Untangling the Relationship Between Race and Intelligence

Race is defined as a category or group of people widely perceived as sharing socially significant physical characteristics or hereditary traits that set them apart. It is commonly accepted myth that the human species is composed of physically different groups and that these differences are assumed to be genetic. Race is supposed to be based on biological factors. However, the myth is debunked; it is scientifically proven that race is a social construction; although it is based on physical characteristics that presume biological base, most important biological differences between people are invisible and do not play any role in the definition of racial categories. There

What is race? Some people attach "race" to a biological meaning, yet others use "race" as a socially constructed concept. “Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them” (. So, it is clear that even though race does not have a biological meaning, it does have a social meaning - usually detrimental to our social harmony. Race is neither an essence nor an illusion, but

Race is defined in our textbook as a group of people who share a set of characteristics- typically these characteristics are described as physical ones, common bloodlines. We often think as race in relation to racism, which is a belief that members of a separate race possess different and unequal traits coupled with the power to restrict freedoms based on those differences. Racism is connected with three different keys in belief, that humans are in different groups in relation to bloodlines and physical types, that these

Race is not something that is an exact thing. It is a social construct. It is a reflection of who you are and what you perceive.

To understand the question, we must first familiarize ourselves with the definition of race. Race is defined as “An arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups” (dictionary.com).

An article by Live Science further explains race as a social construct by saying that race as biological factor holds no credible facts to back up the notion and that race is a combination between social and cultural aspect. As quoted by Michael Yudell, a professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia, “It's a concept we think is too crude to provide useful information, it's a concept that has social meaning that interferes in the scientific understanding of human genetic diversity and it's a concept that we are not the first to call upon moving away from.” In this statement, Yudell expands upon the fact that race has no place when speaking of the biological factors of humans in general because genetic diversity shows no significant differences between different racial categories of human beings. Moreover, the genetic diversity of all human population is so vast that science only further explains why race is a pure matter of random physical traits chosen by society within history based solely upon the location and features of humans beings that hold no scientific

The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.

the notion of race is a social construct is has real consequences and effects. The scientific examination of the human genome shows there are no genetic differences among races. Race is socially constructed and operates to benefit the dominant group in society. Race indicates a status, and based on that status, it includes or excludes individuals from broader social constructs and enables or disables certain powers. Since the U.S culture favors lighter skin within and across racial and ethnic groups, Caucasians get all the opportunities and are presented with various advantages.

Race, such a subjective matter that most classify solely on observable traits based on traditional race concepts. However race exists in humans through cultural and biological concepts. In other words, race is based on its scientific meaning, which is taken from its visual and genetic signs of human variety. “After all it is an idea with a measurable past, identifiable present, and uncertain future”. St. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE RACE CONCEPT Michael Yudell, PhD, MPH. Through observing the human genome project that explores human molecular selves, skin color variation, and lastly race/human variation as a whole, a clear picture of race can be scientifically explained.

Race has no biological meaning. There is only one human race; there are no subspecies, no single defining characteristic, traits, or even gene, separates one “race” from another. Instead of being a biological concept, race is a social construct, and a relatively modern one at that. It was created to give light-skinned Europeans an advantage by making the white race superior and all others inferior. Throughout its history, the concept of race has served this purpose well.

The issue of race and intelligence became prominent in the United States in the late 1960s (Rose 786). While some may argue that race correlates with the intelligence of a person, this paper will show that this is not the case and there are other factors that may determine one's intelligence. The measure of intelligence has many influences such as environment, social economics, biased standardized test, stereotypes, and genetics. These factors will be examined throughout this paper along with providing insight on how standardized tests may be biased toward different races.

The English term ‘race’ is believed to originate from the Spanish word raza, which means ‘breed’ or ‘stock’ (Race). People use race to define other groups, this separation of groups is based largely on physical features. Features like skin color and hair don’t affect the fundamental biology of human variation (Hotz). Race is truly only skin deep, there are no true biological separations between two ‘racial’ groups. Scientifically speaking, there is more variation between single local groups than there is between two large, global groups; the human variation is constantly altering (Lewontin). The majority of today’s anthropologists agree that race is a form of social categorization, not the separation of groups based on biological

Scholars and others argue that the term “race” should not be used because there is no biological basis for the concept of race. Geneticists have determined that code for physical traits (the key distinguishing characteristic for “race”) are inherited independently of one another. Any attempts there have been to define race based on genes are futile, because there is no set of genes that everyone within the “race” has. Scholars argue that race is a social construction. Divisions have been constructed by society. Society tries to put people into different groups, it makes it easier to define people as “other”

Standardized cognitive and intellectual assessments allows researchers to assess individuals on their academic abilities (Bordonaro, 2001). Nevertheless, many researchers have revealed that the gaps within cognitive and intellectual assessment may be due to cultural bias (Schellenburg, 2004) As many standard intellectual and cognitive assessments have been developed for a dominant group such as the western culture. These intellectual and cognitive assessments are then utilized on other cultures which leads to bias and invalid research (Mushquash & Bova, 2000). Although, other factors such as development is considered cognitive behaviour is predominately determined by culture (Cole 1975, Davidson & Freebody, 1986; Davidson & Klich 1984; Davidson

There was a cartoon showing different animals, including an elephant, fish, seal, and monkey, lined up by a tree in front of a man behind a desk. The man said he was going to make a fair selection by giving them all the same test. The test was that they all had to climb the tree. In this case, the monkey probably was the only one that thought the test was fair. Welcome to the controversy over IQ (Intelligent Quotient) tests and cultural diversity.