DNA pioneer’s name could be axed from Portsmouth University halls amid race row over his comments on black people having lower IQs
- James Watson, who discovered DNA, made controversial remarks about race
- He said black people had lower IQs that white people, sparking angry reaction
- Dr Watson has also made controversial remarks about women in the past
Portsmouth University is weighing up whether to rename a hall of residence dedicated to a Nobel prizewinner after claiming black people are genetically less intelligent.
The university said it was consulting staff and students about if it should tell private leaseholder of the the accommodation to change the name of James Watson Hall.
Watson’s remarks on race and IQ have sparked concerns about whether a building named after him would legitimise his beliefs.
James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA helix, has been known to make outlandish and controversial remarks
Ilyas Nagdee, the National Union of Students’ diversity officer, said the building, run by Unite Students, had to change its name.
Nagdee told The Times: ‘The university should immediately end its practice of glorifying James Watson and begin the hard work of interrogating racism on campus and be prepared to dismantle the structures which uphold it.’
Dr Watson stood by remarks he made ten years ago where he claimed he was ‘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’.
The 90-year-old, who co-discovered the structure of DNA, has now had his honourary stripped from him at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which he used to run.
Ekola Camara, 23, claimed the university would be ‘complicit’ were they not to change the name of the halls.
Portsmouth University is debating whether to change the name of its halls named after James Watson (pictured)
He told local newspaper The News: ‘As a black man, it’s a shame I’m living in a building named after a man who views black people like that.’
Watson previously stated it would be acceptable to abort a fetus if it carried genes which suggested the adult was gay. He also suggested there was a link between sunlight and libido, telling a lecture hall which explains why there is ‘Latin lovers’ and ‘English patients’.
He also claimed that having women in laboratories makes science ‘fun for men’.
Portsmouth University said Dr Watson’s remarks on race were unacceptable.