Evolution And Human Equality

This eye-opening filmed lecture by noted popular paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould couldn't have been released at a better time. The recent firing of Jimmy the Greek for remarks concerning the breeding of blacks for superior athletic abilities was made worse by Roy Innis', the black chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, reference to the firing as a tragedy on the grounds that Snyder "spoke only the truth." Gould asserts that "human equality is a contingent fact of history"; that is, several other evolutionary courses "might have left us with a variety of human groups profoundly unequal with respect to their intellectual capacity and moral achievements. But it just didn't happen that way." Leaving ethics to the philosophers, Gould demonstrates how new scientific evidence makes it fact beyond a shadow of a doubt that 1) Homo Sapiens evolved in Africa; 2) the splitting of the races occurred some 100,000-200,000 years ago ("a geological yesterday"); and 3) recent research on mitochondrial DNA has shown "astonishingly little genetic difference between us." Although this is mostly a talking-heads video before a college audience (Gould does use slides to illustrate his points), the production is excellent, and the subject matter is crucial. Highly recommended for larger public and school libraries. (Available from: Insight Video, 875 Main St., Cambridge, MA 02139; or call collect 1-617-354-7493).