Gavin Evans

I haven't finished the book yet, but I am learning. The book is full of information on how people have tried to use science to justify racism. It talks about the studies people have done to do so, shows how those studies are biased, or how other facts (ex poverty by itself) can explain the differences better then skin color. It also gives the results of studies that have been done that show how skin color is, scientifically, really only skin deep.

It's a book I think everybody needs to read and understand. Unfortunatly, the people who need it the most are the ones who are the least likely to read it.… (más)

Skin Deep : Journeys in the Divisive Science of Race by Gavin Evans, lecturer in the Department of Culture and Media, Birkbeck College, London, England, and a broadcaster for the BBC World Service, is a self-serving and self-righteous display of revulsion against racism by one who grew up privileged in South Africa during the time of that country's policy of institutionalized racial segregation. The author purports to give the reader a clear picture of what is known about humans and intelligence from the perspective of 'scientific racism' but references to the political "alt-right breed" and "racist world view [ . . . ] in Trump's nativist America [and] Brexit Britain and beyond [ . . . ]" lead one to think that Evans' view is distorted and prejudiced beyond scientific query.… (más)

Skin Deep: Journeys in the Divisive Science of Race from Gavin Evans is an overview of the science, and the pseudo-science, of race told in a much more conversational tone than many such books.

That conversational tone has both some advantages and some drawbacks. The positive is that it is quite readable even though he cites and discusses much of the science past and present. His summaries are accurate and most of his conclusions are also the conclusions the vast majority of scientists and researchers have come to. So while he states his opinion he also backs it up with the research and conclusions of experts, so this isn't someone just spewing his own ideas. the negative of the casual tone is that those who are invested in keeping the absurdity of racism alive and well will pretend Evans doesn't "do" science here and should be discounted. Sorry, but accurate summations of large bodies of research is still valid, even if one didn't do the research. What do you think science classes do? They sum up the previous research and present findings, not a lot of "doing" science in there, but valid nonetheless.

I also recently finished Angela Saini's book Superior, which is much more rigorous and, while Saini does personalize her approach to the topic she sticks much more to what the scientists and researchers say, which is, like here, that the big differences between population groups are not that big and that, when an attempt is made to overlay the social construct of race on the population groups in science there is simply no direct alignment. Race is not a real thing, it is a social construct that racists cling to to salve their insecurities.

I would recommend this book if you'd like to read about the research but also want to hear how to counter those who cling to outdated concepts. If you're more interested in a closer reading of both the history and the current research, I would suggest Saini's book. Ideally, I think both books work well together. Also, don't be fooled by the dog whistles you'll find soon in reviews of both books. They will cite and misrepresent actual studies and raise up questionable "experts" as ones that should be believed rather than the great majority of researchers. Just know that these people are insecure and need to falsely build up something that resembles self-esteem because they are so lacking in both intelligence and morals.

Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.… (más)