Is there an anti-racism gene?

According to recent research, those afflicted by the rare genetic disorder known as Williams Syndrome substantially less prone to develop racist attitudes than those without Williams...

TheGrio Staff

Apr 21, 2010

From Mitchell Martin, of National Public Radio

According to recent research, those afflicted by the rare genetic disorder known as Williams Syndrome substantially less prone to develop racist attitudes than those without Williams. Host Michel Martin takes a look at the study with one of its authors, Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lundenberg.

Coming up, a new book showcases the pride and heritage of multiracial children in America. It’s called “Mixed,” and we’ll tell you more about it in our parenting segment in just a few minutes.

But first, we want to talk more about what it means to be of a certain heritage and what, more importantly, it means to others. When most of us tell our children that people of all colors are equal, we hope we’re making a lasting impression that it’s wrong to judge others on the basis of race. But according to a new study by European researchers, some children are born without the ability to form racial bias.

These children have Williams Syndrome. It’s a rare genetic condition that affects about one in 10,000 children. We wanted to know more about this so we’ve called one of the study’s authors, Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg. He’s with us now from his office. Welcome, thank you for joining us.

To check out the transcript and hear the audio from the show continue to NPR.org