Val, I get what you are saying. Yes, there should be a place for uncomfortable discussions to happen in a respectful way. But when the IQ data based on race is presented as if it is univerally accepted fact (which it is not), I strongly object.
I agree with what you say here (sorry don't know how to do the quote thing):
"The Preface indicates that many of our social problems come from failure to acknowledge that some individuals just aren't as smart as others. I submit that encouraging everyone to go to college is one example of a bad way to try to solve a social problem."
But to me the following is crucial:
From
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/opinion/09nisbett.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2"Nearly all the evidence suggesting a genetic basis for the I.Q. differential is indirect...In fact, we know that the I.Q. difference between black and white 12-year-olds has dropped to 9.5 points from 15 points in the last 30 years � a period that was more favorable for blacks in many ways than the preceding era. Black progress on the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows equivalent gains. Reading and math improvement has been modest for whites but substantial for blacks.
Most important, we know that interventions at every age from infancy to college can reduce racial gaps in both I.Q. and academic achievement, sometimes by substantial amounts in surprisingly little time. This mutability is further evidence that the I.Q. difference has environmental, not genetic, causes. And it should encourage us, as a society, to see that all children receive ample opportunity to develop their minds."
