A Red Diaper Baby Discovers Genetics
Hatred for race realists is a form of 'shoot the messenger.'
Via American Renaissance
Fredrik deBoer is a self-described revolutionary socialist, the son of two left-wing academics whose childhood home was filled with: “communists, actors, activists, dreamers, ex-junkies [and] sex workers.” [18] As an adult, he followed in his parents’ footsteps, devoting as much time as he could to political activism. His main interest was opposing the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. He attended protests around the country, worked on an unsuccessful campaign to unseat pro-war Democrat Joe Lieberman, and joined Marxist reading groups.
When not pursuing political causes, Dr. deBoer made ends meet by teaching, which he enjoyed, but he came up against the reality that not all students were equally gifted: One boy failed to master long division no matter how hard he tried. Even as a child, Dr. deBoer had been aware of differences: “Of course there were some exceptions, but in general, the kids who had distinguished themselves in second grade were the same ones applying to exclusive colleges in the twelfth.” [22]
You might think anyone who has taught for any length of time would understand this, but you would be wrong. Most of the schools where Dr. deBoer taught had a pep-rally atmosphere, with students constantly assured that their success was limited only by their determination:
If they worked hard and never gave up on their dreams, they could do and have anything. If they would only believe, the saying went, they would achieve — and not just be healthy and happy, but achieve their most outsized dreams. Effort and commitment were the sole requirements for success in life was the mantra, and it papered the walls. Everyone involved in educating these young people was sure that those students who would succeed would be the ones who wanted it the most. I felt at times like I was living in a one-party state where the official propaganda was repeated ad nauseam. [10]
When the recession of 2008 hit, Dr. deBoer was 26 years old, with a resume of political activism and short-term teaching jobs — not calculated to please many employers. He started a graduate program at the University of Rhode Island, where he began:
reading deeply in fields like education, psychometrics, and developmental psychology. By the time I was in coursework in my PhD program, I was focused primarily on the measurement of student learning and I took classes in statistics, research methods [and] educational measurement. [16]
But again, he found fantasies of unlimited potential:
The rigid ideology of education, and particularly of the educational reform movement, was that there were no natural constraints on student growth — and any suggestion that students had limits to their potential was an excuse ginned up by lazy teachers. In research originating from departments of education, there frequently seemed to be some sort of gentleman’s agreement against speaking frankly about differences in natural talent. [16–17]
The author came to realize that one important source of the taboo was the egalitarian political preferences he shared with most of his colleagues. Eventually, however, he glimpsed a possible path out of the problem while watching a Noam Chomsky lecture on YouTube
[Chomsky] was dismissing the idea of group genetic differences in intelligence — that is, the racist notion that some races are smarter than others. This was comforting to me; then, as now, I too rejected that idea. But then he added a caveat that intrigued me. He said that while genetics played no role in perceived group differences in intelligence, it may be the case that there are genetic influences on individual differences in intelligence. [22]
Further reading convinced Dr. deBoer that Chomsky was right about individual differences: “The evidence tells me that educational achievement is significantly heritable — that is, that it passes from parent to child genetically, with biological parentage accounting for half or more of the variation in a given outcome.” [8] His discussion of the evidence, including twin studies and genome wide association studies, is brief but sound; he continues, however, to believe that group differences have environmental origins............
Teachers and administrators simply do not control student outcomes in the way that a factory manager controls the widgets that come out of his factory. Imagine saying to someone, “How well your widget performs will determine whether you will be allowed to keep your job and how much you will be paid. By the way, you will not get to choose the raw materials for your widget; your widget’s basic construction and early design will be controlled entirely by someone else; you will only have control over your widget for six hours out for the day, after which someone else may treat it roughly; and the conditions that you do not control will be vastly different from one widget to the next.” How could anyone see such a situation as a healthy environment in which to work? [177–78]
Of course, public school teachers can’t make this argument because they also see “every student as an endlessly moldable piece of clay.” [17] But the argument is sound.
Dr. deBoer convinced me that a general acceptance of natural differences would bring great benefits. Racial differences are a much harder sell.
Rejecting group differences
The author correctly points out that “it’s perfectly consistent to believe that the differences between individual students is largely genetic while the differences between racial groups is not.” [111] Just because a position is logically consistent doesn’t make it correct.
Dr. deBoer reports that his progressive friends are bewildered by his understanding of genetics: “The most consistent reaction to my arguments is confusion over how they can coexist with my politics.” [25] To their minds, any talk of genetic influence means Nazi scientists, eugenic breeding, and concentration camps. Nevertheless, he claims that “a belief in the role of genetics fits with left-wing beliefs far more comfortably than with the alternative.”
It is the left, after all, that stresses the vagaries of chance, that insists that factors outside our control play an outsized role in determining our life outcomes. In insisting on the power of genetics to shape our academic lives I am simply taking left-wing thought to its next logical conclusion. As [blogger Scott Alexander] points out, in most arenas, ascribing outcomes to biological factors is the more progressive position — when it comes to being overweight, for example, or in the case of mental illness, progressive people tend to believe that it’s biology, not willpower, that plays the largest role. Similarly, progressives are much more likely to argue that one’s position in life is not primarily driven by one’s own choices or character, but rather by the circumstances of one’s birth or random chance. [26]
For the better part of a century, America’s political mainstream, including both of its major parties, has been committed to building a society in which race does not matter, in which race has no more influence one one’s life than eye-color. We believe there is enough evidence to show that the chances of such a project succeeding are essentially zero. We also believe that efforts to achieve the impossible often do harm. Rather than working to make the races equal, we must be content if we can keep them from each another’s throats — a far more modest goal, and even that one often eludes us.
Hatred for race realists is a form of “shoot the messenger.” If it were possible to make race not matter, a few skeptics such as us would not make it impossible. But untold resources have been poured into this project for some 65 years, and it seems no nearer to realization. This has created a great deal of frustration and anger, as it was bound to. Demonizing nay-sayers may be irrational, but it is a good way to rally the faithful.
The confusion and resistance Dr. deBoer has met trying to get progressives to accept the reality of individual differences is nothing like the outrage and hatred directed at race realists. Our goals are the same: get passionate but misguided people to understand limits.
This has been a truncated summary Full Article By F. Roger Devlin, @ American Renaissance
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