gap is not immutable. To continue to harp on this theme in face of contradictory evidence is either ignorance or White racism.
White racists are in agreement that the Black average IQ of 85 is “low”.
To this they ascribe all sorts of Black problems and pathologies.
White racists take it further and say that an average IQ of 70-85 (depending on the region) prevents Blacks from creating decent and civilized societies anywhere on Earth.
Are the studies of no value that show African-Americans or Asians doing differently than so-called “white” Americans on standardized IQ tests? That is, is the work of people like Herrnstein and Murray worthless? No. It is valuable data, but it is also explosive data because of our racist political history. Such data will inevitably be exploited by white supremacists, twisted for their own political goals and used not to improve racial relations in America but to encourage further racial strife. Such data consists mainly of correlations. And while correlations should convince orthodox empirical scientists of nothing, to the racist researcher, correlations are the heart and soul of their work. The furor that The Bell Curve caused died down quickly because there occurred an ongoing saga which usurped its political and entertainment value. In fact, Herrnstein and Murray, in chapter after chapter, call for social reforms to improve the status of blacks in America. They may be disingenuous calls, but they are nevertheless inconsistent with the notion that the social condition of blacks in America is due to genetic factors. If genes led to the black underclass of young thugs who murder each other on a daily basis in almost every city in America, then there would be no point in calling for educational or vocational programs, no point in urging a change of focus for black men and women in their families, as even the black supremacist Louis Farrakhan has recommended with his million man march.
One can’t deny that the majority of young men killing each other in gang wars are minorities. But one can deny that the reason they are so violent and immoral is because of their race. That is false and an insult to the majority of blacks and other minorities who are decent, law-abiding persons. One can’t deny that minorities are undereducated as a group and underrepresented in our colleges and universities, and in the professions and skilled trades. But one can deny that the reason minorities are underrepresented is because their race makes them genetically inferior and incapable of competing with “white” America. Even so, it is true that many minorities are not in college or working as doctors or lawyers or teachers or auto mechanics, etc., because of their race.
It is possible that some day we may be able to look at people of different races and see them as human beings without losing sight of what is special and unique about racial or ethnic membership. We do not need to be colourblind, nor should we strive to ignore racial differences. But they should be seen in a proper perspective: significant in forming us, but irrelevant to our status as human beings capable of both the highest moral and intellectual behaviour and of bestial depravity and moronic incompetence.
Thank God I never fully internalized the idea that most, if any, of my school mates were more intelligent than me. But, I did assume that everyone outside my family did. That’s why I never asked for help in school. I wrongly thought that asking for help amounted to an admission that black people were, in fact, inferior, as was periodically pronounced from the ivory towers of academia and other corners of the race conscious IQ industry. Fortunately, I was able to flip that negativity into motivation. But when I read about the remarks made recently by the esteemed biologist James Watson, I winced at the thought of how many black youngsters might continue to internalize the destructive but persistent message that they are inherently less intelligent. And I wonder if they too will turn that negativity into motivation.
You see Tony
Being a member of the race regarded as the race with high intelligence gives one a right to superiority and justifies inequality, regardless of one’s individual deficiencies. It also justifies racism, since if inferior people are succeeding they must be cheating the truly superior people out of their just inheritance. It also justifies believing things about oneself that have no objective validity.
for now, I have got to build up my younger cousins, nephew and nieces emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) to counter the likelihood that their IQ will be questioned someday simply because of the colour of their skin.
thanks Susan you are a great friend
Lauryn Hill is one of my favourite artist, in her last album she said that if you allow yourself to be subjected to other people opinion a part of you dies. i think black individuals should listen to this.
why do black people allow themself to be affected by racist comment that justice inequality and therefore racism?
just because someone is black does not mean that they dont have the feelings that makes us humans. they have feelings and someone them especially the younger generation can internalize racist comments like that of Dr watson and therefore causing further damages.
Why do we white continue to judge people by our standards.
and why we feel the need to constantly go on (centuries after centuries, generation after generation) about how black are less intelligence that us or other races. They have heard it so many times already do you think is time we stop doing this now.
the reason why white racist like Dr watson and others do this is because of the deep down insecurity that we have, the fear of africans discovering this insecurity and their own strength.
we just want to keep them down generetion after generation, century after century. why? to continue to promote the idea that they are less than us, which is pretty stupid if you think about it.
The fact people like Tony Maione and nick, are trying to justice this obvious racism is shocking and disapointing, shame on you two.
Tony i have lived in italy, italy is one of the places in the europe that promote black inferiority to white. just take a look at the senegal people (and other Africans and blacks) that live in italy and see how they are treated.
Take a look at the football company in europe. they have african/black player but never black managers, why?
we should be carefull what we say to people.
Good point Aja, interesting read.
i am interested to find out Tony’s views on Mustafa’s question.
nice one susan be husband.
abdul why do feel the need to explan and fight back. my African friend mother alway say silence is the best answer given to a fool like Dr watson and other racist bigots like NicK or people like Tony who is trying to excuse Dr Watson.
abdul just look at yourself, and other black people like Aja, and many others, also from the stat from Dave’s post, is an evidence that dr watson is an idiot, and not to be taken seriously.
please excuse my grammer error.
Natalie,
Thank you for your sensitive and insightful comments.
People like Dr. Watson and Nick need to be challenged. For them, silence is never the best answer. They will just think they are right if we remain silent. Notice Nick has not returned to repeat his ignorant remarks because our speaking out helped him understand what a racist fool he is.
As for the rest of you comment, Natalie, I cannot agree more. Thank you for contributing your voice and perspective to this conversation. It’s good to see that there are many, many White people who do not agree with racists like Dr. Watson, Nick and Tony Maione.
Abdul…
There is an article by a Nigerian Journalist called Idang Alibi, that you should read. i will like very much to read your take on this self hating African man.
i think the article is on http://www.allafrica.com. or simple google it adding Dr watson to the search.
Anyway i look forward to read your views on this article.
Aja
Many people will come and go, making statements such as this. As a black man, I know that our history and destiny has been manipulated by colonization, slavery and destruction of our culture and arts by superior fire power and at present, poor political leadership.
Imagining that the gloomy economic situation of Africa is a result of low intelligence would mean that North Koreans, for example, are of lower intelligence than South Koreans. The Saudis would be more intelligent than the Hungarians and Polish.
Africa has her challenges but she is coming round. This is inevitable.
To all you black/African Haters (Nick, Dr Watson and Tony)
If I could give you the world
On a silver platter
Would it even matter?
You’d still be mad at me
If I could find in all this
A dozen roses
Which I would give to you
You’d still be miserable
In reality, I’m gon’ be who I be
And I don’t feel no faults
For all the lies that you bought
You can try as you may
Break me down but I say
That it ain’t up to you
Gone and do what you do
(Chorus)
Hate on me, hater
Now or later
‘Cuz I’m gonna be me
You’ll be mad, baby
(Go ‘head and hate)
Go ‘head and hate on me, hate on
‘Cuz I’m not afraid of it
What I got I paid for
You can hate on me
Ooh, if I gave you peaches
Out of my own garden
And I made you a peach pie
you would still slap me high
What if I gave you diamonds
Out of my own womb
Would you feel the love in that,
Or ask “why not the moon”?
If I gave you sanity
For the whole of humanity,
Had all the solutions
For the pain and pollution
No matter where I live,
Despite the things I give,
You’ll always be this way
So go ahead and Hate on me, hater
Now or later
‘Cuz I’m gonna be me
You will alway be mad,
Go ahead and hate on me, hate on
‘Cuz I’m not afraid of it
What I got I paid for
You can hate on me
You cannot hate on me
‘Cuz my mind is free
Feel my destiny
So shall it be
(By Jill Scott)
Aja,
Thanks for the comment and the link. I’ll take a look at that article this week.
odiri,
Thanks for the comment, and for the inspirational lyrics.
To paraphrase the great Jedi Master, Yoda:
Nick, Dr. Watson, and all the other haters out there need to get to the root of their fear of African and Black people. That’ll be an important first step towards making this world a better place.
No westerner living in Africa (as I have for nearly forty years) would ever challenge Watson. The relatively low average intelligence of Africans is a central fact that permeates life there, and goes a long way to explaining the unremitting disaster that is Africa. As in any population, there is high variance but it is notably rare to meet someone who is clearly bright, and depressingly commonplace to deal with people who have trouble with complex ideas. I must emphasize: there are plenty of exceptions, but the average person is noticeably less intelligent than the average European or Asian.
Of course, the is no way to determine whether this pattern is due to bad nutrition, bad education, a culture which discourages innovation and creativity, or whether it might be partially influenced by heritable factors. But it is an inescapable fact of life that has dramatic implications for the continent in a world which is changing rapidly and getting ever more complex.
— Posted by Larry
Larry,
As an African who has been living in the West for almost two decades, I am constantly amazed at how many ignorant, unintelligent, inarticulate, and barely literate Europeans I encounter on a daily basis.
And, as an African who also lived in Africa, I have always been struck by the fact that many Westerners who live in Africa seem unable to shake their racism and prejudice. I wonder if that’s a hereditary factor that persists despite good nutrition, education, socioeconomics, etc.
But more importantly, geneticists and other scientists have denounced Watson for his views. He himself has stated there is no scientific backing for his claim.
So, whatever is causing the lack of intelligence you perceive among Africans, at least we can rule out a genetic, race-based explanation.
To me, it looks like it’s exactly these kinds of justification that ‘Black’ people who don’t want to work hard (for example) can use and get away with. By categorizing ‘Black’ people as ‘Dumb’ (lets face it, that’s what people like Larry are really trying to say) they take away whatever willingness that these people might have had to educate themselves, read more, go to college and so on. When we have big names like Watson saying ‘Sorry, you’re doomed because you’re Black’, the average ‘Black’ kid would grow up thinking himself to be inferior and assuming that he would never be good at certain things, so why bother? And then we have people like Larry, who spend 40 years in Africa, and think poorly of the people who inhabiate the place. Perhaps, you ARE right Larry. They are dumb, dumb enough to let you stay in a continent where you had no respect for the average people.
to me,
Hear hear!!!
It is to our own detriment that we have let others so thoroughly occupy our land and our minds that they can now define who we are in whatever negative light they see fit.
to add to ‘to me’’s point, when members of a particular group are told over and over that they are inferior in some way, while beginning to believe and internalize this, they also become angry and resentful, further diminishing their chances at constructive progress, development, and peaceful coexistence with those imposing these views, be it in africa, the us, or anywhere else in the world.
I am reading all this trash. Simpleton whites now think they have the intellect to cast judgement on Black folks. We have been here before. Western scientific communities once held, whites were physically superior to Blacks. This point of view is now a joke. If we accept IQ test as the measurement of biological superiority, then Asians especially East Asians are the superior race. Asian IQs are higher than whites. Affirmative Action programs were never a programs for African Americans. The wording was “women and minorities.” In fact, white women have been the biggest benefactor of Affirmative Action. Also it seems that Affirmative Action in higher education in the California university system was benefiting whites more than any other group. It was whites hurting Asian applicants more than Blacks. I am less intelligent than a white because I don’t know what a caboose is(what if my country don’t have trains?). It is cowardly and pathetic of Western society to compare themselves to people who are poorer and still developing the material/social structure for bringing about modernity, especially towards people they have had a hand in stunting development. This IQ debate is an attempt for whites to remain relevant. We have seen the ascendancy of Asians. The white race is no longer the superior race both physically and intellectually.
bobby
Less than 2 generations from nazism it amazes me how any one comes to even speculate on racial differences.I feel very fortunate to be around some very intelligent people from all races.After working in in R@D at the protein purification plant at Genentech I am now in pharamceutical sales and travel very extensively.
Any one can clearly see this was a very,meticulous,well thoughtout plan to smear a whole race of people.Watson at 80 was put out to pasture and it behooves me to realize that these suspensions/retirement and whatever else ramifications he encountered was planned well in advance(quip about “black employees” is ridiculous).
I am white,very athletic and have no doubt in my mind or any one elses that blacks are superior in 2 of the 3 allys (mentally,physically, and sexually).
Watson admitted sexual superiority for melanin gifted races.So these bigots really need to zero in on the mental debate.
I listened to a debate on talk radio and a black guest mention something I never thought of….if whites could not find any genetic difference they would invent one.He said,contrary to Watson,that whites people are already operating on basis that whites are superior.
He went on to ask the talk show host do you know of any widely reported studies are speculation about white people (as a race) that negative in nature, the host admitted he really couldnt say.But this constant, corrosive, drip drip reports about blacks keep coming with courteousy of the the media every 3 months are so.
Watson’s stars really lined up for him.His book about to be published,a shot at Obama for prez (plantings seeds of doubts for his potential voters) and his retirement.
My girlfriend says I am pretty black - not as black as coal, but blacker than caramel and perhaps shades lighter than oreo cookies. However I am a South Asian. I was wondering does that make me dumb?
Your skin color doesn’t make you dumb Rezwan, but that question surely does
Rezwan,
I’ve never heard of anyone who isn’t actually Black claiming to be, but if you wanna be Black, it’s fine with me. Lord knows there aren’t enough of us graduating from Ivy League schools.
But I think when Dr. Watson said what he said, he was referring to Africans and Black Americans, not specifically brown- or black-skinned people, and certainly not South Asians.
I’m sorry. You must be very disappointed.
Haha! Yes Certainly I am
To poster 55, I was kidding! 
i did a report on you! you were really interesting to write about. thanks for finding out dna!!
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Dr Watson should be removed from his Nobel Prize. I am back African & proud, qualified CIMA from Edinburgh, HCIMA and MBA from London. Does that make also dump because Watson say so?. If Alfred Nobel knew what this wicked old man have been saying he would have taken his prize from him instantly.
Those black people reading this rubbish from Dr Watson, you must write the Bobel Prize Org urgently like I did & you must demand an apology from her not from this crazy racist doctor. Someone said the American black know only how to shoot each other, that nay be true but who have denied them to obtain education? who made them feel half of their own who not long ago refused to take a seat in a bus or even dine in the same restaurant with a white person. The fact is clear to those who really need to know. Watch a film called TRADING PLACES.
There is a way how we do not need to argue actually~See it is great to research even you know that some hopeless fellows have tried to research but failed, but anyway there is no need of so much discussing! You need to QUIT talking and acting social economic fake life but be happy and live well!
Lame,blind, limbless and stupid people may only win awards these days! Find a way how not to be mad but simply stupid like!You will know what speaking about can be!
BUT,Here is a non RACIAL solution to help both the great unthinking and the thinking giants who understand the WORLD better or not better!
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/10151.html
I WISH HE HAD WRITTEN ABOUT THIS~I WAS NOT BORN ONE BUT THOSE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT FILLS THEIR MINDS~I cried profusely when I was taught that people sold people~no body understood why I cried~thats why most don’t understand~they better do! I will never forget that blackout day in my life even though I was simply young! SIGN IT~THANK YOU!
He seems to be ignorant of human beginnings with
writing, medicine, mathematics, et al. Maybe he never heard about the Antediluvians, the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Hebrews, the Kingdom of the South, Great Zimbabwe, Songhai, Mali, Timbuktu, Djenne, the Dogon…not to mention our accomplishments during our sojourn here in the west…inventions vital to things such as blood transfusions for one…
As usual I have to say Happy New year to You all not forgetting Doctor Watson~All along I have been thinking of a make believe~of a PHD? Is it like a Permanent Head Damage? May be Desmond Tutu,said it~*What is black empowerment( I will say modern empowerment) when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled* This a smart cleric also talked about a full menu of rights? He wants it!
You tell more~share articles get out of the way for the information to flow is not a bad or rough word~simply get out of the way~and more so,I’m not rough men! Many times,I carry the blame?
According to OUR own or THEIR own?,John E. Pfeiffer:-
Africa is not only the original home of humanity, it is the cradle of its intellect. It was on Africa’s savannahs, riverbanks, highlands, deserts, and forests that the first men and women used the power of their minds to shape their environment in ways that suited them. Here man established himself as a tool maker and hunter and advanced social animal. Over the course of millions of years, groups of prehistoric Africans of the genus Homo reasoned, judged, understood, and created the basis for much of the technology and industry that exists in the world today.
See we mostly choose not to speak or even simply write or even make mistakes~even mistakes are great! We have exported absolutely raw material and earned pretty much nothing in return~And for a reason,the likes of you have sincerely written~and continue to write:-
‘So that a united Africa ,the poverty stricken continent, good for nothing as some will call it, the mockery of the past decades, shall in unity, love, peace, courage and determination, rise above all things socially,politically and economically to become the heaven on earth that every man will wish to be a part of.
So help us GOD~OUR MAIN LIGHT
Cornelius Adjetey, A Brother from another MOTHER!
Let me wish you a holly jolly new year in French:-
Les libertaires bonne année!
Zestfufully, or contraire,I wont be tied to the French Franc and system like my umbilical cord to be extra conversant of Paris streets than Mombasa or Kinshasa the world’s largest French speaking city that never even makes it to the records.
At AUM we sincerely wish you well in your endeavors!
Look and do think about US! The Youths have been ignored as they perish watching useless stuff not forgetting porn in our cosmopolitanised social world. We have some belief in such forums with care!
http://www.africanunitymovement.com
http://village.africanpath.com
http://www.africa-union.org
@ Odiri, Comment 44.
You’ve said it all, you’ve said it right.
Thank you.
What a tedious discussion, especially from (the former African) James Watson. With his “advanced” (????) knowledge of DNA (and presumably the supporting palaeontological evidence), he should be well aware by now that everything is African, including himself, even if he and his more immediate ancestors developed an interesting and colourful variant from the original norm of skin colour and texture. Remember dear professor, and anyone else that may entertain your ideas, that every knowledge and every invention today began in Africa, after a long “walkabout” that led to everyone alive today, to the construction of the pyramids on both sides of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, to the “Black Buddhas” with thick lips and kinky hair recorded forever in stone throughout the far east, the great Greek philosophers who had more wisdom than our good professor today and did not entertain his racist ideas, through the ugliness of Hitler and the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to the everlasting beauty of all the world’s art that began in the Blombos caves of South Africa some 70,000 years ago. Without that first step out of Africa, the world of knowledge we now enjoy would not be. If Dr. Watson was a Christian, I guess he would be praying for forgiveness from the “Black Jesus” for insulting His people.
I wish all readers of this column a wondrously informed and knowledgeable 2008.
Bash, Tukam Dixon, Diame, afrikan0, OreFad, and Walter,
Thank you all for your comments