Since the advent of intelligence tests in the early 20th century, the relationship between race and intellect has been the subject of debate in both popular science and research literature. However, such tests demonstrate the disparities in average IQ scores between self-identified people of different races or nations. There is a vibrant debate about whether these variations are due to environmental or genetic factors, about the definition of “race” and “intelligence,” and even about the possibility of defining these concepts objectively. It is necessary to consider several studies of scientists to determine whether a person’s race affects intellectual abilities.
Racial Context
The eminent biologist, Nobel Prize winner, and one of the discoverers of the structure of DNA molecules, James Watson, discussed the inequality of races. That is, he said that he was discouraged by Africa’s prospects because all social policy is built on the assumption that the mental capacity of its population is equal to that of Europeans. However, research suggests that this is not entirely true. There is no firm reason to assume that the intellectual abilities of peoples geographically separated in the course of evolution should have developed in the same way (Lira 95). At the same time, the mere desire out of universal humanism to ascribe to everyone the same power of judgment will not suffice for this. This statement about the inequality of intelligence between racial groups made the scientist a victim of harassment.
The scientist was suspended from work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Only after a public apology did Watson return to his job (Lira 98). Supporters of the scientist believe that he is a victim of political correctness, which forbids even to raise the question of innate differences in intelligence of different races and ethnic groups. The notion of the backwardness of Negroes and other non-Europeans was also based on the world domination of whites.
According to Immanuel Kant, racial differences, the result of adaptation to climate, could no longer be eliminated. The theory viewed redskins, whites, Asians, and negroids as separate and unrelated species. In 1849, American anthropologist Samuel Mortons conducted the first study of brain size in different continents, showing that the most significant brain size was characteristic of Europeans, the smallest for the inhabitants of Tropical Africa (Miele 164). This was another argument for the proponents of polygenism.
Research of IQ
Although some progress has been made in racial empowerment, participation in STEM fields among African American students has declined significantly over the past 20 years, while interest among other ethnic groups in these fields has increased since 2001. This means that African Americans have become more than once stated that “the current system does not provide equal opportunities for everyone who wants to do science, and this should be thought first of all” (Miele 107). This disparity begins with an education system where racial minority students are not represented in the sciences and where learning opportunities continue to be limited along racial, gender and socioeconomic lines.
Last year, in 11 states, not a single African-American student passed the AP Computer Science exam. In 2011, seven percent of students in California schools were African American and 51% were Hispanic (Darby and Rury 67). However, only one percent of AP Computer Science students were African American, and only 7% were Hispanic (Darby and Rury 67). These statistics highlight the significant disparity between education systems in different areas and communities. That is, the development of people of different races in science is also influenced by the factor of their involvement in it.
Role of Genetic Factors
In terms of learning outcomes, African Americans today do indeed score lower than Europeoids on tests of vocabulary, reading, and math, as well as on some tests that measure learning ability and intelligence. However, the researchers assure that this indicator should not be considered an inevitable fact of nature (Staub 14). The gap narrows slightly when children of both races attend the same schools, and narrows slightly when two families have the same number of students, income, and wealth. Despite endless speculation, no one has ever found genetic evidence that African Americans have less innate intelligence than Europeoids.
Scientists have not yet identified most of the genes that affect test performance, so we currently have no direct genetic evidence for innate cognitive differences between the two races. But over the twentieth century, researchers have accumulated a sufficient number of indirect evidence. Most of them show that children living in an “African American” or ” Europeoids” environment have a greater impact on their test scores than the number of Africans or Europeoids in their family tree (Lira 45).
In 1969, American psychologist and UC Berkeley professor Arthur Robert Jensen published an article in the Harvard Educational Review entitled “How Much Can We Improve IQ and School Performance?” In this paper, the scientist concluded that “the program failed due to the fact that 80% of IQ variations are associated with genetic factors, and 20% with environmental factors” (Staub 134). He also concluded that “some black students showed poor results, because among their peers, high achievement was, as it were, regarded by the behavior of Europeoids” (Staub 134). The publication caused a wide public outcry and was received inconsistently. Thus, factors that arise from the environment have a great influence on intelligence.
Conclusion
Thus, any attempt to justify average racial differences due to genetic causes must be rejected. There are reliable methods for studying the genetic and environmental causes of individual differences that cannot be applied to studying the causes of average differences between groups. Most intelligence experts believe that any differences between African Americans and Europeoids in IQ test scores are due primarily to environmental rather than genetic causes.
Works Cited
Darby, Derrick & Rury, John L. The Color of Mind. Why the Origins of the Achievement Gap Matter for Justice. University of Chicago Press, 2018.
Lira, Natalie. Laboratory of Deficiency. Sterilization and Confinement in California. University of California Press, 2021.
Miele, Frank. Intelligence, Race, and Genetics. Conversations with Arthur R. Jensen. Taylor & Francis, 2018.
Staub, Michael E. The Mismeasure of Minds. Debating Race and Intelligence Between Brown and the Bell Curve. University of North Carolina Press, 2018.