Posted on 05/19/2013 7:45:38 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Harvard students, outraged over a doctoral dissertation arguing that Hispanic immigrants lack “raw cognitive ability or intelligence,” this week urged the university to investigate how the thesis came to be approved and to ban future research on racial superiority.
The students presented 1,200 signatures to president Drew Faust and the dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, David Ellwood.
“Academic freedom and a reasoned debate are essential to our academic community,” the petition said. “However, the Harvard Kennedy School cannot ethically stand behind academic work advocating a national policy of exclusion and advancing an agenda of discrimination.” …
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
Uh, I don't think so, Einstein.
Wait...
I must admit I should have read more closely the leading sentence in the article. I relied too much on the title (mistake).
“Harvard students, outraged over a doctoral dissertation arguing that Hispanic immigrants lack “raw cognitive ability or intelligence,” this week urged the university to investigate how the thesis came to be approved and to ban future research on racial superiority.”
—
It states that “Harvard students” were outraged.
That should have been an alarm bell. (and I am not prejudice about Harvard graduates, my son-in-law is a Harvard Law Graduate & is 1/2 Hispanic, the quickest study I have ever met and a stanch Republican.)
It may be fact that statistically the illegal immigrants that come to the US are not high achievers.
But Hispanics in general is a very broad category. Some have heavy Indian blood lines, some have Spanish (as in Spain) blood lines and others like Cuba are a mixture.
My issue with the illegal immigrants is their “culture”. My observation is that most of them do not think that Capitalism can give them opportunity to succeed and that government is their friend. The Mexican Government is totally corrupt politically. (I am reluctant to throw stones at them since we have Obozo) That corruption and an oppressive history of the elitists there are a breeding ground for Leftism. It will be a very hard education process to overcome this.
I spent 14 years in NM in a mine union district that was 51% Hispanic. I saw up close and personal the Leftist element at the local university. I was GOP County Chairman there are several years. Yes, we did have Conservative Hispanic member then (early to mid 1980’s)
My opinion is that it is more a cultural issue caused by the corrupt Mexican government and economic system than it is an IQ thing.
The illegal immigrants from Mexico generally have no confidence in Capitalism providing them opportunity and fairness. They are conditioned to look to government to provide those things. Very hard sell to overcome that.
Many of the new immigrants are very hard working, family oriented and were religious conservatives (that is changing with the new generation). Most all of them are Catholic, and like the term Hispanic, is a very broad category. Some are very very conservative (we have those here) others are far left of center politically.
"However?" There is no "however." A thesis is either supported by the facts, or it isn't. A petition says nothing, except that the subject of the thesis is unpopular, and that the signers have no business at an institution that supports free inquiry.
bump
If the Harvard crew would bring some substantive objections, like research falsification or sloppy research, inability to replicate his findings, failure to follow scientific methodology, well, that would be one thing.
But these charges of discrimination, ‘insensitivity’—or as they might say: ‘whatever’—are as bogus as their attempts, for example, to carry water for Michael Bellisiles and his fabrication ‘Arming America’ about ten years ago.
They approve or disapprove of any proposition depending upon whether it serves their political agenda. Period.
Hopefully not being too blunt, IMHO these kids and their perfessors can either attempt to do what was done then, or go s*** in their mortar-boards.
“My former girlfriend,a Radcliffe grad,had a friend who worked in Harvard’s admissions office who told her that were it not for affirmative action the freshman classes at Harvard would be made up almost entirely of Jews and Asians.”
I believe that is slightly wrong. At Stanford, they basically put up a academic bar (like high jumping) of purely academic criteria. Clear the bar and you are in the pool of applicants. After that it is recomendations, extra curriculars, diversity, sports, leadership, music, alumni connections, do your parents donate and how much, are you popular in school, are you attractive, what race and sex, what part of the country do you come from, etc.
So basically at Stanford, if it were not for AA there would be a lot of jews, asians and whites (while on pure academics the whites are behind, the other factors and pure numbers mean a lot of whites clear the academic bar and are in the pool) with a smattering of blacks and hispanics.
With AA, the only change is there is probably twice the number of blacks and hispanics.
I suspect the similar thing happens at Harvard.
Ted Cruz is nearly 100% “white”.
Cubans don’t fit the general “Hispanic” model anyway.
Which is predominantly Mexican to put it accurately.
“Hispanic” is an obfuscation. Mexicans aren’t Cubans and aren’t Argentines and aren’t Spaniards. And “our” Mexicans aren’t representative of the general Mexican population for that matter.
And as elsewhere noted, even if a population is aggregately low in performance it doesn’t mean that there aren’t exceptional individuals.
I've met Ted and the problem with Ted is that he fails to see that he is an academic 1 percenter. He thinks that he is no special person and that if he can succeed, anyone can succeed. In that respect, I think he is delusional. I've seen the 1 percenters and I've seen the bottom 50 percenters. Almost no one in the bottom 50% will ever achieve anything like what Cruz has done, no matter what you do. It is just like I will never be an Olympic track star no matter what I do. It just is not there.
Am not surprised about what you said about Ted Cruz. I have not met him personally. My son-in-law and daughter know him from meetings. They both like him a lot.
In my opinion, attitude and work ethic in some fields is more important than brilliance. In other lines of work that is not true.
I have associated with scientists (not the phonies). When I lived in NM (1972-1986) most of my Ham friends worked at the Labs or military bases. Some very very bright people. Some so awkward it was amazing, but at the same time brilliant in their field. Others were well rounded in both social skills and science. My father-in-law was in the weapons industry for 40 years, 15 of that a division manager for a large plant. He was educated as an electrical engineer, but most of his career was in management. At one point he had 1,200 employees he was responsible for. He died 3 years ago, still miss him a lot. He was a good friend that I dearly loved and respected.
I have worked for some fine managers before. In fact most of those I reported to were great people. The really good mangers are those that are balanced. Not totally tech, not bureaucratic, capable of making decisions and had a view of the big picture (past the bottom line). Those are the valuable people. The ones that keep you effective in the long run. Perspective, vision and gut feel.
“And as elsewhere noted, even if a population is aggregately low in performance it doesn’t mean that there aren’t exceptional individuals.”
Totally agree.
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One of the men who worked for my father-in-law was a parts runner who drove a 3 wheel bike around the plant with components. He loved his job and repainted his bike with an inscription that said “numero uno Mexicano”. He absolutely freaked when the EEOC idiot told him that was a racial slur and made him paint it out. His remark was, I am the Number One Mexican. He was right, but the EEOC idiot had the authority, it was a government plant.
Have to admit my own biases caused me to make a knee jerk reaction to the title. Those are honest biases from many many years in a mixed Hispanic environment. And NM is a great place to see the extremes. I have seen and know the brightest and the most backward of the group. Know them personally.
Must admit it is possible that I misunderstood the group he was identifying.
But, I still think IQ is a non issue in evaluating this.
Also saw this in the story. Apparently, DeMint has lost his cojones.
This sounds bats, unless it’s an exaggeration of surveys showing a reproducible lower distribution of the mental qualities in question among the Hispanics that they tested. In which case it seems a yawnworthy tempest in a teapot. Kind of like the furor that “The Bell Curve” provoked.
I maintain that there are many human endeavors that can be put into classes of humans and their traits and potential of/in life based on genetics. It should be expected that for any specific endeavor such as music, logic, and especially athletics etc. there will be different numbers of humans represented in/under a statistical distribution field with some endeavors more predominate by race.
“The Scots were not known for their ferocity in battle for no reason”
Yes, correct. And a Welshman would know that. hee hee hee
But Scots also contributed greatly to economic thought and attitude toward government that helped shape this great nation.
I agree that some races have known strengths and gifts genetically. (does not make them a superior race)
Even within races there are huge variances where the gifted seem to follow families. I have know that type of gifted people.
classic
Very good comments on the article. Dims promote their unreal-based views. Realists do math and logic.
Not saying the realists can win at Harvard, but good pokes at the guys that can’t do math.
In England, quite a bit.
The UK has tested IQ for decades.
Multiple studies have shown a decisive correlation between high IQ and the salary of government employees.
There’s another interesting correlation.
Almost all government employees receive identical medical care through the National Health Service.
Yet, multiple studies have shown a decisive correlation between high IQ, general good health, and long life.
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