Some of you have already known this before. I am posting it since I have not heard from ASA yet about the appropriate action taken against Rushton's publisher, so you can still join the struggle to protest this book. Three months ago Transaction sent an abridged version of Rushton's book _ Race, Evolution and Behavior_ to all ASA members without the authorization of ASA. Thus, the book was sent to scholars nation wide. I am attaching a copy of the statement protesting Transaction publishers and Rushton. You can also see wsn archives for this. Just as I was deleting my messages, I thought this group might be interested in the specifics of this relatively recent event. You can still protest it by sending your comments to necessary places. ASA meeting will take place in August 2000, so there is still sometime to protest this Nazi academic. Mine ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had a reaction similar to that of Alan Spector. I posted the message below on PSN and the Association of Black Sociologists list. Steve Rosenthal ****************************************************** ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Priority: normal Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 21:51:22 +0000 Reply-to: Association of Black Sociologists <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: Steve Rosenthal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: (Fwd) Rushton booklet sent to scholars nationwide To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Transaction Publishers (Somerset, NJ) obtained the mailing lists of the ASA, the APA, and other professional societies and sent out thousands of free copies of a special abridged edition of J. Philippe Rushton's "Race, Evolution, and Behavior." This information comes from a letter sent out to ASA section officers from Felice Levine, executive officer of the ASA. Here is the letter: ******************************************************** Dear ASA Members: I learned at the end of last week that Transaction Publishers have used a mailing list rented from the American Sociological Association to send to ASA members an abridged version of the book, Race, Evolution and Behavior, by J. Philippe Rushton. ASA processed a mailing list rental request from Transaction Publishers for mailing a promotional flyer. Such requests for mailing list rentals are processed routinely from well known publishers of scholarly products. ASA did not authorize rental of its mailing list to distribute this book and has written a letter to the President of Transaction expressing grave concerns with this unauthorized use. Apparently a large number of members of the American Psychological Association (APA) also received this book distributed on APA mailing labels. Other societies too may have been used by Transaction to facilitate this distribution. As we learn more, I will keep you informed. Sincerely, Felice J. Levine Executive Officer American Sociological Association ************************************************************** Several ABS members have posted messages reporting that they received this ugly hate mail. I also received a copy. Members of other sociology lists have also posted messages about receiving the book. This is not an ordinary event. When was the last time a publisher sent out tens of thousands of free copies of a special edition of a monograph? And in a unmarked envelope with no return address? Rushton is part of the Pioneer Fund financed group of Nazi academics whose lies were extensively cited by Murray and Herrnstein in "The Bell Curve." Most of the statements of "acclaim" for the book come from other Pioneer Fund financed fascists. (Bob Newby and I and others published articles on this subject several years ago in a special issue of "The American Behavioral Scientist" that Bob edited.) We should develop some organized responses to this vile mass mailing. For one thing, we should demand that Transaction Publishers reveal who gave them the money to distribute this book. We should further insist that Transaction Publishers be denied permission to set up a booth at any academic conferences. If the ASA and other associations do not bar them, we should picket and leaflet demanding their removal. Any publisher that would distribute such racist garbage has surely forfeited its right to peddle its books at our meetings. Felice Levine's response is grossly inadequate. We should demand that the ASA take much stronger action. Any other suggestions? I'm going to forward this to ASA President Joe Feagin. Steve Rosenthal -- Mine Aysen Doyran PhD Student Department of Political Science SUNY at Albany Nelson A. Rockefeller College 135 Western Ave.; Milne 102 Albany, NY 12222
