James Watson condemned over race remarks

A government minister has condemned the Nobel Prize winning geneticist James Watson for claiming that black people are less intelligent than white people.

Dr Watson in less controversial times

It follows comments by the US-born Dr Watson to a newspaper in which he said 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”.

David Lammy, the skills minister, said that James Watson’s comments were “deeply offensive”. He added: “They will succeed only in providing oxygen for the BNP. It is a shame that a man with a record of scientific distinction should see his work overshadowed by his own irrational prejudices.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has made it clear that they would be prepared to take action against Dr Watson. A spokesperson from the Commission told Laboratory News: “We have no doubt Mr Watson’s remarks will meet with a robust response from the scientific community - as is already starting to happen. However, should any person or organisation feel these remarks gives them the basis to justify discriminatory practices, they should be clear that would prompt the Commission’s enforcement arm to intervene”.

The Science Museum also cancelled a talk by Watson based on his seemingly racist comments. In a statement the Museum said: “We know that eminent scientists can sometimes say things that cause controversy and the Science Museum does not shy away from debating controversial topics.
“However, the Science Museum feels that James Watson’s recent comments have gone beyond the point of acceptable debate and we are as a result cancelling his talk at the museum.”

Dr Watson, 79, was one of three people working at Cambridge University who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for discovering the structure of DNA. He made the controversial assertions in an interview in The Sunday Times. He told the paper that he hoped everyone was equal but “people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true”.

Steven Rose, a professor of biological sciences at the Open University, labelled his comments as racist. He said: “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 he was out of his depth scientifically, quite apart from socially and politically.”

Dr Watson has expressed sorrow over his comments: “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.”

Dr Watson has been suspended by his research institution - the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in New York - over his comments. He was in the UK to promote his latest book - Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science. He has also been banned from appearing at some other bookshops and lectures planned for its promotion.