Glayde Whitney

  Glayde D. Whitney (1939–8 January 2002) was a behavioral geneticist and psychology professor at Florida State University. Beyond his work into the genetics of sensory system function in mice, in his later life he supported race and intelligence research and eugenics, and for these views was frequently accused of supporting scientific racism.

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Biography

Whitney was born in Montana and grew up in Minnesota. He earned his bachelor's degree from University of Minnesota, as well as his doctorate from there in 1966. He then enlisted in the United States Air Force and served until 1969. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics with the University of Colorado, under Gerry McClearn and John DeFries. In 1970, Whitney was hired by the Florida State University to represent behavioral genetics in the psychobiology program,[1] where he would stay until his death.

He considered himself to be "a Hubert Humphrey liberal."[2]

Work in behavioral genetics

Whitney was the author of over 60 papers on the genetics of taste sensitivity in inbred mice. Support for some of this work came from a prestigious Claude Pepper Award for Research Excellence from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and in 1994, Glayde received the Manheimer Lectureship Award from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, which recognizes career achievements of individuals in the chemosensory sciences. At the height of his genetics career he was the president of the Behavior Genetics Association (BGA).

Political controversies

The later years of his career were embroiled in controversy. Whitney was a frequent contributor to magazines such as Mankind Quarterly, The g Factor Newsletter and The William McDougall Newsletter. While outgoing president of the Behavior Genetics Association in 1995, the group demanded his resignation after his presidential address suggested the need to investigate the possibility of genetic factors behind the high incidence of black crime in America.

Whitney generated further controversy in August 1998 when he wrote the foreword for My Awakening, an autobiography by David Duke, a politician and former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. In the book, Duke uses genetic science to push for the resegregation of schools – arguing it is better to group children "in line with their natural abilities." In the foreword, Whitney supported the value of the book, despite the reputation of Duke, as a collection of scientific evidence, describing it as "a painstakingly documented, academically excellent work of sociobiological-political history ... provid[ing] on the order of a thousand references and footnotes."

Whitney spoke against a putative disparity in expert and public opinion regarding race behavioral genetics, and claimed private discussions at scientific meetings had become disjointed from public pronouncements. He argued that opponents of such research are positioned against the scientific tradition of open inquiry, maintained even when one detests another's subject. Whitney praises the scientific achievement of Jews, but accuses "organized Jewry" of playing a prominent role in suppressing race behavioral genetics in response to racism directed toward them, resulting in a "dishonest and hypocrical version of egalitarianism." Whitney was a member of the Institute for Historical Review, a Holocaust denial organization, and he made the case for its views.

In reading Duke's work, Whitney notes, "I discovered that Duke's 'racism' was not born of hatred, but of science and history." Whitney makes a hereditarian argument for the racial IQ disparity found in intelligence research, and regards affirmative action as a result of a larger disparity between public rhetoric and scientific realities.

"As the hard scientific data came in, it became more certain that genetic differences (heredity) played a large role in the discrepancy. But in public it became politically incorrect to even acknowledge that there was a difference."

Whitney did, however, later state "I may personally disagree with many of his (Duke's) specific suggestions."[3]

In the controversy following, Whitney received death threats and said he regretted writing the foreword, though he did agree with several parts of the book.[4] Whitney felt that the controversy distracted from what was meant to be a scientific discussion, and stated "races are different for many genetic systems that influence everything from behavior and psychology to physiology, medicine and sports [...] Screaming nasty words does not change the reality."[5] Whitney's views regarding race and intelligence prompted the Florida Senate to pass Resolution 2742 in 1999, "condemning the racism and bigotry espoused by Florida State University Professor Glayde Whitney."

Selected bibliography

• ""Twenty-five Years of Behavior Genetics", Mankind Quarterly, 1995. - Glayde Whitney's presidential address to the Behavior Genetics Association.
• ""Venticinque anni di genetica comportamentale", Mankind Quarterly, 1995. - Glayde Whitney's presidential address to the Behavior Genetics Association translated in Italian

• "On the races of man," Mankind Quarterly, 1999.
• Race, Genetics and Society: Glayde Whitney on the Scientific and Social Policy Implications of Racial Differences, Washington Summit Publishers, 2002.