The race gap in IQ testing is caused, in part, by inherent genetic differences between races.

Firstly, I would just like to apologise for not participating in the previous round; I will not pretend I had any major exams or anything like that - I simply left it to the last minute and then forgot about it. However, I will do my best to make up for that lapse in this round. As to the confusion with the resolution, it has been cleared up. We have agreed that if I prove "there are genetic differences between races; and, secondly, that these differences account for the gap in IQ testing." then I will have "prove[d] the resolution" http://www.debate.org... (16th and 15th comments). ----------- Rebuttals ----------- 1) "I think this was entirely relevant to give background and context to the debate." I was merely pointing out that linking a respected scientific field of study with the comments of a 20th century racist claiming Negros have little sense of "honour" is to misrepresent the field. 2) "I am glad we agree on these points" Ditto 3) "IQ is indeed partly heritable[...]It is the race gap rather than individual test results that I believe can be wholly attributed to non-genetic factors." This is akin to saying yes, a car's parts may have metal in them BUT the car itself does not. If IQ is heritable then a race with higher IQ will obviously pass some of this higher IQ onto their offspring and so the race gap in the next generation will be at least partly due to their genetic make-up. 4) Here CON basically casts doubt upon the validity of IQ tests since "the implications of the IQ results" are "fuzzy and unclear." 5) i) "I am happy to see that my opponent concedes that the resolution can not be proved on a molecular genetic level." I said that no gene - singular - has been linked to intelligence; but, I believe that many genes contribute to our understanding of intelligence in the same way that many genes contribute to our hair colour. ii) I am somewhat surprised that race has lasted as a point of contention since it seems to me and at least one of the readers (http://www.debate.org...) that the resolution implies that races do exist. The resolution states that there is a "race gap" and for there to be a "race gap" there must be races. So the question of whether races exist or not is moot. And now onto my arguments: ------------- Arguments ------------- So basically I have to prove that "there are genetic differences between races; and, secondly, that these differences account for the gap in IQ testing." 6) "There are genetic differences between races". This is rather like saying there are physical differences between countries since the very fact that they are of different races means that there will be genetic differences. Here is a definition of race: "A group or population of humans categorized on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics (such as color of skin, eyes, and hair)." And when it says heritable characteristics it basically means genes since they are only heritable because the same genes are passed on. http://www.biology-online.org... Further proof of the genetic difference (aside from the obvious physical differences and the fact that babies aren't born all looking the same) is that in the Stanford study I linked in the first round they were able to identify a person's self-identified race from their genomes alone - this would have been impossible if there were no differences between races. 7) "these [gentic] differences account[,in part] for the gap in IQ testing." Now to prove that these differences account, in part, for the gap in IQ testing (just realised that neither I nor CON noticed that the "in part" was omitted but it must now be put it in as it is in the resolution) it must be shown that the in the genetic difference between races there are certain genes that make it so that Caucasoids are at an advantage to Negroids and Mongoloids to Caucasoids when it comes to intelligence. If the genetic differences between races do not account, in part, for the gap in IQ testing - i.e. it was all environment - then adopted black children would do about as well as white children with the same environment, however the Minnesota adoption study shows that this is not the case and adopted black children scored 89 at age 17 while white children scored 109. This shows that there is a genetic factor to it and so that the genetic difference between races contributes to the difference in IQ scores. http://en.wikipedia.org...