In conversation earlier this week, I casually mentioned that IQ tests aren’t a pure measure of intelligence and have been used in more modern forms of scientific racism, but when pressed, I didn’t have a set of sources nor the time to review the literature behind it and its essentialist racist application by Charles Murray in his book The Bell Curve and Richard Linn in The Global Bell Curve.
IQ tests themselves aren’t necessarily racist, sexist, or classist by overt design, but they aren’t good at measuring intelligence either. However, they’ve been used as the basis of a lot of scientific racism and racially charged policy.
Here are just some primers to get you started on the subject. Think of these readings as the start of the conversation on this topic.
I heartily welcome additional resources that add to the discussion.
On what IQ tests actually measure:
- What Do IQ Tests Test?: Interview with Psychologist W. Joel Schneider by Scott Barry Kaufman at Scientific American
On how IQ tests have been used as a support for scientific racism
- The Tainted Sources of ‘The Bell Curve.’ by Charles Lane at The New York Review of Books, December 1, 1994.
- “Why People Keep Misunderstanding the ‘Connection’ Between Race and IQ.” Brink Lindsey at The Atlantic, May 15, 2013.
- The Real Problem with Charles Murray and ‘The Bell Curve.’ by Eric Siegel from Scientific American.
On the resurgence of IQ Tests used to undergird racism
- ‘Scientific Racism’ Is on the Rise on the Right. But It’s Been Lurking There for Years.” by Nicole Hemmer at Vox, March 28, 2017.
- “Ring a Bell? Charles Murray and the Resurgence of Scientific Racism.” from The Humanist, May 15, 2017.
Bios of Charles Murray and Richard Lynn at the Southern Poverty Law Center
- Profile of Charles Murray from the Southern Poverty Law Center
- Profile of Richard Lynn from the Southern Poverty Law Center
