That's indeed an excellent thing to keep in mind!
The average IQ for any particular group is meaningless on an individual level... I have met blacks that were smarter than I am (and I'm pretty smart) and Asians that were dumb as a box of rocks.
BTW: If you need smart people just come to FreeRepublic, it's where the smart people gather. I'm quite sure that the average Freeper IQ is higher than ANY ethnic group on Earth.
Race and IQ matter when social Marxists say the reason for black crime and the state of black neighborhoods is because they are oppressed. You cannot expect a population of people with an average IQ of one standard deviation below whites to maintain the same level of civilization. The reason for black crime and poverty is average IQ, not oppression.
“The average IQ for any particular group is meaningless on an individual level..”
I disagree. Since groups gather together in neighborhoods and extended families, the average intelligence definitely affects the way the group treats things like having babies without marriage, valuing education above say sports ability. A groups values are definitely affected by the groups intelligence.
The received wisdom is that all groups are statistically all the same. Therefore, any detected statistical difference between group outcomes, whether employment, average wealth, college graduation rate, or incarceration rate, MUST therefore be due to racism and discrimination, and thus requires remediation.
If there WERE actual, demonstrable group differences, then that would undercut the argument for remediation, and the people who profit from it.