Louisiana Elects Its First Non-White Governor: But How Smart Is He?

In a crowded field of 12 candidates, Bobby Jindal emerged with a majority of the vote for Louisiana governor, avoiding a runoff election that would have been mandatory under Louisiana’s rules that a candidate must receive a majority (as opposed to a plurality) of the votes to take the office. The election is notable because Jindal is of Indian descent, is only 36 years old, is a racial minority Republican, is the state’s first non-white governor since Reconstruction, and– since he’s not black – he was smart enough to win and may just be smart enough to do the job.

Earlier in the week, Nobel Prize-winning DNA scientist James Watson reportedly told The Times of London that he is “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.” On Thursday, Watson apologized, saying, “I cannot understand how I could have said what I am quoted as having said. There is no scientific basis for such a belief.” Watson added, “I’m not a racist. That’s what’s so insane about this.” Okay, that’s not true, but the apology sounded eerily similar to that statement, which Michael Richards gave after his racist tirade last November.

The truth is that while it is possible that Watson was misquoted (he’s stopped short of saying that), there have been reports in the past (all discredited) that persons of African descent were less intelligent than Caucasians. There’s no evidence of this, but even if there were, it would not render moot the nature v. nurture debate that has been ongoing for centuries – a debate that has increased in relevance in the wake of movements worldwide for rights of racial minorities, women and non-heterosexuals. To clarify, even if the field of evolutionary psychology eventually came to embrace the notion that there are significant differences in intelligence between members of different races that are larger than those that would occur by chance, it would hardly be justification for oppression or inequality. Contrary to popular notions that infer that early findings in the subfield result in (and/or are driven by) essentialism, the reality is that genetic adaptation leading to biological differences (nature) comes about as a result of environmental factors (nurture).

So while such findings do not exist with respect to intelligence and race, their existence, far from justifying centuries of mistreatment of Africans and persons of African descent, would rather suggest that the mistreatment has been so persistent and severe as to result in biological adaptation. The whole thing is a big “what if” at this point, but even though Watson’s comments were irresponsible and misguided, we are not concerned that they are anything more than 1) a misquote; 2) an unclear statement misinterpreted; or, at worst, 3) a racist comment made by someone who just happens to be involved in DNA science. He appropriately canceled his British book tour, should be pressed about the comments, and deserves the embarrassment that will surely plague his career (though this is not the first controversial statement he has made). Our real concern, however, is that he may actually be right if the results of the Louisiana governor’s race is any indication!

In a gubernatorial contest that spawned vociferous voices for and against the young phenom, Bobby Jindal – featuring websites with creative names such as JindalIsGood.com and JindalisBad.com (seriously, we did NOT make that up) – it was African Americans who may have made the difference. Many Louisiana pundits believed the election hinged on the black vote, and while we have not seen exit poll results, we wonder if Jindal was simply able to outsmart black voters. Maybe he just walked through predominantly black neighborhoods and told folks that he would give them each a car if they’d vote for him. Or perhaps he told them that he could guarantee reparations if he got elected. Maybe he told them that they would never have to worry about world peace with a Jindal administration.

Perhaps James Watson has a future in political consulting.