--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Racism and discrimination are wrong as a…" description: "\"“Racism and discrimination are wrong as a matter of principle, not of science. Science is about what is, not what ought to be. Its shifting sands do no..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/nicholas-wade-11913_racism_racism-and-discrimination-are-wrong-as-a_3187040.jpg" --- # Racism and discrimination are wrong as a matter of… ![“Racism and discrimination are wrong as a matter of principle, not of science. Science is about what is, not what ought to be. Its shifting sands do not support values, so it is foolish to place them there.” quote by Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/nicholas-wade-11913_racism_racism-and-discrimination-are-wrong-as-a_3187040.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/nicholas-wade-11913_racism_racism-and-discrimination-are-wrong-as-a_3187040.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/091/nicholas-wade-11913_racism_racism-and-discrimination-are-wrong-as-a_3187040.jpg) > ““Racism and discrimination are wrong as a matter of principle, not of science. Science is about what is, not what ought to be. Its shifting sands do not support values, so it is foolish to place them there.”” [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science describes facts, not moral judgments; values shouldn't be forced onto scientific conclusions. **In simple terms:** Science tells what is, not what should be. Key Takeaway Separate empirical evidence from ethical decisions. Themes science ethics values philosophy policy Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - policy making - education curricula - public debates Key Concepts epistemology normative theory public discourse Questions to Reflect On - How do we ensure values inform scientific use? - Can science ever be value‑free? A Different Perspective Values are essential for guiding scientific application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [It is long past time to eliminate bigotry in the workplace and to ensure equal opportunity for all Americans. It is time to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-harkin/it-is-long-past-time-to-eliminate-bigotry-in-the-workplace-and-to/) [Tom Harkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-harkin/) > [There is not a single truth of science upon which we ought to bet more than about a million of millions to one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/there-is-not-a-single-truth-of-science-upon-which-we-ought-to-bet/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [Statistics is a science which ought to be honourable, the basis of many most important sciences; but it is not to be carried on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/statistics-is-a-science-which-ought-to-be-honourable-the-basis-of/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [There is no space for racism or discrimination in sport or society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kane-williamson/there-is-no-space-for-racism-or-discrimination-in-sport-or-society/) [Kane Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kane-williamson/) > [Racism and discrimination of any kind have no place in football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sepp-blatter/racism-and-discrimination-of-any-kind-have-no-place-in-football/) [Sepp Blatter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sepp-blatter/) > [Attacking racism and discrimination is a very important way to work against radicalisation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deeyah-khan/attacking-racism-and-discrimination-is-a-very-important-way-to-work/) [Deeyah Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deeyah-khan/) > [We have to look at it holistically and as a whole and say let us tackle racism or discrimination in life. Then you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barnes/we-have-to-look-at-it-holistically-and-as-a-whole-and-say-let-us/) [John Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barnes/) > [ I don't feel that I've been hampered by \[ racism or discrimination\], and the reason why is that we reach out to people on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-ellison/i-don-t-feel-that-i-ve-been-hampered-by-racism-or-discrimination-and/) [Keith Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-ellison/) > [Too many of our laws were written during a time of open racism and discrimination, and they still bear the traces of inequity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-northam/too-many-of-our-laws-were-written-during-a-time-of-open-racism-and/) [Ralph Northam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-northam/) > [I, for one, would think both about how far we have come as a country and how much further we need to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-for-one-would-think-both-about-how-far-we-have-come-as-a-country/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anywhere in the world you go, you find racism, discrimination. Not just in the United States, or in Texas. It's very sad for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selena/anywhere-in-the-world-you-go-you-find-racism-discrimination-not-just/) [Selena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selena/) > [Yes, there is racism. There is discrimination. Mr. Trump may have the most powerful job in the world, but that does not make him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-yulin-cruz/yes-there-is-racism-there-is-discrimination-mr-trump-may-have-the/) [Carmen Yulin Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-yulin-cruz/) > [“It seems, then, we are forced to believe in a real Right and Wrong. People may be sometimes mistaken about them, just as people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/it-seems-then-we-are-forced-to-believe-in-a-real-right-and-wrong/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“You could tell them that a definition of “right” and “wrong” is a definition established not only by time, but also by simple geography.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/you-could-tell-them-that-a-definition-of-right-and-wrong-is-a/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“A wrong is just wrong no matter who’s doin’ it or who it’s done to. You know someone’s doin’ wrong and even if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-ashley/a-wrong-is-just-wrong-no-matter-who-s-doin-it-or-who-it-s-done-to-you/) [Kristen Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-ashley/) ## More by Nicholas Wade > [“there is every reason to suppose that people living in agrarian societies were subject to intense forces of natural selection. But what traits were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/there-is-every-reason-to-suppose-that-people-living-in-agrarian/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“The English state thus constructed a system, later followed by other European countries, in which the ruler was subject to the law and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/the-english-state-thus-constructed-a-system-later-followed-by-other/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“Although the emotional and intellectual differences between the world’s peoples as individuals are slight enough, even a small shift in social behavior can generate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/although-the-emotional-and-intellectual-differences-between-the-world/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“The king and queen were usually present, and the king or the dauphin would light a pyre. The cats were then tumbled into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/the-king-and-queen-were-usually-present-and-the-king-or-the-dauphin/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“The Chinese state, from the days of the Qin, was an efficient, bureaucratized autocracy. Yet to this day, China has never developed the rule…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/the-chinese-state-from-the-days-of-the-qin-was-an-efficient/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“Darwin’s theory of evolution, at least in its author’s eyes, dealt solely with the natural world. Yet it was as attractive to political theorists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/darwin-s-theory-of-evolution-at-least-in-its-author-s-eyes-dealt/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“ancient Greek word mousikē, from which the English word music is derived, means any art over which the Muses presided, hence included dance, music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/ancient-greek-word-mousik-from-which-the-english-word-music-is/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“Another possibility is that the sweat glands were the driving force behind the rise of EDAR-V370A. East Asians are usually assumed to have evolved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/another-possibility-is-that-the-sweat-glands-were-the-driving-force/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“When the glaciers retreated, starting around 20,000 years ago, both Europe and East Asia were repopulated by former northerners who had survived the Last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/when-the-glaciers-retreated-starting-around-20-000-years-ago-both/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“Knowledge advances, funeral by funeral,” the economist Paul Samuelson once observed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/knowledge-advances-funeral-by-funeral-the-economist-paul-samuelson/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“Several primate species have communication systems of considerable sophistication. Gelada baboons have 22 different kinds of call, and gorillas have been recorded using some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/several-primate-species-have-communication-systems-of-considerable/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“One of the strangest features of human anatomy, when people are compared with the other 200 monkey and ape species in the primate family,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/one-of-the-strangest-features-of-human-anatomy-when-people-are/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“it is easy to recognize an evolutionary process at work that has molded the human form for better survival in an arctic environment. Populations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/it-is-easy-to-recognize-an-evolutionary-process-at-work-that-has/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“Americans may already have begun adapting genetically to the American environment in the several generations since their ancestors arrived in the United States. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/americans-may-already-have-begun-adapting-genetically-to-the-american/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) > [“others are still in the throes of the process. The Meso-Industrial Age, as it might be called, is the period during which the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-wade/others-are-still-in-the-throes-of-the-process-the-meso-industrial-age/) [Nicholas Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) [Explore all 55 Nicholas Wade quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-wade/) ## More Racism quotes > [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. 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If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [The color of somebody's skin or the way he wears his hair or clothes has nothing to do with anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-color-of-somebody-s-skin-or-the-way-he-wears-his-hair-or-clothes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. 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