Reading further into the article, the authors rail against the idea that we have reached a “post-racism state” where other factors can be blamed for unequal outcomes in educational opportunity. They go on to describe scientific racism as being related to “centuries-old myths such as that people with darker skin are biologically less intelligent.” Interestingly, they also put forward the theory that “humans do not have biological races,” something that is becoming increasingly true with every generation. But it also kind of shuts down their own argument against ending affirmative action, doesn’t it? If there are no races, how is anyone being discriminated against?
The idea that race is a determining factor in intelligence or potential has thankfully gone the way of the dodo bird for the most part. A lack of opportunity is a far greater driver in terms of eventual success. People from poorer communities with failing schools and higher crime rates have the deck stacked against them to a greater degree, no matter the color of their skin, though it’s also true that such conditions are encountered disproportionately in majority Black and Hispanic communities.
But even that isn’t enough to stop the most driven and inherently brilliant or talented among us. One of my favorite examples is Black astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi. This guy was born in the opposite of the lap of luxury, growing up in multiple poor communities and being exposed to crime, drug trafficking, and everything else you would imagine. And yet he went on to earn three degrees in physics and one in mathematics, becoming one of the more famous and accomplished people in his field. (He is also the author of the amazing book, A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars. Pick it up if you get the chance.)
Then there are people who were born with the “right” shade of skin in amazingly powerful families who had everything going for them and still somehow managed to chart a path to the gutters, in some cases literally. (*Cough* Hunter Biden *Cough*) If 81-year-old versions of Oluseyi and the First Son showed up with an application to be admitted to your school, I would hope that the choice would be a glaringly easy one, and the guy on his way to a life filled with crack whores and brothels wouldn’t be taking the first slot.
hotair.com
The idea that race is a determining factor in intelligence or potential has thankfully gone the way of the dodo bird for the most part. A lack of opportunity is a far greater driver in terms of eventual success. People from poorer communities with failing schools and higher crime rates have the deck stacked against them to a greater degree, no matter the color of their skin, though it’s also true that such conditions are encountered disproportionately in majority Black and Hispanic communities.
But even that isn’t enough to stop the most driven and inherently brilliant or talented among us. One of my favorite examples is Black astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi. This guy was born in the opposite of the lap of luxury, growing up in multiple poor communities and being exposed to crime, drug trafficking, and everything else you would imagine. And yet he went on to earn three degrees in physics and one in mathematics, becoming one of the more famous and accomplished people in his field. (He is also the author of the amazing book, A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars. Pick it up if you get the chance.)
Then there are people who were born with the “right” shade of skin in amazingly powerful families who had everything going for them and still somehow managed to chart a path to the gutters, in some cases literally. (*Cough* Hunter Biden *Cough*) If 81-year-old versions of Oluseyi and the First Son showed up with an application to be admitted to your school, I would hope that the choice would be a glaringly easy one, and the guy on his way to a life filled with crack whores and brothels wouldn’t be taking the first slot.