When M.Ted wrote "This was the one that got me,
"Dr Watson was also quoted as saying that while he hoped all races were equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true""

I was tempted to respond at the time with "It got me too" but I let it ride as I was busy.

Although it was a preposterous statement to make in almost any specific context that I can think of, what really stuck in my craw was the arrogance of it and its intent as a 'blanket statement'.

Watson may have had some exposure to people with black skins in the US, as that's where he's from and he may also have had some exposure to people with black skins in Britain, as that's where he worked with the team that cracked the DNA structure. I'm willing to bet he's had nil exposure to Australian Aborigines or Micronesians but they've been tarred with the same brush; you can guarantee the closet racists in Oz will be nodding their heads in assent to his intent, just like the closet racists north of the equator.

The man is accorded the highest scientific status yet the quote above has precious little scientific merit. Gossip? Conjecture? Anecdotal? Too right!! And while such statements may all have their part in framing experimental design and scientific investigation, they should never be presented as 'scientific results', which is effectively what he did. And at 80, with serious scientific achievement behind him, he ought to have known better.

Cheers, Rowan