Interesting article on "flexible narratives"...

So, did you actually read the article? Do you know what it says?

What do you think?

I think there is a difference between a fact and the conclusions that may be drawn from that fact.

It is a fact that blacks don't perform as well AS A GROUP on IQ tests. Do we draw a racist conclusion from this and say that blacks are somehow "inferior?"

Of course not!

There may be many other explanations for this fact. How about the fact that many blacks live in neighborhoods where the public schools are glaringly inferior, thus depriving black children of a decent education?

Whites also get lower scores on IQ tests than Asians. Does that mean Whites are inferior to Asians?

So stating a fact and drawing conclusions from a fact are two different things entirely.

Now that I have answered your question, please answer mine: What do you think about the passage I quoted? Do you think the author is correct or not?

Bob

Agreed. But to deny that there is any difference between the races (and even ethnic groups) is equally untrue.

I'm American of Polish decent and I would be lying if I didn't say that most Polish people from the old country have more than a passing interest in alcohol. This fascination doesn't seem to "wear off" until the first generation born in America. Don't ask me why -- I never figured it out myself. But growing up -- I can't tell you how many of my friends who lived in multi-generational homes spent a good deal of time dragging Gramps out of the local tavern. It is what it is --and lying about it to be "nice" doesn't change matters one bit.

There's another ethnic group (which shall remain nameless) where collectively the group is very secretive. I've never met one of that number who will tell you anything personal about themselves but they will always want to know your business. This is pretty much across the board. If I ever meet one who breaks the mold, I'll be honest and tell you.

Another ethnic group is known for their....frugality. They consider it a virtue. I don't care as long as I don't have to go shopping with one of them. Have you ever gone shopping with someone who will argue with a shoe salesman trying to get a discount on a pair of shoes in the store because there was a single tiny scuff mark on the bottom of the sole (from being tried on in the store by someone else)that was barely visible? I was so embarrassed for the person acting in this manner, I never went shopping with them again. But that particular ethnic group does tend to be that ....frugal.

And I can go on and on...

whether it's nature or nuture is anyone's guess. But differences do exist and it's just absurd to say that they don't and everyone is exactly alike in every single way imaginable. It simply isn't true.

Getting back to the Asians -- in my area -- all the kids (all races and ethnic groups) had "enrichment" after school with private tutors when my children were young. It was the thing back in the eighties. Admittedly, we were helicopter parents and gave our kids everything to help them succeed in life. But the Asian kids still outscored most of the others. That's not to say that a few didn't do as well, but collectively the Asian kids seemed to just have a gift for numbers even with the same advantages across the board.

And you may disagree -- but black people are just plain better at sports.

--Debutante

LOL who cares

It’s a tricky subject.

In science, there are simply no such thing as “races”, simply because we are all so mixed. Back in the 1960s I read an article that 75% of US blacks were part European and 25% of Deep South whites were part African. And that was long before inter-racial marriage was legal or common in the US. Who knows what the mix is like today.

Any breeding population that is isolated enough will produce members with characteristics that are similar to each other but different from other groups. There are scores of “sub-races”, like the Bushmen of the Kalahari, Aboriginals of Australia, Siberians, the Sami of Finland, and so on. Not mixed groups, but isolated populations that developed physical characteristics different from those around them.

Even in days when isolation was common, there were still population migrations, invading armies, commercial travelers, etc. Wherever armies go, they leave babies. The Germans who considered themselves so superior ignored the fact that they had been invaded by Romans (with troops from Africa and the Middle-East), Huns, French (with troops from Africa and Italy), Slavs, etc. over the years and therefore pretty much everyone in Germany (and Poland, for that matter) is a “mongrel” of one sort or another.

I think that ethnic groups explain behavior better than race. Asians do, as a group in the US, force their children to study harder and make better grades than their peers. (It’s common in Japan for kids who fail a test to commit suicide.) If blacks are superior at sports, then you’d expect that the more pure Negroid of Africa would run rings around the diluted US blacks. But they don’t. On the other hand, poor blacks in the US tend to see their only chance of escape to be sports or music. So they might be expected to expend more effort in those areas. Sports like basketball are dominated by US blacks might be so because a basketball and playing area are cheap and therefore more available in poor areas, whereas other sports might require more equipment or a larger playing area and are not be readily available in the ghetto.

I grew up among Texas rednecks. Good grades were considered to be a feminine trait. Boys could be beaten for doing too well in class. The drop-out rate was very high and many boys quit school at 16 to go work on the local farms or gas stations or join the military. Girls tended to marry at 16-18, if not sooner (legal age was 12 or 14, if I remember right). All cultural traits of that time and place. As the 1960's came along, the culture changed.

Hi Fred:

It was very culturally diverse when I grew up, so much so, that there were a total of three Catholic parishes within a few block radius of each other. Each ethnic group wanted a parish of their own. I often envied the Irish kids. Their priests and nuns were nowhere near as strict as ours -- and they were happier children as a result.

I find the "progressives" claims of diversity amusing. If anything the wave of recent migration has totally destroyed the "ethnic" neighborhoods of Chicago.

Gone are most of the original "specialty" shops that catered to the various cuisine of particular cultures. Most of the truly remarkable original "ethnic" restaurants closed one by one, until all that's left is standard fare.

"Chinatown" is about the only area left that has retained their ethnic culture.

But I miss the Chicago that was -- especially the singing waiters! (That was Math Igler's down where the German neighborhood used to be.)

All gone -- we are supposedly "diverse" now. So diverse that everything has become totally boring.

--Debutante