IQ and Race - 1
[Due to time restrictions, I will publish this piece in batches. Please try to keep up!]
I am Black. African, Nigerian – and for those of you who know the tribal set up in Nigeria - Igbo to be precise. I felt that piece of information was necessary as it helps explain my stance on the topic. At some stage in ones life, one begins to agree or disagree with *very well known* but by no means *official* theories on the correlation between IQ and Race. I think this is more so if like me, you are a member of one of the “stereotypically-inferior” races of this world.
It is interesting to realise that history is punctuated with all sorts of ideologies that assert in one way or the other, that some races are indeed intellectually superior to others. In as much as it is very easy to understand how many can be convinced that such is the case, I still consider such ideologies, theories and assertions manipulative, propagandist, irrational, unbalanced, narrow-minded, backward and very simplistic. As a result, I expect those who are in some way manipulative, propagandist, unbalanced, irrational, narrow-minded, backward or very simple to believe in such nonsense. However the fact that some ellites, academics, intellectuals even some of the great and good whom I believe should know better than to give in to such low beliefs, believe and defend such nonsense worries me more than most. In most cases where “such” people believe strongly in such unbalanced views, I suspect some other forces to be at play. I suspect that some pro-genetic supreriority suppoters take the view because it helps them deal with some deeply-embedded racial fears and guilts [due to imperialism]that is exposed to anybody bothered enough to do a little research into the history of human life on this planet.
Ever since my black-pride was put in it’s *rightful place* by a racist comment ages ago, I have been itching to say a thing or two about mental racial stereotyping. But going into the “history” I refer to in the above paragraph - as balancing as it would have been for this piece - would be too intimidating an undertaking considering the volume of literature I would have had to read and re-read. Besides, I fear “analysis to paralysis” of a topic I originally hoped to be straight forward. After much thought, I decided in the end to write from an ultra-personal perspective.
I was born in Liverpool but my family moved back to Nigeria when I was 5. As I stand today, I have no recollections of that episode of my life and have only pictures to attest to that fact - no memories whatsoever. In Nigeria, I blended in. I say this [blending in] in a very complete sense because I must have loved it so much that as I said earlier – I cannot remember anything about my life in Liverpool. In Nigeria most of my source of information on racial issues came mainly from television. I was too young to read books good enough to enlighten me in the field. I was surrounded by friends and members of my extended family who all seemed as impressed as I was by whatever I watched on telly. It was strange how, no matter who was on telly, I used to over-look other races and blindly attributed all the good things I watched on telly to white people. We used to watch in awe how better life looked in the west. As a result all my peers wanted to emigrate to the west to live what we all considered to be – the *good life*.
At both primary and secondary school in Nigeria, I was impressed by how seriously many students took their studies. I remember how in primary school because I spoke English well, I was expected to be a class topper. My performance was average - unfortunately. By the time I got to secondary school I lost my British accent and the privilege that went with being seen as *British-born*. It didn’t really bother me because I didn’t quite see the big deal. However I noticed that some other British-born students in my secondary school did everything in their power to retain their Britishness and advertised that fact whenever they had the chance. Understandable.
My first recollections of purely intellectual stimulation came during my final year at secondary school in Nigeria. For obvious reasons in this final year, pressure was on to show what one was made of – intellectually. Competition between friends was very common. Tests and assignments were looked upon as insults to ones intelligence and were seen as an opportunity to shine. I did not always shine, but I was not one of the worst either. I was in an “A” class so it was as bad as it could get. It was where my fascination for the very bright and very brainy started. I started to believe for some reason that some people were in fact intellectually superior to others – no matter what. There were a few in my class then that consistently out-performed me in every field. Looking back now, if only I had the courage to see them as a challenge and take them on instead of resigning to the belief that I just was not good enough and reducing myself to one who guessed who out of the *brainy few* would top the class each time we were given a test. My view on academic ability did not change till long after I left Nigeria and was at a college in south London doing A levels.
Coming here [England] eventually was a serious culture shock. I had preconceived ideas of England being the “land of milk and honey”, naturally like most Africans. In more ways than one, compared to Nigeria – it is! But also it never occurred to me that too much TV is in itself a form of brainwashing too. Many Africans religiously believe all they watch on telly about the west and similarly, people in the West believe religiously all they watch on telly about Africa! – A very important point considering the topic of this essay. To me, human beings on average believe anything they are exposed to, be them African, American or European! This ease with which people believe almost anything, common to all peoples, says something about how similar human beings are – a point genetic supremists deliberately fail to acknowledge. I stupidly assumed that over here everybody not only is civilised but also as seemingly educated as those I watched on telly were. And that illiteracy, superstition, and narrow-mindedness are all African diseases. How Wrong I was. It is just as problematic as it is in African as it is in Europe as it is in America – just on different levels.
[Now wait for IQ and Race - 2]
