FIFA president Sepp Blatter floats theory that racism is natural

FIFA president Sepp Blatter wrote a column about racism in the organization's weekly magazine.

In denouncing racism, he cited "research into human evolution" that he says shows racism is hardwired into our DNA. Racism is natural, he says, but we must fight to "suppress gut feelings."

Here's his take:

Some scientists claim there is a germ of racist thinking within all of us. Their conclusions are based on research into human evolution. A fear of strangers and a suspicion of the unknown is a basic or 'caveman' instinct and part of a strategy for survival in an age when mammoths were served up for breakfast.

Tens of thousands of years have passed but the basic instinct has remained, the researchers say. If so, it is disquieting, because it would mean racism is in our DNA. However, the evolutionary biologists say, there is an antidote: the intellect. It can suppress gut feelings, differentiate us from animals, and make us humans with clear principles and values.

This does not mean that more intelligent people are less susceptible, or vice-versa (although the incident in Paris might appear to suggest this).

A 2012 study by UCLA's Eva Telzer, which Robert Wright wrote about in the Atlantic, found that racial biases don't appear in humans until age 14, suggesting those biases environmental not genetic.

A different 2012 study found that unconscious racial biases exist, but said nothing about genetics. This study was misinterpreted in a Daily Mail article titled, "Racism is 'hardwired' into the human brain - and people can be prejudiced without knowing it" and the crackpot theory made its way around the internet.

Blatter's column comes days after white Chelsea fans blocked a black man from getting on a subway car in Paris while singing racist songs.