Tom Brown

Tom Brown Racism Interview

After watching the interview on racism between Dr. Francis Cress Welding, an African American physiologist and Dr. William Shockley, a Caucasian Nobel prize winning professor from Stanford University I understood what Dr. Weldon Williams meant when he stated that racism a mental disorder. Not just any mental disorder, but the #1 mental disorder in America. I found Dr. Shockley to be suffering from it.

The primary focus of the discussion was Dr. Shockley's views on America's educated and uneducated population in relation to race. He used charts ( which were composed of his own opinion rather than fact) to make an attempt at proving his point that the African American race should be asked to voluntarily sterilize themselves. He suggested that a bonus in the form of money be used as an incentive. Upon first glance of these charts I first noticed that they were written on the back of an envelope. I also noticed that he provided no information on when and where these numbers came from. Initially these were my only concerns with his chart. It was not until after Dr. Williams's class discussion and my time to reflect upon it that I came to the realization that Dr. Shockley's charts proved even less than I'd thought. His charts raised the question " Who's to say that those in the rural/farm areas of America is less intelligent than those in the city?". It was a part of his charts that I'd never thought twice about. I, just as he'd wanted people to do, entertained the idea that it was a fact that those in the city was more intelligent. I was guilty of focusing more on the point of his chart than determining if there was any solidity behind its facts.

Dr. William Shockley was also asked in the interview hoe he felt about being called a racist. He replied that he wasn't bothered by it. In fact, he felt it was untrue. He chose to better describe his ideas as having a demand for diagnosis. However he produced no solid facts to back up this demand. He didn't say anything to prove that blacks were inferior nor excessively fertile. He over complicated his ideas by using big words when unnecessary and even tried using shameless underlying flattery ( Complimenting the visual acuity of blacks) to steer the audience into seeing things his way.

Dr. Shockley's