Dr Watson, I presume

[Capetonian]

"probably many were, in fact, British ..............the majority of the 55 will be of 'Asian' 'Racial origins' "

Bit of a contradiction there really. Having a UK passport does not make you British other than technically so.

I suspect that the majority will be Mahmoud, Mohammed, Ahmed, Siddiq, Faizal .... etc.

[Boac]

"Having a UK passport does not make you British" - I did not mention 'a passport'.

That's a strange view of nationality, Cape. What does, in your mind? Wearing plus-fours and a monocle, drinking Pimms, enjoying cricket? Maybe work your way through this.

Also see You must have British nationality to apply for or hold a British passport?

[Capetonian]

OK. I'll rephrase.
Having British nationality does not make you British - other than technically.

I have come across 'British' people who have barely set foot in the UK (in one case never), who can't string a sentence together in coherent English, and who have no allegiance whatsoever to the UK. Whatever it might say on gov.uk

Wearing plus-fours and a monocle, drinking Pimms, enjoying cricket? That's a strange view of what constitutes being British, Boac!

[OFSO]

I stand corrected, and withdraw my insinuation that all or even the majority of the 55 will be of Pakistani origin. I was basing my unjustified comment on the fact that in previous cases of mass molestation of young girls, that is the way it was. Perhaps this time it will be different and they will turn out to be Welsh or Scottish. Or Swiss, maybe.

[Capetonian]

As they say in financial circles : "Past performance is no indication or guarantee of future results."

Nevertheless, I'd be happy to put my money on the majority of them being Pakistani Muslims.

[Boac]

That's a strange view of what constitutes being British, Boac!

- indeed, and by no means mine, but I wondered if it might be yours.....

OFSO - I missed a post? Did someone say you were wrong?

[fin]

In the spirit of "yes or no" questions, have intelligence tests EVER ranked the three main races in order of scores?

The debate about what is intelligence can follow. Likewise the validity of a bell curve.

The three main races when I went to school were Mongoloid, Caucasian and Negroid.

[OFSO]

I'm sure I will be proven completely correct. My error was in 'knowing' that I would be right. I can't 'know' for sure. Yet.

[Smeagol]

OK, a slightly different view on this issue.
I think it is reasonable to say that there is a preponderance of world class black athletes in sprinting events, say up to 400m, both male and female. Countries such as Jamaica win many more Olympic medals than their population size might expect. So black athletes have some physical advantages and are better at running.
There are almost no black world class swimmers. So white people are better.
Why are physical differences acceptable, presumably for genetic reasons, but to suggest that there is intelligence difference across races is definitely not?

[fin]

Maybe a bit beyond 400 meters, actually. I can not recall the last time a non-Kenyan won the NYC marathon.

Amended to say the last time I watched a non-etc. I have paid very little attention to those events once they were re-named for businesses.

[Capetonian]

Bag snatching is good practice.

[OFSO]

And Mr Smeagol, the contribution of Africans to non-classical music, which is enormous and without which the world would be a poorer place.

[Krystal n Chips]

Well since sport has now been mentioned, I think it's a good time to remind ourselves of one of the finest, if not the finest ( and it's a very close run thing between recent Aussie teams to be fair ) cricket teams the sport has ever produced.

Take a look at the list of world class players and their legendary skills.

It's also very well documented that certain white cricketers from this era were of the same opinion as the racist in question regarding the intelligence and ability of the West Indian players.......alas, being on the wrong end of a cricket ball travelling with unerring accuracy and in the region of 90mph, consistently, whilst watching the lacklustre and ineffectual bowling being clattered all over the ground with consummate ease, sort of helped define and illustrate their bigoted views for what they were.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Indies_cricket_team

[OFSO]

I see the cotton seeds the Chinese took to the moon have sprouted. Expect the Chinese will soon be sending slaves, sorry, indentured African workers, up there for the harvest picking.

[Boac]

Expecting the first Chinese laundry soon too.

[fin]

The subject of the thread did NOT come under fire and lose his academic titles because of his beliefs in their ability to play sports, nor for asserting that they did not have natural rhythm and could surely sing and dance well.

[Mrs Ex-Ascot]

The subject of the thread did NOT come under fire and lose his academic titles because of his beliefs in their ability to play sports, nor for asserting that they did not have natural rhythm and could surely sing and dance well.

Correct, if the information in my link posted above is right, then it is because he has been considered to be not only racist but also sexist and homophobic. His thoughts on genetic engineering also lean too much towards eugenics. As I commented before, he is a product of his age, and while his views are antiquated perhaps (IMHO) it is inappropriate to strip him of honours just because of that. All the relevant institutions have to do, surely, is point out that his personal views are not those of the institution. It is I think sad that people seem to have lost sight of all the good contributions to science that he has made regardless of his personal outdated prejudices.

[Slasher]

As I commented before, he is a product of his age, and while his views are antiquated perhaps (IMHO) it is inappropriate to strip him of honours just because of that. All the relevant institutions have to do, surely, is point out that his personal views are not those of the institution. It is I think sad that people seem to have lost sight of all the good contributions to science that he has made regardless of his personal outdated prejudices.

Very good POV there TS. Of course you are dead right. But since a lot of the world is now riddled with the PC disease I have no doubt the Lab was under some form of political pressure to seriously kick his gonads.

Anyway there's a rumor that a nice risotto has been stuffed into a fence post and sent. I am eagerly awaiting outside by the mailbox for its delivery!

[BenThere]

I'm bothered by the ascendancy of popular disparagement of white men, my demographic.

I submit that we, as a group, have contributed much to the well-being of the entire world. While it's true there are blemishes, our overall impact, as compared to any other grouping of ethnicities and races, rises to the top. Further, the material success built largely by white men in the US has provided for most of us a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house on a green lot in a pleasant neighborhood, with two nice cars in the garage, cable TV with hundreds of viewing choices, supermarkets selling whole, cooked chickens for $5, ribeye steaks for $6, potatoes for $1/kilo, etc., petrol at $2/gallon. Just about all of this comes via the efforts of white men. If you want to see some really bad times, keep attacking white men until they go on strike, en masse.

I'm not racist, as I have similar views on the contributions of black men, those who work probably harder for less, with limited opportunities so as to maintain their families. The greatest warmth in my heart flows to the black man in Detroit who has raised a fine family, embraced timeless values, and stands proud of himself and his achievements, despite a daunting, violent urban milieu. Such a guy is usually a Republican. Interestingly, I found many black ramp workers at Detroit Metro airport, guys working hard for a living, to be Trump supporters. Go figure.

[Krystal n Chips]

I'm bothered by the ascendancy of popular disparagement of white men, my demographic.

I submit that we, as a group, have contributed much to the well-being of the entire world. While it's true there are blemishes, our overall impact, as compared to any other grouping of ethnicities and races, rises to the top. Further, the material success built largely by white men in the US has provided for most of us a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house on a green lot in a pleasant neighborhood, with two nice cars in the garage, cable TV with hundreds of viewing choices, supermarkets selling whole, cooked chickens for $5, ribeye steaks for $6, potatoes for $1/kilo, etc., petrol at $2/gallon. Just about all of this comes via the efforts of white men. If you want to see some really bad times, keep attacking white men until they go on strike, en masse.

I'm not racist, as I have similar views on the contributions of black men, those who work probably harder for less, with limited opportunities so as to maintain their families. The greatest warmth in my heart flows to the black man in Detroit who has raised a fine family, embraced timeless values, and stands proud of himself and his achievements, despite a daunting, violent urban milieu. Such a guy is usually a Republican. Interestingly, I found many black ramp workers at Detroit Metro airport, guys working hard for a living, to be Trump supporters. Go figure.

Ah, the "All American Dream "..with some apple pie for a dessert. A bit of a revelation here, in the run up to the 2016 charade, the Guardian did a series of articles on the bits of America, and population, who haven't been party to this utopia you describe. And very sober reading it made I should add. This is the bit about the "American Dream " that, strangely, doesn't really get mentioned a lot when the adverts promoting the nation are shown.

However, with your fulsome praise of white men in the US, would now be a good time to mention the suppression, by force, subjugation and nigh on eradication of Native Americans ?.