On the Nobel winner's racist view...

It's disappointing to read the news about the view of James Watson, the Nobel winner and the co-discoverer of DNA double helix, that the intelligence of blacks is lower, and he's gloomy on the view of Africa.

I'm taken aback by how sloppy by a supposed Nobel winner, and a biologist no less, to make such a statement without any backing of scientific data. It's way too easy and convenient for anyone to come out with a bigotry view like that, but I would have expected more from an esteemed scientist.

It's undeniable that some blacks can be quite bonehead, but so do a lot of Caucasians, Anglo-Saxons, Asians and Indians, to say a few. Can we then, extend his blanket statement to say the West is doomed too, since there are so many stupid people, in their midst? In the broader sociological studies, there are way too many factors, even in a more controlled environment, when you have both whites and blacks growing up in the same country and neighborhood, going to the same schools, and can still come out differently. There are family issues, societal biases, and financial issues, to name a few. How, then, can we extend that "broad view" on the whole of Africa, simply because they are where/how they are now? How callous it would be, to make such a causal statement for super-stereotypes. If Africa has not colonized for the past centuries, its peoples segregated and manipulated, and its land and resources being fought over, can James Watson rightly say Africa would really be exactly as they are today? I would think not.

I am a person who's more forward looking. I prefer not to look too much into the history and get stuck there. It's like the argument by some, that the West has to offer apology etc - it won't help to alleviate the current situation in Africa. But to ignore history is foolhardy and highly irresponsible. Not for average joes, and certainly not for James Watson.