Not Nearly as Simple as Black and White

Racists often cite IQ as a genetically determined trait, attempting to justify and promote their supremacist attitudes. Even if IQ tests do not favor specific cultural or educational standards, is intelligence coded in our genes, or related to the color of our skin? Greg Laden answers an emphatic "no," explaining that although intelligence may be heritable--that is, passed from generation to generation like a language--there is no evidence that it is specifically inherited, or genetically determined. On Gene Expression, Razib Khan parses data on African-American ancestry, revealing a genetic heritage that is mainly West African and about 20% European. And in a separate post, Khan reminds us that while statistics can characterize groups of people, individuals will differ widely in their genetic constitution and physical appearance. Finally, visit Dr. Isis on On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess to see HP's inadvertently racist face-tracking software in (occasional) action.

Links below the fold.

• The argument that different races have genetically determined differences in intelligence on Greg Laden's Blog
• Africans Americans mostly West African, but some mostly European on Gene Expression
• Being black as a state of mind on Gene Expression
• HP's New Face Race Tracking Camera on On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess