Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

More on how few Black people choose evolutionary biology…

Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

Given the history, it would be harder to explain why they would than why they wouldn’t:

Evidence exists that religiosity functions as a challenge to inclusion within evolutionary biology. Religiosity is negatively associated with exposure to evolutionary theory, knowledge about evolution, and acceptance of evolution. In a sample of African-American college students, Bailey found that the more religious the students were, the less knowledge they had about evolution.[9] Moreover, religiosity is also associated with having moral objections to the theory of evolution. Thus, a cultural mismatch exists between the religious beliefs of students, and those of evolutionary faculty who are unable to properly deal with religious differences and moral objections to evolution. This may create a challenge that leads to a lower sense of belonging in fields of study that are entrenched in evolutionary thinking.

The O’Brien, et al. research found that “African Americans had a significantly lower sense of belonging in evolutionary biology as compared to Whites…. greater religiosity and moral objections to evolution were associated with feeling a lower sense of belonging in evolutionary biology.”[10] It is well-documented that African Americans consistently score higher on surveys of religiosity than the general population, which is not surprising to one familiar with the African-American church tradition. Furthermore, the climate in evolutionary biology …

Jerry Bergman, “Blacks Realize Evolution Is Racist, Thus Few Become Evolutionary Biologists” at Creation–Evolution Headlines (September 3, 2021)

Black Americans could hardly be unaware of the significance of the idea that there are subhumans. It was said of themselves. And it is fundamental to Darwinian thinking.

Human Zoos

Human Zoos: America’s Forgotten History of Scientific Racism

We are not putting the matter too strongly when we say that Darwinian thinking has been one of the ways racism survives in modern society. Apart from the belief in some sort of subhuman (central to Darwinism), it’s not clear how racism could easily survive a multiracial society. Sure, there will always be a preference for the Home team vs. the Away team. But that’s universal and it cuts both ways.

You may also wish to read: Darwinian biologist Jerry Coyne speaks out on a SciAm op-ed’s claims that denial of evolution stems from white supremacy It seems obvious, on reflection, that Hopper’s piece is a disastrously clumsy effort on the part of Scientific American to get Woke. Darwinian evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne thinks the mag is not just circling the drain but “approaching the drainhole.” To the extent that the editors couldn’t find someone who at least gets basic facts right, he has a point.

Comments
Bailey found that the more religious the students were, the less knowledge they had about evolution
What we discover quite often is that the more academic study of evolution one has, the less knowledge the person actually has about evolution. These are people who propose 850 million years of stasis but also that the camera-lens eye evolved independently multiple times -- all without blushing or giving it a second thought. As if there's no conceivable problem with their theory.Silver Asiatic
September 3, 2021
September
09
Sep
3
03
2021
05:21 PM
5
05
21
PM
PDT

Leave a Reply