TWO equally brilliant scientists apply for a prestigious research fellowship awarded by a top scientific organisation. One is white, the other black. Does the colour of their skin matter?
Most scientists will already be screaming a resounding “no”. Those who progress in science do so because of their work, not their pigmentation. Science is meritocratic and objective. It must therefore be rigorously colour-blind and shun both racial discrimination and affirmative action.
Well, let’s think about this. If science really is so meritocratic, where are all the black Nobel prizewinners and fellows of the Royal Society? The black chairs of government scientific panels? The black Richard Dawkinses…
