“How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science, Race, and Reality” is a genealogy and self-help book written by British geneticist and author Adam Rutherford.
Published in 2020, it uses a concise and argumentative style of writing accompanied by examples and cases.
The book discusses racism as seen in Western cultures, especially as it transpired due to the nature of European expansion and its consequent scientific renaissance or enlightenment.
From the get-go, Rutherford brings up one of the core global events that shook public opinion and created an echo throughout all social media platforms: George Floyd’s death in May 2020 at the hands of a white police officer in the US.
While racism is not a new concept, the author wrote this book as an everyday conversation guide when discussing issues regarding ancestry, race, and genetics.
Rutherford highlights scientific findings that spread the truth about race, while negating institutionalized racism.
In section one, titled “Skin in The Game,” the author argues that of all the available scientific knowledge behind race, people seem to focus on skin color more than anything else to describe a particular majority or minority within a population.
Section two discusses white supremacists’ obsession with demographics and the displacement of people, and how coexistence to them translates to their extinction.
Rutherford wrote, “when all you’ve ever known is privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
The third and fourth parts of the book deal with black power and white matter, respectively, delving deeper into the science behind both.
Rutherford gained a Ph.D. in genetics from University College London. He was part of a team that discovered the genetic cause of child blindness, during his time at the Institute of Child Health at Great Ormond St. Hospital, in London, while studying for his Ph.D.
He became a science writer and has since had numerous books published, and is also a radio broadcaster, presenting the weekly BBC Radio 4 program “Inside Science.”
In addition, he has worked as a scientific consultant for movies such as director Daniel Espinosa’s “Life,” and Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation.”
Rutherford was nominated for the annual American literary award The National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction in 2018.
