How to Argue With a Racist
Books | Science / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics
4
Adam Rutherford
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Nobody deals with challenging subjects more interestingly and compellingly than Adam Rutherford, and this may be his best book yet. This is a seriously important work' BILL BRYSON'A fascinating and timely refutation of the casual racism on the rise around the world. The ultimate anti-racism guide for data-lovers everywhere' CAROLINE CRIADO PEREZ ***Race is real because we perceive it. Racism is real because we enact it. But the appeal to science to strengthen racist ideologies is on the rise - and increasingly part of the public discourse on politics, migration, education, sport and intelligence. Stereotypes and myths about race are expressed not just by overt racists, but also by well-intentioned people whose experience and cultural baggage steer them towards views that are not supported by the modern study of human genetics. Even some scientists are uncomfortable expressing opinions deriving from their research where it relates to race. Yet, if understood correctly, science and history can be powerful allies against racism, granting the clearest view of how people actually are, rather than how we judge them to be.HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST is a vital manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation, and a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify bigotry.
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Author
Adam Rutherford
Pages
224
Publisher
Orion
Published Date
2020-02-06
ISBN
1474611265 9781474611268
Community ReviewsSee all
"Interesting but still unsatisfying, largely due to my own ignorance of genetics. His breakdown of the difference between saying a gene is associated with a particular trait , as opposed to causing a trait (eg the “speed gene”) was helpful. But part of his argument against genetic traits in populations: Ashkenazi Jewish intellectualism, Black athleticism for example is that these are caused not by genetics but by “culture “. In some cases there is an obvious external reason for the cultural difference: Black people don’t tend to swim as much because pools and beaches were segregated. But saying that Africans have developed a culture of running due to the financial rewards begs the question: why running? Why not some other sport? Similarly the explanation that Ashkenazi intellectual dominance is due to the unique culture of Torah and Talmudic study and interpretation comes back to the same question: why did they develop this culture? Why didn’t Jews in other parts of the world develop the same culture? And why do we not see the same dominance in Christian and Muslim cultures that are also “people of the book”? Rutherford doesn’t have the answers, but maybe that’s the point: there is just too much about human development that we don’t know or that is dreamt of in our philosophy."
Lesley Williams
"If you are not knowledgeable about genetics then this book can take you longer to read due to having to stop and sometimes look up specific terms but otherwise the author does a great job of explaining these terms and basics himself.<br/><br/>Basically a lecture written on paper, I learned quite a bit of genetics and it’s history with race and how it was used correctly and incorrectly in order to reaffirm the biases of racists. In our current society these same biases still exist but Rutherford goes out of his way in order to dispel these biases and what genetics can actually explain and prove with race and biology. <br/><br/>Loved this book and would definitely love to go back at another time in order to relearn and confirm all Rutherford teaches."
Qubilah Montgomery