I have no reason to think that the distribution of genes that contribute to intelligence are significantly different by race. While there may be some population/sub-population differences in the allelic frequency of intelligence-related genes, I expect that all genes that contribute to intellect are present in all populations. This is only speculation, since we (the scientific community) have not identified the genes related to intellect, nor determined how they interact with one another.
On the other hand, environmental and nutritional influences have been shown to have a huge effect on IQ. So do infectious diseases. A kid who spends most of his energy trying to survive various illnesses does not use that energy developing his brain. All of these factors add up; once a child ages past the crucial early years of brain development, the opportunity to maximize IQ potential is lost.
Black poverty culture today does *not* embrace the factors that enable children to develop to their full potential. Furthermore, that culture actively censures any exercise of intellect. Until that culture is eradicated, I do not think we can say anything about the genetics of IQ in black populations. As I said above, I have no reason to think that black people lack any intellect genes--it's just that their poverty culture negates the effect of those genes.
I should say that much of white liberal culture embraces the same anti-intellect values as the poverty culture...
You're right to say that it is still a scientifically-open question whether intergroup IQ differences are genetically-based or not. However, there is research that suggests it is, including research that shows that there are still differences between middle class blacks from “enriched” environments and similarly-situated middle class whites.
Are these differences really fully attributable to cultural differences? Maybe. Maybe not. Personally, based on my own experiences, I'm ambivalent. I went to, and my sons go to/graduated from a private college prep high school where pretty much everyone goes to college. Including a few folks who go to the Ivies and similar schools each year. The school is majority black.
All the black kids go to college, too.
But there appear to be clear achievement differences between racial groups. The AP calc and physics classes are over 80% white. The basic Spanish classes are overwhelmingly minority.
To be sure, there are very high-achieving and scoring blacks in the school. But the school is majority black and the overwhelming number of National Merit Finalists, and National Merit Commended students are white.
Because it's a private school, two things are true of nearly every student: his household has a higher-than-median income (median family income for the school is about $125K per year); and he was born into an intact family (and most students live in intact family environments while at the school).
These are in no way disadvantaged students.
So, what accounts for the perceived differences?
Some days, I ponder the question, and I think, yep, there's at least some genetic component.
But then I look at my own sons (my older son finished valedictorian, and my younger son won't be far behind as he completes his senior year, this year), and I think, what separates my sons from a lot of these other kids is their work ethic. Most days, they just outwork their peers, plain and simple. And I guess that's because my wife and I purposefully set out to create that kind of "family culture" (we homeschooled through 8th grade, and thus were able to really fashion our own "culture").
On days when I think of those differences that seem more about culture, I think, no, it's not genetic, it's cultural.
But then I wonder from where culture comes. Do better adapted cultures emerge from populations with higher average intelligence?
On those days, I'm just really confused.
It would be nice if folks did the science to answer these sorts of questions. But as the author of the article points out, even wondering aloud about the topic can ruin one’s career.
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