Caucasians are inherently more intelligent than African Americans

IntroductionAllow me to clarify the terms of the debate. My opponent and I have indeed agreed to equate IQ to intelligence, agreed that inherent refers to genetics, and agreed that Caucasians refer to Caucasian Americans. However, my opponent has mischaracterized his burden of proof. Having the duty of affirming the inherent intellectual superiority of a race suggests a direct and pervasive causatory link between Race and IQ. Let it therefore be established that to meet this burden, my opponent must not merely "show that [IQ] is partially influenced by genetic factors. " He must show that IQ is principally influenced by genetic factors, for if it is not, then IQ is not inherent. My opponent brought up a plethora of evidence in support of IQ differences and the inheritability of IQ. However, I need not refute them because I do not object to them. Those points neither address the resolution nor prove a race-based linkage - which my opponent neglected to mention in his entire argument as a matter of fact. That said, I will pursue my own burden by showing why race genetics cannot be the principal determination of IQ. Race-IQ Disparities? : The African American ImmigrantIf the IQ disparities of African Americans and Caucasian Americans are race linked, then one would expect to see the same roughly equal average intelligence in any sub-group of the African American race, regardless of background. However, an overwhelming wealth of evidense suggests the opposite! African American immigrants residing in America are THE most highly-educated group in the United States. In addition, African American immigrants tend to exceed the average Caucasian American score in IQ, automatically defying the race-IQ direct causation. "Among African Americans, class divides exist between blacks native to the United States and foreign-born blacks, with the latter achieving higher incomes and levels of education than the former. In fact, the U. S. Census indicates that African immigrants to the U. S. are the most highly educated group of people in the entire country. "(1)"So that if one accepts the research suggesting direct casual relationships between academic attainment and IQ (Gottfredson, 1998; Ostrowsky, 1999) the median IQ for African blacks residing in the west should be about 110! This is especially true for those living in the United States and in the UK. One may also expect to find, according to much of the “corroborative” literature that relates IQ with education, approximately twice the number of African born immigrants with IQs in the 115 range, than among the general white American population (Gottfredson, 1998; Ostrowsky, 1999; Williams, 2005; Nisbett, 2002); and more than twice the number of African immigrants in the 125 IQ range. ." (2) (3)I cannot stress the stark contrast between African American Immigrants and Native African Americans enough. If there are two groups of the same race but entirely different backgrounds, then they should both still have roughly equal averages in intelligence, and they should both still have roughly equal IQ rates. However, the fact that a different background has led to such success and intelligence proves that there is a component more powerful than genetics in the overall determination of IQ. The explanation for projected IQ gaps then becomes a matter of environment rather than inheritance. I know that this debate is focused more specifically towards the United States, but I will briefly add the statistics from England to further dismantle the theory of the inherent intellectual inferiority of the African race. " In fact, blacks with African origins over the age of 30 had the highest educational qualifications of any ethnic group in the British Isles. Thus, the evidence pointed to the fact that minority quotas for University admissions were actually working against students from these ethnic groups who were on average more qualified for higher education than their white peers (Cross, 1994; Also see, Dustmann, Theodoropoulos, 2006). " (4)The Phenomenon of the Flynn EffectThe Flynn Effect essentially denotes a universal progression in IQ through time. These differences are visible in a matter of generations, increasing by 3 points per decade. (5) Prima Facie, this evidence would suggest that man was becoming more intelligent with time. However " Flynn himself does not believe this to be the case. It is conceivable that something about modern society (the greater need for abstract thinking, presence of computers, more visually-oriented culture) is responsible. " (5)The Flynn Effect virtually shuts down the notion of a dominantly genetic determination of IQ for very starting reasons. For one, in order for Pro to explain the Flynn Effect, he would have to demonstrate that genes are collectively changing consistently, progressively, and continuously at the same rate and time for everyone in the world,. .. .a statistical absurdity. Since the only way genes can be changed is through the formation and subsequent inheritance of mutations (6), he'd also have to show that everyone is receiving the same mutations and passing them on, a self-evident improbability. So, ultimately, the Flynn Effect proves that there is something else that is non-genetic and powerful enough to significantly alter IQ in such a widespread and pervasive manner. If IQ is so drasitcally alterable by non-genetic factors in a matter of decades, then racial genetics clearly does not have a principal role. Genes do not change that quickly! " Since the black-white difference in IQ is 15 points, this means that an even larger IQ difference has existed between different generations of the same race, making it no longer necessary to attribute IQ differences of this magnitude to genetics. "(7)ConclusionIf African Immigrants, people of the same race but different background and upbringing show such a drastic and collective deviation from the projected African American norm, then there is obviously a reason for this occurrence outside the boundaries of race genetics. Also, if the Flynn Effect, which is widely accepted and acknowledged to occur, does indeed occur, then it implies a force on IQ that is more dominant than genetics could be, since it is virtually impossible to explain the Flynn effect using genetics. So, in short I have proven that genetics cannot be the principle arbitor of IQ, so it follows that intelligence disparities if they do exist are not necessarily "inherent. " Sources1. . http://racerelations.about.com...2. . http://www.africaresource.com...3. . http://s1.zetaboards.com...4. . http://bluecafe669.blogtownhall.com...5. . http://www.wordiq.com...6. . http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov...7. . http://townhall.com...