Race in Mind

The notion that intelligence is somehow related to race, and that African-American populations in particular are somehow less intelligent than whites, is a notoriously tenacious one in America. Alexander Alland, an anthropologist in the tradition of Franz Boas, adds to this ongoing debate by critically evaluating the history of research on race and IQ. Alland provides a comprehensive overview of this history, offering critiques of the biological determinism of Carlton Coon, Arthur Jensen, Cyril Burt, Robert Ardrey, Konrad Lorenz, William Shockley, Michael Levin, Leonard Jeffries, Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, J.P. Rushton and H.J. Eysenck. In addition, he traces the links between these researchers, not only in their academic "genealogies" but also in their foundational support. This reasoned, authoritative history also explains the basis of evolutionary genetics for the general reader, concluding that, biologically, "race" cannot explain human variation.