Are People
of Color Less Intelligent?
By Riaz Haq
CA
The statement last
week by Nobel Laureate Geneticist Dr. James Watson
regarding Africa as the laggard continent has
slightly re-opened the taboo subject of the link
between race and intelligence. It has touched
off a storm of protests leading to the dismissal
of Dr. Watson from a prestigious position as the
head of a research institute.
Here's what The Times of London reported: "The
scientist, who won the Nobel prize for his part
in discovering the structure of DNA, was quoted
in an interview in The Sunday Times saying he
was "inherently gloomy about the prospect
of Africa" because "all our social policies
are based on the fact that their intelligence
is the same as ours - whereas all the testing
says not really."
When I saw this, my first reaction was: Does Watson
have a history of racist thinking? Like another
Nobel Laureate and semiconductor pioneer William
Shockley? Or he just naively spoke his mind without
realizing the consequences? The answer: Dr. Watson
is no stranger to controversy. This isn't Watson's
first rambunctious claim. He has previously argued
that stupidity is a disease that should be cured,
and that "it would be great" if women
were genetically engineered to be pretty.
Nonetheless, I decided to search for "testing"
that Dr. Watson refers to. And here's what I found:
Richard Lynn, "Race
Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary
Analysis" 2006 Table 16.2 (indigenous
populations) |
Estimated average IQ |
Arctic Peoples
|
91 |
| East Asians |
105 |
| Europeans |
100 |
| Native Americans (north & south) |
86 |
| Southern Asian & Northern Africans |
84 |
| Bushmen (southern Africa) |
54 |
| Africans (subsaharan) |
67 |
| Native Australians (aboriginals) |
62 |
| Southeast Asians |
87 |
| Pacific Islanders |
85 |
Apparently, this is a compilation of data from
"credible sources" and published in
respected journals such as American Journal of
Psychology. The neutrality and factual accuracy
of these studies and data have been questioned
by many researchers and scientists. The most common
criticisms are that these studies and tests are
developed in the European context and they measure
mainly problem-solving capability and skills.
For those who are curious, Pakistanis are included
along with Indians in Southern Asia with an average
IQ of 84, about 16 points below Europeans and
almost 21 points behind East Asians including
Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.
On the question of nature versus nurture, here
are some data on minorities tested in North America
and Europe:
These results indicate that the context and the
environment do have an impact on the IQ test results
but they do not completely erase the differences.
However, the debate continues with lots of question
unanswered as the design, the content and the
bias in testing.
(Riaz Haq is the Founder and President of PakAlumni
Worldwide (www.pakalumni.com) , a Facebook-like
social network especially designed to serve the
Pakistani diaspora around the world)
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