RSS
Facebook
Twitter
E-PrinceIn a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of New Jersey’s schools, students from high schools around the Garden State debated issues surrounding the racial integration of its public schools. The panel discussion was hosted by Gov ...
(back to the article)
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual commenters and do not necessarily represent the views of The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. We do not take responsibility for the opinions, facts, or claims presented by individual commenters, and reserve the right to moderate or delete inappropriate comments.
You can talk openly about dogs without being politically incorrect. All domestic dogs, from Chihuahua to Great Dane, are a single species canis familiaris; breed genetic differences result from enforced separations by breeders/trainers over 800 years. Similarly, all humans are a single species homo sapiens; race differences resulted from separation over thousands of years by geographic barriers. Dog breeds and human races are directly analogous as sub-groups within their respective single species.
Much can be learned from studying dogs; medical science does a great deal of this to avoid experimentation on humans. The brain is no exception, as dog brain structure and information flow processes are quite similar to that in humans. Numerous dog brain studies to analyze human brain diseases/conditions are in the medical literature.
Any experienced dog breeder will acknowledge the profound influence of genetics on intelligence and behavior. Traits such as trainability, aggression, are highly heritable and difficult to modify. Evaluations of dog intelligence have developed breed rankings according to ease of training and reliability of correct response to learned commands (analogous to education and testing in humans). Among dog breeds, there is a huge Achievement Gap, and it is GENETIC. Ditto for humans.
Humans are not exempt from the fundamental rules of biology. For humans, there is a mountain of relevant peer-reviewed research by well-credentialed scholars; numerous key citations are available in two recent books: Hart "Understanding Human History" and Lynn "Race Differences in Intelligence." It isnt fuzzy feel-good PC information, but it is indeed solid science. The truth is not always a pleasant thing...
During Brown v. Board, many black educators actually feared the effects of integration of the black community. Black students were less prepared, and maybe less able, than their white counterparts. As Saterfield's comment illustrates, maybe integration actually decreased black performance.
I think a lot of it also has to do with self-segregation and blacks not taking the opportunities offered to them.
“I notice there are all these opportunities open, but there are very few African-American students in these activities. So we struggled to get you to this point, but now you are not taking advantage of it.”
Maybe for inner-city high schools that don't prepare students, blacks have an excuse for worse performance. But at a high school like PHS, there is no excuse.
To anonymous: The funny thing about solid science is that what passes for it, especially around race, changes. Phrenology once passed as solid science, but has since then fallen into an incredible disrepute. So has eugenics. It's terrifying that all of these years after the Holocaust, people are still going around with these racist antiquated ideas. Nobody calls themselves a eugenicist anymore, but there are still plenty to go around.