It never ceases to amaze me when some smart dummy writes a book trying to reinforce "White Supremacy" by cherry picking information and using didactic reasoning. So this guy, Nicholas Wade decides to write a book about "racial genetics" explaining "cultural differences" or why "some societies do better than others".
Of course, this has lead to countless "think pieces" about the "merits of the research" and "political correctness". And how he's "bravely" challenging a "controversial topic. Bullshit.
Now, I haven't read the book, but I am pretty well read on genetics and science...I also understand basic logic. He's making factual assertions on genetics to explain social phenomenon, while completely ignoring / dismissing historical facts. I mean, I learned that correlation does not imply causation in Grade 9. So I'm guessing that a professional science writer for the New York Times would know that as well and that would mean he had to have done his research and ruled out any social reasons for those "under performing" societies...right? lol. Not in this bizzaro world. For instance, he uses Haiti as an example and compares it to Iceland. As Wade puts it, “many countries with no resources, like Japan or Singapore, are very rich, while richly endowed countries like Nigeria tend to be quite poor. Iceland, covered in glaciers and frigid deserts, might seem less favorably situated than Haiti, but Icelanders are wealthy and Haitians beset by persistent poverty and corruption.”
So naturally, the answer is...duh, RACE, cause...genetics! And obviously since the world is a fair place where everyone has a fair shot at making something of themselves and clearly the "less developed" countries with all those Dark people are failing cause of said genetics. Amirite? Or...maybe the fact that the newly independent Haiti had to PAY "REPARATIONS" TO FRANCE TO THE SUM OF $22 BILLION DOLLARS FOR THE "LOSS OF INCOME" FROM THE SLAVES THAT FREED THEMSELVES. This was under military threat from France and the United States. How far behind did that money set haiti? What infrastructure could be built when all your money is going to pay the people that once had you in chains? Or maybe Haiti's lack of development had to do with an international "Blacklisting" of Haiti, refusing to recognize it as a nation (thereby limiting trade and development opportunities...ya know...TRADE SANCTIONS...a tactic still in use today...see Russia and the Ukraine conflict) because, the 1st successful slave rebellion wouldn't be cool, cause they ('Murica) still enslaved millions of Africans. Or maybe Haiti's "persistent corruption" was a result of the "ruling class" that the international community FUNDED and proped up with their military power? Ya know...like they did with the Taliban in the 80's or the Shah in Iran (who's "persistent corruption" lead to the Islamic revolution) or Saddam Hussein in Iraq or the JLP in Jamaica or the neo-nazi Ultra Nationalists they are supporting in Ukraine right now. Starting to see a pattern here?
OR maybe it was the fact that the US OCCUPIED and ruled Haiti with their military might from 1915 - 1947. Collecting all the taxes, controlling customs and RUNNING GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS. OR...ya know what? I'm gonna stop. If this guy was serious and didn't have an agenda, he would have done his research. Don't even let me get started on African countries.
I wonder if King Leopold of Belgium had "the genetic trait for violence" that he focuses on Africans, when he and his men were mutilating African children by chopping off their hands if they didn't meet their "work quotas" for the day, harvesting rubber for a newly industrialized Europe. Yes, that happened.
If this "genius" actually did his homework and studied the history of colonialism or even the very countries he uses as example, maybe, justtttt, maybe those "differences" in the nation would be explained by the very thing he brushes off as "politically correct"...ya know, colonialist imperialism and the use of military might to enforce financial dominance of poorer countries.
Whether we are talking about Haiti or post Civil War America, the use of economic violence (Jim Crow, Segregation, modern day IMF and World Bank policies) and terrorism (the formation of the KKK, mass lynchings, church bombings, Western support of terrorist organizations such as the Taliban, the Sandinistas in S. America, non punishment of individuals who engaged in murder, rape, etc...) has just about EVERYTHING to do with why those countries, communities and people's "are beset by poverty and corruption".
And it doesn't stop. Ever seen the movie Rosewood? Stop me if this sounds familiar, Black people have their own prosperous, self sufficient town, they own their own businesses and land and mind their business. Black man gets (falsely) accused of raping a White woman. White people lose their shit, use it as a reason to slaughter every Black man, woman and child they can find, chase the Black people into the Florida swamps and continue to hunt them for almost a week...oh and they burned Rosewood to the ground, every store and home.
The entire town...and of course, they then stole what was left of their land. Robbing any surviving citizens of Rosewood and their future generations of that wealth. Don't forget the Rosewood massacre was covered up for nearly 60 years. And don't forget no one went to jail. And no one was ever compensated for that loss, murder and theft, cause ya know, all those dark people just "want a handout" and "it was in the past, get over it!!!". smh.
Oh...and all those "lazy inner city men" that people like Paul Ryan castigate and the "thug culture" driven by crack cocaine? Guess where it came from. Guess who financed it, allowed it to enter the US, then subsequently flooded Black communities with it? Then guess who funnelled the profits from those drugs back to murderous death squads in S. America? Quite innovative!
Update: In March 2016, Nixon Aide John Ehrlichman admitted that the "War on drugs" was really a war on the enemies of the Nixon White house...Black people & "lefties". Read about it here.
At every single stop throughout history and present day, there isn't one nation or community of colour that hasn't been manipulated, sabotaged or destroyed by White Supremacist aggression...zomg, I sound like a commie now. No. I sound like I'm speaking truth to power.
Everything I mentioned is historically documented and verified...and subsequently whitewashed and relegated to a corner of history where it's easily "forgotten" or dismissed as an "extreme one off" and people like Wade come charging in with their "racial theories" about why "others" aren't doing as well by reciting sick, racist tropes about "their culture and genetic influence" instead of picking up a fucking book or using Google.
I wonder, did Wade read "Confessions of a economic hitman" and debunk the facts in there? How about "Life and Debt" outlining how the IMF DESTROYED Jamaica's dairy and banana industries? Yes. Jamaica IMPORTS BANANAS due to IMF policies. A tropical country, doesn't produce it's own bananas. They buy them from "Western countries".
According to the author of this book, the answer to this "is probably race". As opposed to you know...every fucking thing I just listed...and keep in mind, this was the Coles Notes version. It's alot worse. Haiti imports rice. RICE. They are the 3rd largest importer of rice, because of IMF policies and US economic aggression. The policy is great for "Western" agriculture and it's great for propping up the LIE that "western society" came about from hard work, the blessings of God and "innovation". When really ruthless military aggression and rapacious capitalist maneuverings had alot more to do with it.
The West all but destroyed the indigenous agricultural industries of Jamaica and Haiti turning them into for all intents and purposes indentured client states. Just think, all those jobs, all that wealth, all that opportunity...gone. Generations ROBBED of their rightful inheritance.
Oh...but "race" is the answer according to this guy...or "possibly" an answer. It wouldn't "possibly" be an answer when all the FACTS point to something else, right? Like governments and nations using the same tactics as people in modern day human trafficking and sex slavery. Load you up with debt, then siphon every penny you make, transferring all the wealth you generate by breaking (or laying on) your back to your debtors and said debtors making sure that you NEVER work off that debt and you NEVER come out of poverty. That's indentured servitude in a nutshell and it's exactly what's happened to Haiti.
Like Bob Marley said "Babylon release the chain, but them a use them brain". Very innovative, Wade was right about that, at least. I haven't read this book yet, but before I read it, I wanna know which books, which scholars, which historians did Mr. Wade research before he skipped over all of those basic things...to go straight to the good old fashion boogie man of race? As the world's leading astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson said "let's talk about a fair and equitable system first, before we start talking about genetic differences".
This was his answer when someone at a conference he was at "suggested" that the reason women were so under-represented in the sciences "Was possibly genetic". I would suggest Mr. Wade take Dr. Tyson's advice before he writes another book. When I speak of the dangers of White Supremacy and the didactic narratives it drives...here's a perfect example.
Wade either has no knowledge of historical geo-politics and current affairs...or he's a White Supremacist hack looking to further his agenda.
Shame on him (as if he has any) and shame on the New York Times, The Globe and Mail and anyone else who acts like this idiot makes a solid point. In case I lost you at some point...he doesn't. KB