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ERIC Number: ED001317
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1964
Pages: 38
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT "RACE."
MONTAGU, ASHLEY
A DISCUSSION ON THE VARIOUS RACES WAS PRESENTED. STATISTICS SHOWED THAT LIKENESSES AMONG GROUPS WERE ABOUT 95 PERCENT, WHILE DIFFERENCES WERE ONLY 5 PERCENT. FROM THE BIOLOGICAL STANDPOINT, THERE WAS NO PHYSICALLY INFERIOR OR PHYSICALLY SUPERIOR RACIAL TRAITS. THERE WAS NO PROOF THAT "RACE" AND INTELLIGENCE WERE LINKED. RATHER EVIDENCE SHOWED THAT BETWEEN ONE ETHNIC GROUP AND ANOTHER THE BIOLOGICAL ENDOWMENT FOR INTELLIGENCE WAS MUCH THE SAME, BY INTELLIGENCE WAS MEANT THE ABILITY TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE TO A SITUATION. IN A COMPARISON OF NEGRO AND WHITE BABIES UP TO THEIR FIRST YEAR, THE NEGROES, BOTH IN PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, DID AS WELL AS THE WHITE BABIES. THE NEGROES WERE JUST AS INTELLIGENT AND AS WELL DEVELOPED AS THE WHITE BABIES. THUS IF THE ENVIRONMENT WAS EQUALIZED FOR THE TWO GROUPS, THE PERFORMANCE, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY, OF THE MEMBERS OF EACH GROUP WOULD USUALLY BE EQUALIZED. BESIDES THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT, THE USE OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS HAD THE EFFECT OF SHOWING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ETHNIC GROUPS. BUT TO APPLY SOME INTELLIGENCE TESTS TO OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS IS UNFAIR FOR MOST INTELLIGENCE TESTS ARE NOT CULTURALLY FREE OR CULTURALLY FAIR. HIGH INTELLIGENCE WAS NOT THE MONOPOLY OF ANY ONE ETHNIC GROUP. WHAT WAS OFTEN THE MONOPOLY OF ONE ETHNIC GROUP WAS THE CONTROL OF OPPORTUNITY IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO AFFORD ITS BENEFITS TO ITS OWN GROUP WHILE EXCLUDING OTHER GROUPS FROM ENJOYING THEM. UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS THE GROUP THAT WAS UNFAVORABLY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST DID NOT DO AS WELL AS THE GROUP THAT APPORTIONS THE MAJOR BENEFITS TO ITSELF.
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: B'nai B'rith, New York, NY. Anti-Defamation League.
Identifiers - Location: New York; New York (New York)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A