Professor under fire for racist views

A professor at the University of Sussex is under pressure to resign after publishing an article supporting racism.

Geoffrey Sampson, a professor of natural language processing, has already been forced to step down as a Conservative councillor on Wealden District Council in East Sussex after posting on his personal website an article titled "There's nothing wrong with racism".

A furore erupted on Monday when minister Peter Hain and local Liberal Democrats demanded that the Conservative leader expel him. Conservative Central Office said the resignation was best for all concerned. A spokesman said: "As Iain Duncan Smith has made clear, the Conservative Party is opposed to all forms of racial discrimination."

In his article, Professor Sampson described multiculturalism as "wicked madness". He said racism was "natural" and that black people were "less bright" than whites.

The students union said Professor Sampson should retract his statements or resign. "We believe it is detrimental to student welfare to have some students reliant on a professor who deems them to be genetically inferior."

It also criticised what it called Sussex's "half-hearted disassociation" from the professor's views.

Professor Sampson told The THES that his comments, which were informed by years of study of Chinese civilisation, had been misunderstood. "People have been talking about me as if I were an ignorant, malign Ku Klux Klan type. The contents of my webpage were an honest attempt to move forward discussion of an important and difficult social problem.

"A better society can be built taking only by into account realities of human nature. It does no one, including ethnic minorities, any good to assume without inquiry that emotions can be modified in any way that is convenient.

"Thinking and writing about such things and following inquiries even if they lead to unpopular conclusions is part of the task that society pays university staff for, and I am puzzled by the students union's suggestion that I ought to resign."

Vice-chancellor Alasdair Smith said Sussex did not share or condone Professor Sampson's personal views on race. "However, the principle of academic freedom recognises an individual's right to express personal views, however unpalatable they are to others. What matters is that personal views must not impact on teaching or the treatment of staff or students."

The 1988 Education Act protects Professor Sampson's right to hold unpopular views without risking his job. But Professor Smith said that if any member of the university were guilty of discriminatory behaviour, "we would treat that as a matter of the utmost gravity".

John Drury, a psychology lecturer at Sussex, said Professor Sampson's views were based on pseudo-psychology and said many lecturers believed his position was untenable. "Research in psychology and biology suggests that there is no genetic basis for racial categories. 'Racial' similarity or dissimilarity is socially, culturally and historically constructed."

Dr Drury said research did not support the view that different "races" had different average levels of general intelligence. He said it was "deplorable" that a university professor should be actively involved in the rationalisation of racism. "I and many others think he should go, and we must have the strength to stand up to him."