He's Baaaaaaaaaaack

Controversial Scholar Charles Murray has made his first comments about Group differences since his highly inflammatory book "The Bell Curve" was published in 1994.

Murray is right in stating the obvious, there are group differences in society today- between men and women and white and black and so on. Not stating so is the height of absurdity. There is a reason 80% of the NBA is black and whites get killed in the 100 meter dash. There is a reason that no woman has ever won the prestigious Fields Medal in Mathematics. The question is why are there these differences? Personally, I don't think the differences between men and women are that big a deal but the differences between the educational achievement of the races is a serious problem.

I believe that much of it is cultural. I interview hundreds of students for internships at my company and I see very few black students even applying. And this is in New York City where there is no shortage of young black men and women. There is clearly a problem with Urban American education. Too many schools have low standards for black students and too many leaders in the black community refuse to take a stand against the undercultural forces that undermine the importance of getting an education. Add to the fact that White America has been purposely neglecting the problem and you have a situation where a whole generation of young black men and women are missing out on some amazing opportunities in the 21st century.

So I give Murray credit for at least bringing this problem to light whereas those on the left like to pretend there is no problem while those on the right acknowledge there is a problem but simply don't give a damn about it.

The real controversy is over Murray's insistence that part of this difference is due to genetics. I have no scientific background and am therefore loathe to try and prove or disprove his thesis. Honestly, our knowledge of human genetics is so scant that I think it foolish to make any such statements at this point in time. In addition, the past history of eugencis is so lamentable that quite frankly I don't think such arguments about IQ are even worthy of being discussed. Visions of Nazis measuring the skulls of Jews with Calipers should dissuade any White man from leaping to conclusions about racial intelligence. Nevertheless, he is approaching the topic as a scientist and therefore the arguments rebutting him need to be scientific, not philosophical arguments about "all men being created equal." But some of Murray's science seems so outrageous that one can't help but throw the declaration of independence at him in disgust. For example, he hypothesizes that blacks with lighter skin color tend to have higher IQ scores as a result of them having some white genes. I was shocked when I read that and immediately my mind retrieved the face of one of my summer interns from West Africa who had no "admixture" at all and was one of the smartest guys in the whole intern class. I'm sure many out there could do the same thing but the fact that such a charge has to even be answered at all shows just how dangerous Murray's science is.

The end result is that Murray's article will provoke a furious backlash, which ironically will only serve to make his science a reality since the left will triumph and the issue will be buried once again which will lead to blacks continuing to lag behind their countrymen which will in turn lead to people saying Murray was right all along. Rather than hating Murray his science should inspire the nation to work more feverishly to close these gaps once and for all.

So yes, scientists of good conscience need to challenge Murray's findings about race but more important than that the nation must make urban education a top priority and a generation of men of all races need to step in and provide young black men with the kind of roll models that will inspire these kids to equal the achievement of their white counterparts. Murray says no amount of help can overcome this genetic gap. I utterly reject that view.