Watson has always been a controversial figure, especially in the United States. The main cause is a long-running argument as to what causes the small difference in the average IQs of black and white people in the U.S.A.
Watson has repeatedly said that differences in average measured IQ between blacks and whites are due to genetics.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Watson said his intention was to promote science, not racism
An excerpt from Watson's memoir, Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science page=102 goes as follows:
"As we find the human genes whose malfunctioning gives rise to such devastating developmental failures, we may well discover that sequence differences within many of them also lead to much of the observable variation in human IQs. A priori, there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our desire to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so".[10]
An editorial in Nature said that his remarks were "beyond the pale".[11] Because of the controversy, the Board of Trustees at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory suspended Watson's administrative responsibilities.[12] Watson issued an apology,[13] then retired at the age of 79 from CSHL after what the lab called "nearly 40 years of distinguished service".[14][15] Watson attributed his retirement to his age and to circumstances that he could never have anticipated or desired.[16][17][18]
↑Crawford, Hayley. "Short Sharp Science:James Watson menaced by hoodies shouting 'racist!'". New Scientist. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2014. ... he was "inherently 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.
