( L - R ) Semaj, Albert, Taylor

Jamaicans yesterday dismissed claims made by DNA pioneer Dr. James Watson that black people are less intelligent than whites.

In an article published in the Sunday Times in England, the 79-year-old geneticist said 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."

Dr. Watson, who won a Nobel Prize for his part in discovering the structure of the DNA, said he hoped that everyone was equal, but countered that "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true".

"It is a ridiculous statement. I wish I was half as smart as my black friends," said Roman Catholic priest, Monsignor Richard Albert, a white man who has been living in Jamaica for many years.

He added that Dr. Watson's statement had no place in modern society.

Sociologist Dr. Orville Taylor said Mr. Watson's comments was a racist argument.

'It is an old argument and it is flawed methodology," said Taylor.

No racial correlation

According to Taylor, intelligence quotient (IQ) has no racial correlation in its purest form. However, he pointed out that socioeconomic factors are what sometimes determine a person's IQ.

"If you allow this kind of argument to seep through, it says we are regulated to inferior positions for life," he said.

And, psychologist, Dr. Leachim Semaj, said there was no scientific evidence to suggest that white people were smarter than black people.

He asserted that black people fought that battle more than 30 years ago when scientists postulated that theory.

"That has been largely and widely disproved so we don't need to go back there," he said.

Attorney-at-Law Lord Anthony Gifford said he was flabbergasted that someone could make such a statement.

"I am shocked by that because I don't believe it is true and I believe fundamentally in the equality of our people," Lord Gifford told The Gleaner yesterday.

According to the Sunday Times, Watson is no stranger to controversy. He has been reported in the past saying that a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests could determine it would be homosexual.

He has also suggested a link between skin colour and sex drive, postulating that black people have higher libidos.