Petition To Ban Visiting Professor To NU Because Of Racist Beliefs
CHICAGO (CBS) -- His insults were aimed at black women.
And he questions the intelligence of those who believe in God.
CBS 2 Investigator Dorothy Tucker reports there's an online petition to ban the visiting professor from Northwestern University. Thousands have already signed it. Northwestern University would not make him available, but there was a lot of information online.
"You can often tell who are criminals and who are law abiding citizens just by looking at them," said Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa, an associate psychology professor on leave from the London School of Economics, who asked Northwestern University's psychology department to do research on campus this winter.
In a 2012 YouTube talk, Kanazawa said as part of his research he examined the biographies of nearly 280 scientists.
"Most intelligent people are likely to be atheist," said Kanazawa, who has a reputation for controversial work that focuses on race, gender and religion.
In 2013 he authored a study on "Why Most Suicide Bombers Are Muslim." In 2011 he wrote an article in Psychology Today titled "Are All Women Essentially Prostitutes?"
But it was one on "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women" that prompted an online petition to ban Kanazawa from campus
Deborah Shoola started the petition. Nearly 4,000 people have signed it. She's a neuroscience major.
"It's a form of scientific racism," said Shoola. "The only purpose of the research is to prove is that a racial minority is inferior to another. If you actually read it, it says black women have higher levels of testosterone than other women and that's just untrue."
Northwestern officials won't reveal the details of Kanazawa's research at NU but sources said it's scheduled to begin in January.
CBS 2 called and emailed the professor, and he has not responded.
Northwestern responded with a lengthy statement which said in part that the university was unaware of the controversial research and will improve its vetting procedures but it will not get rid of the professor. The university said the professor will not teach, he will not collect data for research and he will not be paid. Northwestern would not say what the professor would be doing.
