This evening in the UC Ballroom, @DorothyERoberts joins us to celebrate 40 years of the W.E.B. Du Bois' lecture, as she talks about race, racism, and the new racial science. #humforum18 
We have a full house here in the UC Ballroom for Dr. Roberts. Africana Studies Chair Gloria Chuku is welcoming us and reminding us that this is the 40th anniversary of the Du Bois lecture and the legacy that name carries. #humforum18
Chuku: One of the benefits of this lecture is to provide us with intellectual dialogue on people of the African diaspora and to reflect on what Du Bois represented. #humforum18
The @UMBC Jubilee Singers, led by Professor Janice Jackson, are kicking us off with a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a tradition of the Du Bois lecture #humforum18
Roberts starts us off with this recent controversial article in the @nytimes about white nationalists use of scientific articles to justify racial purity. #humforum18 nytimes.com/2018/10/19/us/…
Roberts: I want to discuss three things - the relationship b/t racism and racial science; the relationship b/t biology and racial inequality; and the relationship b/t race and racism? We have to grapple with these questions in 2018 #humforum18
Roberts: We know that race is an invented way of governing people and that European scientists were instrumental in defining the differences between people. Enlightenment scientists took theological concepts and applied them to their theories. #humforum18
Roberts: The very idea that nature impacts social outcomes. Whether it is some force/nature at play, rather than structural inequality, these things impacted science. #humforum18
Roberts: Enlightenment scientists like Thomas Jefferson were big proponents of using biological differences to promote slavery despite their “enlightened” beliefs. #humforum18
Roberts: The 1662 Virginia slave law helped to define who was Black and who was white. This directly leads to the belief that Black women’s fertility is a social problem. #humforum18 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_o…
Roberts: The release of the report of the Human Genome Project was thought to be a moment where science would move beyond dividing people by race. #humforum18 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Gen…
Roberts: However, the next step of the Human Genome Project was to specifically look for genetic differences by race: to explain differences in health or social outcomes by genetic predisposition. #humforum18
Roberts: Why is @BarackObama a Black man with a white mother, but not a white man with a Black father? It’s all MADE UP! #humforum18
Roberts: It’s beyond me why scientists hypothesize that people of African descent evolved to be predisposed to sickness and death, when you can see the structural racism is at the root. #humforum18
Roberts: It’s a theory that Blackness is a contaminant. #humforum18
Roberts: Racial science has made its way into pharmaceuticals and medical technology. This heart medication was tested specifically on Black people and marketed towards them. #humforum18
Roberts: What was the justification for approving a drug just for Black people? #humforum18
Roberts: Genes are also used to explain social inequality: income, I.Q., likelihood to join gangs, etc. #humforum18
Roberts: This impacts public policy. Look at the Dept. of Education - “why would you spend money on those people?!” Wouldn’t it be radical change to provide money for people who are allegedly “genetically disadvantaged”? #humforum18
Roberts: There has been growing research in the idea that social inequality creates biological differences. #humforum18
Roberts: In the years after slavery, scientists believed that diseases suffered by Black communities was due to their new found freedom and that they are genetically predisposed towards enslavement. Du Bois was the first social scientist to challenge that. #humforum18
Roberts: I do want to exercise some caution. The study of epigenetics suggests that people are inheriting the impact of trauma and disease but not the genes themselves. But this idea can still be used towards racialized ideas. #humforum18 newsweek.com/2016/09/02/how…
Charles Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve, argued that there are three front on the racial battle: legal, social, and now, biological. #humforum18
Roberts: “Scientists today don’t believe the science is bad - just don’t let white nationalists use it!” #humforum18
Roberts: Race is a useful tool of racism. Race was designed to implement the ideas of racism. #humforum18
Roberts: Biological scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars, etc. need to come together to affirm our shared humanity. #humforum18
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