Racism at Volokh. Dr. Watson Makes an Un-PC Remark.

What began at the Volokh conspiracy with a discussion of the William and Mary anonymous speech code system became a discussion of Dr. Watson and his unguarded comment regarding the intellectual inferiority of Africans.

Dr. Watson, who shared a Nobel Prize for his part in the discovery of the structure of DNA, has from time to time made remarks that have outraged the sensibilities of the politically correct. From The Independent:

The 79-year-old geneticist reopened the explosive debate about race and science in a newspaper interview in which he said Western policies towards African countries were wrongly based on an assumption that black people were as clever as their white counterparts when "testing" suggested the contrary. He claimed genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade.
…
His views are also reflected in a book published next week, in which he writes: "There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so."

Let me acknowledge that prizes like the Nobel and Pulitzer have frequently been awarded to charlatans and mountebanks. The most notorious recipient of the Pulitzer is Walter Durante who airbrushed Stalin’s crimes while the Soviet dictator was killing millions of Russian peasants. And then, of course the more recent recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize have been notable for their insipid anti-Semitism (Jimmy Carter) and for their faux science (Al Gore). There is often little relationship between wisdom and intelligence. Some of the world’s foremast writers, artists, scientists and engineers are crackpots who use their fame in a particular field to advance ideas away from their area of expertise.

That having been said, Dr, Watson made a comment that is not totally unrelated to his area of expertise: genetics. It did, however, result in a furor which caused him to be fired from his position as head of Cold Spring Laboratory, a position he held for 50 years.

Dr. Watson has since repudiated his statement. But that repudiation is as suspect as a “confession” of the accused at one of Stalin’s show trials. Even for a 79-year-old the worldwide condemnation that his original comments received would have caused even John McCain to buckle. From the Herald Sun:

However, in apologising in London, Dr Watson said: "I am mortified about what has happened.
"I can certainly understand why people, reading those words, have reacted in the ways they have.
"To all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I apologise unreservedly.
"That is not what I meant. More importantly, from my point of view there is no scientific basis for such a belief."

Which gets me back to the Volokh conspiracy in which a commenter identifying himself as PatHMV said:

I'm normally quite suspect of attacks from the P.C. police. However, I think the reaction to Dr. Watson's remarks was quite appropriate. He did not get in trouble for, as you suggest, engaging in any type of scientific research. No, he gave an interview to the Sunday Times, saying, among other things:

“people who have to deal with black employees find this [black intelligence being equal to that of "us"] not true”

He was not "speculating in academia." He was making ill-founded general observations in the public press. Precisely because of his august reputation, he has a greater responsibility than most to speak cautiously, based only on actual science. Had he been crucified for a research paper published in a scholarly journal, I would defend scientific inquiry. But he wasn't doing that, and it was appropriate to loudly criticize him for it.

When challenged on this statement

If I may paraphrase your comment, you believe that someone can make a case for a theory but cannot reflect on it’s practical application if it breaks a cultural taboo?

He replied:

No, Moneyrunner, that's not what I said. I was responding to a statement suggesting that the Watson affair was an attack on academic freedom and our ability to conduct scientific studies. Watson was not attacked for academic work. The specific quote of Watson's which I cited was not in ANY WAY based on any scientific study or data.

Given the terrible history in this country, and around the world, with racism, and with the false pseudo-science which has in the past been used to justify racism, I do think that scientists such as Watson have a special responsibility to not make public statements like that without STRONG scientific evidence to support them.

In other words, there are some areas of science that require a particular sensitivity to correct social thought because they may otherwise be abused by bigots or racists.

A follow-up comment by “MDJD2B” concluded with this:

Does that mean that scientist who engage in such speculation should lose thier jobs? Does it matter whether they are scientific or adminstrative jobs?

To which PatHMV responded:

Yes. Depending on the particular circumstances, they should lose their jobs. No, it doesn't matter what their particular job is.

The anti-scientific bias of this is literally staggering. PatHMV actually sounds like a medieval cleric defending the position of an earth centric universe because to their minds, the mere discussion of another system would destroy the Christian faith. Truly staggering and truly monstrous for the modern age.

The rabid desire to shut off the debate on this subject reveals a more pernicious issue. It is that there is a belief – not just among the usual suspects but also among the Liberal and oh-so unbiased community that there may be differences in cognitive abilities among the races. That would explain the death grip that Liberals have on affirmative action via lower entrance exams to universities, the elimination of certain math tests in communities for new hires to police departments, and other similar demands.

One politician has stated it in a kinder, gentler way: it’s the soft bigotry of low expectations. The expectations people have for children or adults who are not quite … what?

It’s perfectly fine for another racial group to score, on the whole, higher than Caucasians. But it’s not OK for some group to score lower. Which brings us to the dilemma. If Asians are – on the whole – smarter than Caucasians but Africans are – by definition - just as smart as Caucasians can we draw any conclusions about whether Asians are smarter than Africans? Or is that also not allowed?