The headline-making chart in Charles Murray’s Facing Reality (Encounter, 2021) is the non-euphemistic layout of estimated IQ by race: Asian American 108, white non-Hispanic 103, Latino 94, African American 91.
Murray takes pains to point out that those are averages derived from numerous tests, including some administered regularly to fourth, eighth, and 12th grade students.
But any test administered to a 10-year-old or an 18-year-old is measuring nurture and culture as well as nature. The headlines don’t take into account family structure, attitudes toward reading and test-taking, welfare effects, and other learned behavior or misbehavior.
Many conservative reviewers have applauded Murray: heroically facing facts. Liberal reviewers have tended to ignore the book. Those who did write reviews have generally acknowledged the accuracy of the statistics while arguing they are irrelevant due to the effects of racism and biases built into the tests.
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