The following is an editorial summary.
Does race have a genetic basis? Does this genetic basis influence traits like intelligence? Are these even questions we should be asking?
After conservative scholar Jason Richwine was fired from The American Heritage Foundation for his controversial Harvard dissertation, “IQ and Immigration Policy,” the web has been abuzz with talk of genetics, intelligence, and IQ.
In an effort to provide some welcome clarity, The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates sat down with geneticist Neil Risch, director of the Institute for Human Genetics at University of California San Francisco, for a Q&A.
Risch’s ultimate verdict?
[I]n my view, at this point, any comment about the etiology of group differences, for “intelligence” or anything else, in the absence of specific identified genes (or environmental factors, for that matter), is speculation.
Read the full story here: Race, Intelligence, and Genetics For Curious Dummies
Additional Resources:
- “Why race as a biological construct matters,” Razib Khan | Discover
- “Race/IQ: The Jason Richwine Affair,” Ron Unz | American Conservative
