Caucasians are inherently more intelligent than African Americans

Introduction: The Burden of Proof What my opponent offers with his talk of “averages” is an extreme perversion of the general consensus of what is inherent. If Americans, on average, are fatter than Europeans, does that mean that America is inherently fat? Averages do not address the resolution or Pro’s burden of proof. "If we accept that genes are largely responsible for height in group A and B (which both reside in the USA), which I hope everyone would, then we can say group A is "inherently" taller than group B. This is, again, despite the fact that there is no "group A or B" gene that is linked to height, and this is also despite the fact that there are individuals and individual groups within group B, the shorter group, that are taller than the average member of group A" Pro is confusing the genetics of the individual with the genetics of the group. How can he select an arbitrary group of people and then call the arbitrary fact that they are tall an inherent trait of that group? Pro seems to want to make the argument that African Americans are on average less intelligent than Caucasians, but that doesn’t actually suggest or prove or evidence that this observation of lower IQ is inherent to the genetics of that group. There is a reason why inherent was added to this resolution – not to play a game of semantics, but to establish a correlative link, genetic predisposition or aptitude for lesser Intelligence in the genes that define the African American race. If my opponent cannot prove this inherency or correlative link, then he cannot reach the conclusion for which he must affirm. He may then say that “an individual” African American (or any member of any race for that matter) is genetically, and thus inherently less intelligent, but he may not say that African American(S) are genetically, and thus inherently less intelligent, for that addresses the race as a whole, thus implying that this intelligence (or lack thereof) is embedded in the genes that define that race. Back to my opponent’s example: If group A is on average taller than group B, then unless group A and B are both dichotomized and succinct entities sharing a multiplicity of genes in common as to make them 2 distinct and separate races, then this height differential is nothing but an arbitrary fact and is not intrinsic to the group. That said, it is clear that my opponent’s example ineffectually strawmans the issue at hand. The African American Immigrant Pro’s only attempts to refute my African Immigrant argument were these: Quote 1 “Only the smartest and most skilled people from Africa come to the USA, so they can get a good education and have a higher standard of living. So, when we are talking about African immigrants, we are talking about a very selective group that is not representative of the actual African population.” Quote 2“Furthermore, African immigrants only made up 0.2% of the total USA population in 2000. African Americans as a whole made up 12.9% of the USA population in 2000. This means that African immigrants made up less than 2% of the African American population in 2000 [1,2].” Quote 1, needless to say, is an utterly unfounded assertion that my opponent conveniently neglected to support with some statistics, references, or sources. Because my opponent has no explanation for this influx of intelligence from Africa he casts it down as some kind of anomaly, and then even goes as far as to say that only the most intelligent come to America. Quote 2 points out that only 0.2 % of the total US population consists of African Americans. This is not a refutation to my point. I am not trying to prove that the average African American is intelligent, nor am I trying to prove that most African Americans are intelligent. I am, however, proving that intelligence is more contingent on the variable of environment than race. My opponent seems to be ignoring the fact that the intelligence is highly concentrated on the immigrants of Africa in hopes that I would too. Let us approach this contention using the scientific method: Question: Is lesser intelligence inherent to the African American race? Hypothesis: If the African American race as a whole is inherently less intelligent (meaning that their race genetics is the PRIMARY reason for their IQ), then this lack of intelligence should be constant regardless of other variables. - Other variables, if proven to completely change the outcome of the experiment, can then be assumed to be the cause of any projected intellectual inferiority, not genetic inherency. Control: The African American race Variable: Environment Experimental Data: 1. Native African Americans in the United States are often descendants of those subjected to slavery and segregation. They thus are born and raised in the very same antiquated neighborhoods and communities that their grandfathers and great grandfathers were subjected to live in as a result of discrimination and inhumanity. Such environments restrict potential, provide inadequate education, and wane opportunity...such environments are referred to as “the Ghetto.” The South was the predominant source of American racism, segregation, and discrimination, the South was the primary proponent of slavery, and ultimately the primary abode of African Americans. Let us see where African Americans live today: They Still live in the South! They still live in the same area because poverty begets poverty; those born in poverty are likely to stay in poverty. The injustices of history that subjected this demographic to ghettos is still the very reason for the denigration of this race in America. 2. African Immigrants for the most part were not subjected to segregation or slavery. They have come to America for a better life, so will thus live in better environments and have better opportunity. They come to America with a blank slate, no specific history of subjugation and sociological retardation, no enclosure in an already failing neighborhood, they are free to live well and show their fullest potential in the land of opportunity and guess what, they turn out to be staggeringly intelligent as a result! “Compared to other immigrants, the African born tend to be highly educated and speak English well.” (2) “U.S. Census data from 2000 indicate that black African immigrants have the most education of any population group in the United States. Indeed, they even have higher levels of academic achievement than Asian Americans.(3) Conclusion: I have used the scientific method to conduct a brief research experiment, and I have found that with a different environment, intelligence within the same race radically changes. As a result, my hypothesis (Jimtimmy’s hypothesis) was FALSE. The Flynn Effect “Now, as you'll notice, both groups had their average height increase by an incredible 4 inches each. This could be called the "Flynn effect" for height. However, the 3 inch gap between average height in both groups stayed the exact same during this time period.” My opponent does not understand the point I was making in referencing the Flynn effect. I was not trying to show that the projected gaps were decreasing; I was showing that the Flynn effect is proof that IQ changes drastically with outside variables, so genetics cannot be the principle explanation. So, please carry over my explanation from last round here, as I’m out of characters. Points I Allegedly Dropped MTAS, G-loaded IQ tests, and inheritability of IQ all proved that there were IQ gaps between Native African Americans and Caucasians. I don’t object to them so I see no need to refute them. They also don’t address the issue of inherency. I do, however, apologize for dropping the brain size argument I will address that in the next round. Sources 1. http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. http://www.migrationinformation.org... 3. http://immigration-online.org...