In the aftermath of the massacre in Buffalo, New York, at the hands of a white supremacist terrorist, scientists can no longer justify silence in the name of objectivity or use the escape tactic of “leaving politics out of science.”
By racist pseudoscience, I am referring to a collection of obsessive, fan-fictional notions that human beings can be meaningfully separated into groups with different essential characteristics on the basis of genetics. If human races are biological groupings picked out because they differ profoundly and meaningfully, then we can rank them. And if we can rank them, we have a justification for racial discrimination.
The proliferation of these false notions requires all of us who are able—the scientists, citizen-scientists, and journalists who compose our scientific ecosystem—to formally dedicate themselves to their demise. We should do so not only out of a moral obligation but also, perhaps chiefly, in the name of protecting science.
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Even the honest work of well-intentioned scientists should be clearer about its messaging. Improved, more accurate communications of the results of genome-wide studies would sound less sexy, create less clickbait, and (perhaps) fame for the authors. But if the main message from honest work is distorted to dangerous ends—over and over and over and over again—then it is our scientific responsibility to participate in the course correction.
