ERIC Number: ED120332
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1975-Aug
Pages: 16
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Race and Racism of the I.Q. Argument.
Willhelm, Sidney M.
A brief historical resume outlining the relationship between economics, racism, and intellectual justification for racism begins this paper, which notes that the I.Q. argument is a racist ideology in exactly the same way that Christianity, Darwinism, and Equality have been systems of justifications for America's racism. It fits the definition of racism - the formulation of criteria with an impact upon color so that the detrimental outcome is assured in spite of what the person who is being judged might do. A black cannot win under the I.Q. argument for he is not endowed with that innate genetic ability called "intelligence". The genetic interpretation is racist in other ways, in that the subject matter selected for investigation is racist. Furthermore, a racist under pinning of the approach is found not only in the view but also within the responses to what is being purported as scientific research. The I.Q. argument is also racist because the black is held accountable for failure. I.Q. theories and their instant popularity arrive at a strategic moment in time when fantastically new technology makes labor and mind so dispensable that reliance upon people is no longer essential. The advocates of I.Q. inferiority offer a perfect rationale for whites to dismiss the technologically disposable blacks who are deemed lacking in sufficient intelligence. The technological transformation and its significance for black people become a matter of survival when the connection between biology and intelligence as they relate to genocide is considered. (Author/AM)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
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Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the American Sociological Association annual meeting (San Francisco, California, August 1975)