NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2007
Nobel Winner Retires After Race Remarks
DNA Pioneer James Watson Sparked Furor With Comments On Intelligence Levels Of Blacks
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James Watson poses for photographers behind a model of the DNA double helix, which he co-discovered, at an exhibition in Berlin in October 2004. (AP)
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"Closer now to 80 than 79, the passing on of my remaining vestiges of leadership is more than overdue," said Watson, who won a Nobel Prize in 1962 for discovering, along with Francis Crick, the double-helix structure of DNA.
"The circumstances in which this transfer is occurring, however, are not those which I could ever have anticipated or desired."
In London earlier this month to promote a new book, Watson was quoted in the Sunday Times Magazine of London as saying that he's "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really."
Watson added that while he hopes everyone is equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true."
He also said people should not be discriminated against on the basis of color, because "there are many people of color who are very talented."
Watson stepped down from his post as chancellor of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which was founded on the north shore of Long Island in 1890 and has been home to seven Nobel Prize-winning scientists. Its board of directors suspended Watson after his remarks were made public last week.
On Thursday, chairman Eduardo Mestre said the board respected Watson's decision to retire.
"For over 40 years, Dr. Watson has made immeasurable contributions to the laboratory's research and educational programs," Mestre said. "His legacy as 1962 Nobel Prize laureate for describing the structure of DNA will continue to influence biomedical research for decades to come."
Watson apologized for his remarks in London before cancelling the remainder of the tour to promote his new book, "Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science."
In a written statement to The Associated Press last week, Watson said he was "mortified by what had happened."
"To all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologize unreservedly," he said. "That is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief."
Watson is no stranger to controversial scientific views. In 2000, in a speech at the University of California, Berkeley, he suggested that sex drive is related to skin color. "That's why you have Latin lovers," he said, according to people who attended. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient."
Some years earlier he was quoted in a newspaper as saying, "If you could find the gene which determines sexuality and a woman decides she doesn't want a homosexual child, well, let her."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Yo dog, I wants to ax whitey a queshun:
wadda, wadda, wadda, wazzuup wit dis shizzle ma nizzle??
Dis cracka needs to go to
re-educashun camp (aka. sensitivity training classes)
so he can be taught to think politically correct.
nuff said, I wants to be hangin wit my homeboi''''s stead-a listnin to this cracka.
LOL
Posted by ScarletPhD at 03:11 PM : Oct 25, 2007
It''s got nothing to do with race it is a generational poverty phenominon compounded by racism, which Watson doesn''t have a clue about. 150 years ago working class people in the UK were thought to be inferior to the upper classes, it was generational poverty and a despicable class system.
*Now we return the comments to the usual slobbering morons.
Posted by Extremophil at 06:13 PM : Oct 25, 2007
Yasser Arafat, he spoke with actions not words.
That there is a problem is unquestionable, the solution is what should be done to correct it.
Does one only agree with science when it is something with which they are comfortable? How naive.
Fortunately, there is still intelligent life in the world.
*Now we return the comments to the usual slobbering morons.
.
Thank you Dr. Watson for once letting the world know the scientific truth.
Just as the right-wing denies the scientific evidence of evolution and global warming, the left-wing denies the scientific evidence of racial differences. Two peas in a pod. Selecting only those parts of scientific fact that support one''s ideology is stupid and wrong whether done by the right wing or left wing. Both should get their heads out of their A**es, see the facts and accept reality.
.
"Enemy"; Ice Cube, Lethal Injection, 1993
He prays on old white ladies [who] drive the Mercedes with the windows cracked. . you should''ve heard the *** screaming. . sticking guns in crackers'' mouths. . the cops can''t stop it. . remember 4-29-92, come on; Florence and Normandy coming to a corner near you, cracker; we''ve been through your area, mass hysteria; led by your motherfu(king Menace Clan";
"Mad *****"; Menace Clan, Da Hood, 1995
As long as the black community embraces this GARBAGE and disgusting filth, they will forever stay at the bottom of the human evolutionary ladder.
Posted by Iceman_1960
I''ll tell you where the "evidence" is...in all of our schools and university''s. No matter WHERE those places of education are located geographically, black overwhelmingly score below whites across the board. No excuse about cultural differences, these kids were raised in the same community with the same opportunities. They just do not do as well because they have lower intellects.
Sorry, this goes all the way back to evolution. They haven''t caught up yet or bred with races with intellects that have alwys been fed, nurtured, challenged, educated, and improved, and are therefore, superior.
has more freedom here to air his views.That is how badly the constitution has been perverted over the years.
What Watson''s speech should have fomented is more research into the issue of intelligence.
If, in fact, Watson is proven to be correct, something should be done to improve the intelligence of all people.
That is precisely the value of science.
A clever double entendre book title.
Stay away from boring people, or don"t bore people yourself.
Let these wise words bring this whole issue to a close.
- by mcvett October 25, 2007 3:30 PM EDT
- Me and da homeboi''s be hangin in da hood readin dis bullsh*t.
- Reply to this comment
See all 16 CommentsYo dog, I wants to ax whitey a queshun:
wadda, wadda, wadda, wazzuup wit dis shizzle ma nizzle??
Dis cracka needs to go to
re-educashun camp (aka. sensitivity training classes)
so he can be taught to think politically correct.
nuff said, I wants to be hangin wit my homeboi''s stead-a listnin to this cracka.
LOL