Inner-City Measured IQ’s



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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Inner-City Measured IQ’s

Post by johnkarls »

I performed virtually all of the fund raising for my “I Have A Dream”® program that served 200 kids in housing projects, and a substantial amount of heavy-duty fund-raising as the volunteer treasurer for the national “I Have A Dream”® foundation (please see “Background Context for John Karls’ essays).

To be a successful fund-raiser, you have to know what is on the minds of potential donors and to address their concerns even before they raise them.

Most wealthy people “won’t give you a nickel” for inner-city adults whom they perceive as unworthy or, at a minimum, as irredeemable.

However, regardless of their political and ethical beliefs, wealthy people can’t resist kids – and view them as potential Horatio Alger “rags to riches” stories!!!

So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to anticipate that they will want to know whether inner-city kids have the same intelligence as suburban kids.

During my tenure as volunteer treasurer of the national “I Have A Dream”® foundation in the 1990’s, there was published a “notorious” book – “Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life” (1994 Simon & Schuster).

“Notorious” because it was universally condemned by reviewers and commentators for allegedly “proving” that inner-city children possess low intelligence.

However, from my perspective it was important to read “Bell Curve” to see what it actually said – otherwise, you’re not going to be able to fund raise successfully!!!

And it seemed to me that none of the reviewers or commentators had actually read the book!!!

If memory serves (I have not read “Bell Curve” in more than a decade) the two authors (Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray) were Harvard professors who did nothing more than summarize all of the studies of measured IQ. And to organize their summary in terms of social traits (e.g., marital status, income, voting, home ownership, etc.) to which measured IQ had been correlated in the various studies around the country.

The first dozen or so chapters, each focusing on a trait and the studies that had correlated measured IQ with that trait, did not deal with race and said nothing surprising!!!

With one exception!!! The highest correlative factor for desirable traits was high measured IQ except vis-à-vis lack of commission of violent crime, for which high measured IQ only came in second. The highest correlative factor??? Gender!!! Testosterone!!! (When is the last time you saw female antelopes “butting heads” fighting over males???)

Then followed the 2-3 chapters correlating measured IQ with factors that might be considered race-related.

However, those chapters contained very interesting information about “identical-twin studies” of measured IQ for children born in the inner city.

By way of background, “identical-twin studies” are the “Gold Standard” for determining in any area of study what is genetic and what is environmental. Because they deal solely with identical twins that are orphaned before the age of 12 months where each member of an identical pair is raised in a different environment.

In this case, where one inner-city identical twin orphaned before the age of 12 months is adopted by a suburban family and the identical twin is adopted by an inner-city family.

I could have strangled Herrnstein and Murray!!!

Because they were content to report that the “identical-twin studies” showed that the identical twins that were adopted by suburban families developed by adolescence measured IQ’s that were more than 90% of the way from the average inner-city measured IQ to the average suburban measured IQ. While their identical twins who were adopted by another inner-city family developed measured IQ’s equal to the average inner-city measured IQ.

The reason why I could have strangled Herrnstein and Murray??? Because they didn’t include the raw data!!! I would be willing to bet any stakes, any odds – that the raw data would show that 90% of the identical twins adopted by suburban families developed measured IQ’s EQUAL to the average suburban measured IQ and 10% of them were “turned off” by a teacher, fellow student, etc.

Nevertheless, most large donors during that period were aware of “Bell Curve” and what it was purported to have said!!! And when they were provided with the "Bell Curve" page-number citations for “the real facts” they had no hesitation in making sizable donations.

And our Dreamers around the country had no trouble in reaching their potential when provided with proper support!!!

*****

Incidentally, the results of the “identical-twin studies” are not surprising.

After all, when you consider the typical inner-city circumstances in which most of our Dreamers find themselves (75%-80% chance of being in a household headed by a single adult who is a drug addict and turns over any receipts to the dealer so the kids have to steal just in order to eat), it is no surprise that high measured IQ’s are not developed.

After all, the only intellectual stimulation would be a TV if, after food and a pair of sneaks, an inner-city kid steals a TV.

They certainly aren’t going to get intellectual stimulation from their peers who "are in the same boat"!!! Or at school where they are usually tagged the first day as “no good” and “worthless” and placed in “Special Ed” which is usually a euphemism for inner-city kids until they drop out. (Please see the to-be-written essay on “Inner-City Kids and Public Education”)

Considering the environment, it is not surprising that most inner-city kids view their only viable choices as “hoping for the NBA” or becoming a drug runner. And that studying/learning are viewed as useless (please see the essay “Perceptions of Inner-City 5-year-olds!!!”).

It is a lot like the story of Helen Keller. She was a deaf mute who was thought to have very low intelligence. But that was because nobody had been able to communicate with her. The wonderful true story is that when somebody was finally able to communicate with her, she developed a tremendous intellectual capacity that would have been amazing even for anyone who had no handicaps!!!

Our Dreamers and other inner-city kids are a lot like Helen Keller – infinite potential in jeopardy of being wasted.

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