Psychology Today, An Apology Is Not Enough!

On May 15, 2011, Psychology Today magazine published an article by London-based evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa entitled “Why are Black women less physically attractive than other women?” The piece asserted “objectively” that in “fact,” Black women are uglier than all other races of women. But in fact, there is nothing objective or factual about these conclusions. This article (along with a number of other articles by Kanazawa) perpetuates the worst traditions of racial pseudo-science and scientific racism in Western thought. It is unfortunate that Psychology Today decided to use Kanazawa’s false and sensational narratives about Black women’s bodies and lives to drive viewership to their site. Black women’s bodies should not be forced to act as vehicular transport for the racist and sexist baggage of pseudo-science.

A swift online response and petition here at Change.org, written by a collective of black women, and endorsed by over 40 black women and men, engendered over 40,000 signatures. Meanwhile, the student governing body at the London School of Economics, where Kanazawa teaches, unanimously called for his termination.

In contrast to this immediate protest from the public, Psychology Today’s response has been tepid and lethargic. Almost two full weeks after the offending article first appeared, Kaja Perina, editor-in-chief, issued a lukewarm apology:

Last week, a blog post about race and appearance by Satoshi Kanazawa was published--and promptly removed--from this site. We deeply apologize for the pain and offense that this post caused. Psychology Today's mission is to inform the public, not to provide a platform for inflammatory and offensive material. Psychology Today does not tolerate racism or prejudice of any sort. The post was not approved by Psychology Today, but we take full responsibility for its publication on our site. We have taken measures to ensure that such an incident does not occur again. Again, we are deeply sorry for the hurt that this post caused. (Source)

This belated and half-hearted apology stands as a refusal to acknowledge the severity of Kanazawa's actions. The outrage against his article is not about pettiness or hurt feelings; rather, our outrage is a rejection of pseudoscience and eugenics masquerading as legitimate scholarly inquiry in a major (inter)national magazine.

And, in fact, let us note for you some of the problems with the apology:

• It severely mischaracterizes Kanazawa’s article as an innocuous exploration of  “race and appearance,” thereby minimizing the severity of his actions;
• The use of passive voice – [i.e. “a blog post…was published”; rather than “we or one of our writers published a blog] bespeaks a refusal to be accountable;
• Apologizing because we (Black women, your readers, conscious-minded people) were hurt and offended is not the same thing as apologizing because your choice to publish the article hurt us;
• The magazine published clearly racist material. Doing so while claiming not to be racist is a contradiction in terms;
• The apology does not specify what measures have been taken to prevent future instances of racism cloaked as science;
• The apology treats this as an isolated incident rather than the most recent in a pattern of racialized pseudoscientific commentary from Satoshi Kanazawa published on Psychology Today's website, yet he remains listed as a contributor.

For the record, this protest is not an attempt to curtail the practice of academic freedom. Because scientific findings have social consequences, it is necessary to distinguish between legitimate forms of scientific inquiry and those wholly inaccurate forms that blatantly promulgate racism or sexism. The authors of the Add Health data set Kanazawa used have issued a public statement disagreeing with his faulty interpretations of their data, and other scientists have roundly denounced Kanazawa -- not based on politics, but on the (lack of) merit in his conclusions.

Rather than hiding under the cloak of academic freedom, then, both Kanazawa and Psychology Today must insist on higher academic standards. Otherwise, Psychology Today is actively misinforming the public, a practice which is antithetical to their stated mission.

By choosing to publish such damaging information, Psychology Today has committed an egregious racial and cultural injury against Black women that cannot be rectified through insincere apologies and nebulous “promises” that it will not happen again. Here are some proactive steps the magazine can take to address this problem.

Please:

• Offer a real apology that acknowledges that scientific racism is wrong and detrimental and that Psychology Today’s choice to publish such material is injurious to Black women;
• Dismiss Satoshi Kanazawa: his track record suggests that he cannot be trusted to handle with care and rigor the platform that Psychology Today provides and that its readers respect;
• Clarify the "measures" you've taken to prevent scientific racism from being published on Psychology Today's website and magazine in the future for public evaluation;
• Run a series of articles by other contributors that actively debunk scientific racism and its connection to the field of Psychology.

Psychology Today committed a grievous error in publishing Satoshi Kanzawa’s piece, but they can make amends by acknowledging their responsibility to their readers and by actively rejecting inaccurate divisive material.

Join us in holding them accountable. Sign the petition to Psychology Today to tell them how you feel about their actions.