Mid Semester Essay: Science is Stained White

Science garners fundamental knowledge to explain, predict, and understand the universe through experiments and observations. However, science is not as transparent as it should be. Science and its community is stained white, meaning that white supremacy culture and its characteristics have permeated science in ways that hinders perspectives from multiple, diverse groups of people. Tema Okun, the writer of White Supremacy Culture, explores and lists the characteristics of white supremacy culture that are commonly found in many organizations and communities including science. Okun’s list reveals how diverse groups of people outside of white males are forced to conform, sometimes unconsciously, to these pre-existing cultural norms. The groups that contribute to science and are being affected by white supremacy culture include women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community, consequently preventing their perspectives to be shared. The characteristics of white supremacy listed in Okun’s piece that these groups experience include power hoarding, perfectionism, and defensiveness.

Power hoarding, meaning “little, if any, value around sharing power,” is a characteristic that is often seen in science (Okun, n.d.). People who power hoard do not realize they are, and they underestimate others who do not have power. Okun mentions in her piece those who power hoard “assume they have the best interests of the organization at heart.” An example of power hoarding in science is Rosalind Franklin’s experiences with two scientists: Francis Harry Crompton Crick and James Dewey Watson. The two scientists had the power to dismiss her and uncredit her for her work because she was a woman and hoarded power for their recognition as scientists.

Rosalind Franklin was a chemist who studied DNA structures, and her data was critical to discover the double helix structure. She was not given recognition for her work until after her death, yet most of today’s public only remembered Crick and Watson who received a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1952 “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material” (Nobel Media AB). The two scientists were granted the Nobel Prize due to Franklin’s images of DNA using X-ray crystallography. Although she contributed tremendously in DNA discovery, she was not given respect from Watson who would condescendingly call her by “Rosy” in his book, The Double Helix. He was dismissive, judged Franklin by her appearance “rather than by her performance as a scientist” (Maddox, 407). Watson pushed the narrative that Franklin was not a major contributor to his work and hoarded the credit to himself, making him seem like a powerful scientist. His unappreciative, dismissive behavior towards Franklin is an example of sexist attitudes already ingrained in today’s science, causing the female perspective to be overlooked.

Another characteristic of white supremacy culture described by Okun is perfectionism. Those who have that characteristic give a minimal amount of appreciation for others’ work, learn little to no amount from their mistakes, and have a “tendency to identify what’s wrong” (Okun, n.d.). One of the groups that experience this characteristic is people of color who are judged based on the color of their skin. This is exemplified in the movie Hidden Figures (Melfi, 2016), which was based on a true story. The film stars three African American women who work in NASA’s Langley Research Laboratory: Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson. They contributed scientific research and helped the astronaut John Glenn to be launched in orbit. Despite their helpful contributions, the women had to endure racial segregation while working in a white stained community. They were scrutinized and underestimated by their white male peers, yet remarkably continued their work in the pursuit of scientific discoveries. The director of the movie, however, included a fictionalized white male by the name of Al Harrison and tried to hinder some of the white supremacy culture that the three women had to conform to. Al Harrison was portrayed as chivalrous, and his existence in the movie shifts the focus from the three women to a white heroic man. In the movie, he is seen deconstructing the “colored bathroom” sign as a symbol for “racial barriers being smashed for black people at NASA” (Heathman, 2017).

In Dexter Thomas’ article, Oscar-Nominated “Hidden Figures” Was Whitewashed — But It Didn’t Have to Be, Thomas asked the director Theodore Melfi why he included a white hero into the movie (2017). Melfi’s response is noted in Thomas’ article: “There needs to be white people who do the right thing, there needs to be black people who do the right thing. And someone does the right thing. And so who cares who does the right thing, as long as the right thing is achieved?” (2017). This sways the audience’s focus from the hardships that black women face and their achievements to a white male saving the day. Al Harrison is an example of why science is stained white and represents one of the white supremacy characteristics noted by Okun: perfectionism. The director wanted to perfect the movie by adding him into the movie. Al Harrison and Katherine Johnson both shared common characteristics of determination and wanting to meet the deadlines of the government. Al Harrison was not only relatable to Johnson’s character, but he was also portrayed as a hero. The director failed to realize that by adding him to the movie, it falsifies and perfects the image of today’s white males in science. It creates a narrative that white males have an ideal, kind vision of people of color. However, this is not the case and furthermore permits science to be stained white.

The last discussed characteristic of white supremacy culture described by Okun is defensiveness. Instead of facilitating “the best out of each person,” there is a structure “trying to prevent abuse and protect power as it exists” (Okun, n.d.). Okun also mentions that defensive people in power create an oppressive environment. The LGBTQ+ community is one of the groups that experience defensiveness, ultimately preventing their perspectives to be included in science. An example of defensiveness in the LGTQ+ community is American transgender neurobiologist Ben Barres’ experience.

Barres was one of the first openly transgender neuroscientists, and he did not “consider the idea that gender would be used to assess anyone’s qualifications or limit their opportunities” (Freeman, 2018). He would promote women in science, inform others about female representation, and debunk theories such as gender differences alter scientific ability. Not only was he an inspiration for the current transgenders in his field, he miraculously contributed to science by working on glial cells and observed their critical roles in the nervous system. However, he was a victim of white supremacy culture. Barres would talk about the amazing LGBTQ+ community for accepting him, but the science community would generally talk down upon transgendered people. In a survey conducted in 2019, “more than 1,000 UK-based physical scientists, nearly 30% of LGBT+ scientists and half of transgender scientists said that they had considered leaving their workplace because of an unfriendly or hostile climate or because of discrimination” (Powell et al., 2020). Some people in science were defensive of including transgenders in the workfield and scrutinized them due to transphobia instead of their scientific discoveries. Barres was one of the victims and felt like he had to decide between two choices: His career or his personal happiness (Freeman, 2018). He was oppressed in science due to transphobia and defensiveness, and sometimes he was unable to finish “a whole sentence without being interrupted by a man” (Kaplan, 2017).

The characteristics of white supremacy culture hinders the perspectives of women, people of color such as African Americans, and the LGBTQ+ community. Science should be for everyone and being able to bring in diverse perspectives and people from different backgrounds further develops science. It is morally righteous to include every perspective, and it is important to educate and raise awareness to people outside of the white male dominant group about differences in people and white supremacy culture. The solutions to wiping out white supremacy are unclear; however, it is important to note that the more the white supremacist culture fades in science, the more acceptance in diverse perspectives. For now, science is stained white.

References

1. Freeman, M. (2018, October 22). Ben Barres: neuroscience pioneer, gender champion. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07109-2
2. Heathman, A. (2017, February 28). Hidden Figures: the true story behind the women who changed Nasa’s place in the Space Race. WIRED. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hidden-figures-nasa-director
3. Kaplan, S. (2017, December 28). ‘A towering legacy of goodness’: Ben Barres’s fight for diversity in science. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/12/28/a-towering-legacy-of-goodness-ben-barress-fight-for-diversity-in-science/
4. Maddox, B. (2003, January 23). The double helix and the ‘wronged heroine’. Nature, 421, 407–408. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01399
5. Melfi, T. (2016). Hidden Figures. Twentieth Century Fox.
6. Nobel Media AB. (2020). The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962. Retrieved November 02, 2020, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1962/summary/
7. Okun, T. (n.d.). White supremacy culture. Retrieved November 02, 2020, from https://www.dismantlingracism.org/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/okun_-_white_sup_ culture.pdf
8. Powell, K., Terry, R., & Chen, S. (2020, October 19). How LGBT+ scientists would like to be included and welcomed in STEM workplaces: Steps that peers and institutions can take to make laboratories, conferences and lecture halls safe and inclusive spaces. Nature.
   https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02949-3
9. Thomas, D. (2017). Oscar-nominated “Hidden Figures” was whitewashed — but it didn’t have to be. Vice News. https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3xmja/oscar-nominated-hidden-figures-was-whitewashed-but-it-didnt-have-to-be