Personally Offended

I wrote a post just two weeks ago about racism. I was asking if it mattered that it could be overt or subtle. Most societies are not overtly racist anymore these days, although there is still a lot of subtle racism going on. Subtle racism, in my opinion could be said to be a product of the sub-conscious mind.

For instance a recruiter faced with 2 candidates of different races. He/She would not consciously throw one or the other application into the rubbish bin. The conscious mind knows to give them both a chance. The sub-conscious mind however makes a snap judgement on them both before even meeting them and in the interviews conducted, the recruiter is sub-consciously trying to re-enforce that snap judgement!

But I really should leave the philosophical stuff to people like Kene. (featured in my last post)

Well... a row erupted and reverberated around the world over the last 2 weeks. A Noble Prize winner James Watson, made comments that suggested that black people were genetically inferior to White people. This 'gentleman' won a noble prize for discovering the shape of the human DNA. Uh Oh!

Never one to take things out of context, I looked for the full story to see in what context he had made the statements he did. It didnt help. I then googled him and read about his previous work and controversies. It only made him worse.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have on our hands a full blown bigot and racist who also happens to be a really smart guy and WAS very well respected!

His statements in an interview to a British newspaper while promoting his new book (who cares?) are thus:

"...(I am) 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 was further quoted as saying that his hope was that everyone was equal but that "...people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true".

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I am obviously deeply and personally offended by these remarks.

It wouldn't be grating against my sense of outrage if it was some in-bred right-wing hack making these statements but coming from a world known scientist and not just any scientist but one that made an important breakthrough in human DNA...

He has since gone on to apologize for his words and said he didnt mean what he said. But me thinks he has been forced to do this by the world-wide public outrage that followed his remarks. He did not deny saying them and did not suggest that he was misquoted. He just did a flip-flop saying,

"...to all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologise unreservedly... that is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief"

Too little, too late you misreable old coot!

He unwittingly made his true beliefs known during the interview, beliefs with no scientific basis. I applaud all the scientific institutions that have taken action. The Science Museum cancelled his speaking enagagement saying his views had gone beyond the point of acceptable debate. His lab in the US has since suspended him and the Bristol Festival of ideas in the UK also cancelled an appearance he was supposed to make.

This Watson apparently doesnt have a Sherlock Holmes to point out the elementary to him!

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SHARING MY FRIENDS...

Name: Ejiroghene Otiotio

Time I have known him: 9 years

Location:
MTN mobile communications Lagos, Nigeria

Memorable moment with him:
The first time I met him. I gave him a joke to read which had left countless other people before him helpless with laughter on the ground. Ejiro read the entire joke with a deadpan face and handed the paper back to me and said, "So...?!" I hated him on the spot!

What I like most about him:
His loyalty and reputation for saying it exactly as it is. I mean, EXACTLY as it is.

What I dont like about him:
His reputation for saying it exactly as it is. I mean, EXACTLY as it is.

Other comments:
Ejiro does not suffer fools gladly and he used to be one of the pure cholerics I ever had the misfortune to cross swords with. Some memorable fights and arguements with this dude. But he is also the sort of guy who would take you out for a drink right after he told you what a fuck-up you are. I missed his wedding in Dec 2006 but met his lovely wife in June 2007. I am waiting for the kids to arrive as I have been informed I am to be God-father to one of them! He is also one of the regular readers of this blog... so I hope this brings a smile to his face :-)

Ejiro with his lovely wife, Obehi