Posted by
Sue on Monday, November 19, 2007 12:36:58 PM
11/19/2007 7:46 am PST
I read about these stats (which Prof Campos says I can't understand) decades ago. At the time the scientists were shut up. Hammered at because "equality" was a New, albeit a stressful need in our society. I personally didn't understand why they couldn't speak. Today, I do. But, I distinctly remember that "EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY " for all was the consuming dictate in the very late 60's and early 70's. That was the premise of the NOW chapter I was a member of. Of course, when the bra burners took over the Movement, things changed. But, realities are realities and must be faced. Short is short, tall is tall and all the rest is important too!
From PoliPundit.com with permission:
"The Right Conclusions
Bring up the words “IQ” and “race", and you’re stepping into a minefield. But Slate’s Will Saletan draws the right conclusions:
Last month, James Watson, the legendary biologist, was
condemned and forced into retirement after claiming that African
intelligence wasn’t “the same as ours.” “Racist, vicious and
unsupported by science,” said the Federation of American Scientists.
“Utterly unsupported by scientific evidence,” declared the U.S.
government’s supervisor of genetic research. The New York Times told
readers that when Watson implied “that black Africans are less
intelligent than whites, he hadn’t a scientific leg to stand on.”
I
wish these assurances were true. They aren’t. Tests do show an IQ
deficit, not just for Africans relative to Europeans, but for Europeans
relative to Asians. Economic and cultural theories have failed to
explain most of the pattern, and there’s strong preliminary evidence
that part of it is genetic. It’s time to prepare for the possibility
that equality of intelligence, in the sense of racial averages on
tests, will turn out not to be true.
If this suggestion
makes you angry—if you find the idea of genetic racial advantages
outrageous, socially corrosive, and unthinkable—you’re not the first to
feel that way. Many Christians are going through a similar struggle
over evolution. Their faith in human dignity rests on a literal belief
in Genesis. To them, evolution isn’t just another fact; it’s a threat
to their whole value system. As William Jennings Bryan put it during
the Scopes trial, evolution meant elevating “supposedly superior
intellects,” “eliminating the weak,” “paralyzing the hope of reform,”
jeopardizing “the doctrine of brotherhood,” and undermining “the
sympathetic activities of a civilized society.”
The same
values—equality, hope, and brotherhood—are under scientific threat
today. But this time, the threat is racial genetics, and the people
struggling with it are liberals.
Evolution forced Christians
to bend or break. They could insist on the Bible’s literal truth and
deny the facts, as Bryan did. Or they could seek a subtler account of
creation and human dignity. Today, the dilemma is yours. You can try to
reconcile evidence of racial differences with a more sophisticated
understanding of equality and opportunity. Or you can fight the
evidence and hope it doesn’t break your faith.
I’m for
reconciliation. Later this week, I’ll make that case. But if you choose
to fight the evidence, here’s what you’re up against. Among white
Americans, the average IQ, as of a decade or so ago, was 103. Among
Asian-Americans, it was 106. Among Jewish Americans, it was 113. Among
Latino Americans, it was 89. Among African-Americans, it was 85. Around
the world, studies find the same general pattern: whites 100, East
Asians 106, sub-Sarahan Africans 70. One IQ table shows 113 in Hong
Kong, 110 in Japan, and 100 in Britain. White populations in Australia,
Canada, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States score
closer to each other than to the worldwide black average. It’s been
that way for at least a century.
Remember, these are averages,
and all groups overlap. You can’t deduce an individual’s intelligence
from her ethnicity. The only thing you can reasonably infer is that
anyone who presumes to rate your IQ based on the color of your skin is
probably dumber than you are.
Indeed, there’s no point in trying to deny the results of decades of IQ
tests, and the realities of today’s world. But every one of us deserves
to be treated as the unique individual
that he or she is. If there’s one constant that’s truer than
experimental data, it’s the ability of people to defy expectations and
surprise you.
I’m going to paraphrase some advice on how to use this data in everyday life: Labels are for canned food, not people. I am what I am.
-- PoliPundit"
With this said, it is more important in the long run, in my humble opinion, that every individual have equality of opportunity. Without it, it doesn't make any difference how "smart" you are anywhere in the world, but especially here in America! I fought for equality of opportunity but I lost that battle and have lived to see the road to hell paved, not with gold, but the liberal intentions of the past forty years!!