Richard Dawkins Stripped Of Top Humanist Award For Using Science To ‘Demean Marginalized Groups’

Apr 20, 2021 by

by Robert Hart, Forbes:

The American Humanist Association (AHA) has revoked its top “Humanist of the Year” honor from British biologist and noted atheist Richard Dawkins for the academic’s history of demeaning marginalized groups under “the guise of scientific discourse,” the group announced Monday, pointing to a recent statement that questions the validity of transgender people and suggests Black identity can be “assumed when convenient.”

The AHA said its board had voted to rescind the award in light of a number of statements the biologist has made that uses the “guise of scientific discourse to demean marginalized groups.”

The organization said this is “antithetical to humanist values.”

The group did not point to specific statements Dawkins has made, though did refer to the academic’s recent call to “discuss” trans and Black identities.

The group said Dawkins’ “subsequent attempts at clarification are inadequate and convey neither sensitivity nor sincerity.”

Dawkins received the award in 1996 in recognition of his work as a science communicator, something the group said is an “important aspect of advancing the cause of humanism.”

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