Yet Another Africans Challenge: Liability No. 21 the IQ

By

Dr. Mohamed N. Bushara*

The Nobel laureate James Watson who was denied to speak on race intelligence at the London ’s Science Museum should have been allowed.   He is one of the dying old skulls who are terrified to the mere thought that black-looking people are rapidly increasing, & will dominate world population.   Likewise, CBS Radio USA should have allowed Don Imus to spew out his smut without making him more famous than already is.   I commend WABC Radio for hiring him.   The assertion that blacks are obtuse than whites is an advanced method of racism that meant to shake black self-esteem, particularly as Senator Barak Obama is heading for the US White House.   But in reality scientific evidence is not that shocking as the extremists want us to believe.   Initially, there was this hype about brain size, when it was suggested that white males have bigger brains than women of all races & other minorities including Asians, & Jews were less intelligent few decades back.   Then came the debate on results of studies done on the subject of cogitative stratification of ethnic groups & races.  

Those who are familiar with books of Rush Limbaugh (The Way Things Ought to Be, 1992), The Bell Curve of Herrnstein & Murray (1994) and other publications, still remember that various standardized tests such as SAT, NLSY, GRE & AFQT revealed that median IQ differences between blacks & whites in the past few decades have narrowed to about 3 IQ points, from 85 points in southern US of 1940s to 97 IQ points in recent times.   This was attributed to noticeable improvements in opportunities, economic conditions, schooling, health & nutrition in black communities.   When ghetto (inner-city) black children were adopted by affluent white families, they performed as whites & were better in arithmetic & fast memory tests.   Asians have the highest scores with median of 103 IQ points, ahead of American & British whites at 100 & Latinos are at about 90 points.   Latinos IQ scores were severely biased by language according to the study.   East Asians from Japan , China & Korea scored even much higher (110 IQ) in non-verbal tests.   The reader will probably be interested to know why 7 IQ points separate East Asians from whites, if it is ever going to be addressed.   In general, recent test batteries also found that Jews are much smarter than whites by some 10 IQ points as the Socioeconomic Status (SES) converged.

However, H. Stevenson’s matched SES tests of elementary school kids showed no significant differences in IQ were found across the globe.   There are greater differences between individuals than between ethnic groups.   The allusion that ethnic & races IQ differences is genetically controlled is still debatable & inconclusive based on current standardized tests according to the available information.   Although the subject is deeply controversial & may have frightening social implications, informed practical contest may eradicate the dangers of extreme social repercussions.   Africans, wherever they are, must stand tall & get their act together in order to grind-down these impediments & exonerate themselves from internal conflicts so as to prosper.

* The author is a Senior Petroleum Consultant & the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Delegate for Middle East region. Email bushara@emirates.net.ae