Statement on Race and Intelligence from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

STATEMENT ON RACE AND INTELLIGENCE FROM THE SOCIETY FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOCIAL ISSUES* Professor Henry Garrett of the University of Virginia, a former President of the American Psychological Association, has recently reopened the issue ofthe innate intellectual endowment ofwhites and Negroes. Professor Garrett concludes, on die basis ofa recent study, that there is an innate difference, that the Negro is inferior to the white. The evidence ofa quarter ofa century ofresearch on this problem can readily be summarized . There are differences in intelligence test scores when one compares a random sample ofwhites and Negroes. What is equally clear is diat no evidence exists that leads to the conclusion that such differences are innate. Quite to the contrary, the évidence points overwhelmingly to the fact that when one compares Negroes and whites ofcomparable cultural and educational background, differences in intelligence diminish markedly ; die more comparable the background, the less the difference. There is no direct evidence that supports the view diat there is an innate difference between members of different racial groups. Indeed, a careful reading of Professor Garrett's article in perspectives in biology and medicine and in the digest of his article in U.S. News and World Report, indicates that not even Professor Garrett suggests that there is evidence to prove his point about innate inequality. He is impatient, rather, with the difficulty ofproving complete equality ofendowment. The proofofcomplete equality ofintellectual endowment must await the achievement ofcomplete equality ofbackground and opportunity. Surely, it is the responsibility ofa democracy to see that such equality ofopportunity is provided so that all men may reach the full potential oftheir intelligence. We regret that Professor Garrett feels that his colleagues are foisting an "equalitarian dogma" on die public. There is no question ofdogma involved. Evidence speaks for itself and it casts serious doubt on the conclusion that there is any innate inequality in intelligence in different racial groups. Indeed, not until we achieve equal opportunity for all will we begin to understand what the full genetic potentiality is ofany group. * The Society is a part ofthe American Psychological Association, being Division 9 ofthe ?.?.?. This public statement was made September 6, 1961, on behalfofthe Executive Council ofthe Society by its President, Dr. Isidor Chein, ofthe Research Centerfor Human Relations ofNew York University , during the annual meeting of the Society in New York City. It was prompted by an article published in the Summer issue ofperspectives in biology and medicine and is printed here by permission . Address of the Society is: Room 10 Annex, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. I29 ...