Racist Geneticist is Part Black
James Watson Learns about Race and Intelligence the Hard Way
After making disparaging comments about African-Americans and intelligence, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson learns he has African ancestry.
In what some journalists are calling “the ultimate irony,” geneticist James Watson—who last October reportedly made racist comments about lower levels of intelligence among Africans—learned that his own genes reflect African ancestry. In fact, 16% of James Watson’s genes come from Africa. And both history (e.g. our one-drop laws) and genetics tell us that this percentage is significant; particularly when we consider that by contrast, most people of European descent have no more than 1%.
“This level is what you would expect in someone who had a great-grandparent who was African,” said Kari Stefansson—head of deCODE Genetics, the Iceland biotech team that analyzed James Watson’s genome—published online to share with the world “in the interests of science.”
James Watson Laid the Foundation for his Current Predicament
Although James Watson earned a share in a Nobel Prize for his work on the structure of DNA, he ruffled more than a few feathers last October when he said, “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours—whereas all the testing says not really.” Although James Watson later apologized for his racist comments (studies have shown over and again that since race is not a biological concept, the idea that race and intelligence are clearly linked is a mistaken notion), it was too late.
The controversy over James Watson’s comments caused him to retire as Chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and to cancel appearances he’d scheduled to promote a new book.
James Watson's Detractors Can't Believe the Irony of Watson's African Heritage
Now that the word is out on his African heritage, what was initially intended “in the interests of science” has translated into a great amount of interest on the part of James Watson’s detractors; they find it amusing and tremendously ironic that Watson’s racist comments should come back to bite him in this way.
Dr. Rick Kittles, a medical geneticist at the University of Chicago and one of the pioneers in ancestral gene searches, is one who finds humor in Watson’s predicament.
“I laughed…This guy, who’s considered a genius and discovered the structure of DNA, can make very sad statements about genetics and IQ. And the funny thing is that a significant portion of his genome is from the people he insulted.”
Kittles reminds us that “Race…is a social concept, not a biological one, and the genes of many ethnicities flow through individuals who identify with one or another race.”
Perhaps James Watson’s example might serve as a lesson to all Americans on the nature of race and intelligence.
