DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Students for a Democratic Society, Herrnstein lecture, February-June, 1972 | 1972-03-15 Des Moines Register Letter to the Editor: 'Herrnstein Says Views Were Misrepresented'

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Students for a Democratic Society, Herrnstein lecture, February-June, 1972

1972-03-15 Des Moines Register Letter to the Editor: 'Herrnstein Says Views Were Misrepresented'

Herrnstein Says Views Were Misrepresented

To the Editor:
Your editorial of Mar. 1 takes a firm stand for democracy and free speech, a position of wich I heartly approve. Like most decent people, you condemn the assault on civility launched by the SDS at the University of Iowa on the occasion of my visit a couple of weeks ago...
[But] contrary to your assertion that my "experiments with pigeons have led [me] to conclude that some groups of people are genetically inferior," there is no connection whatever between my research on pigeons and my conclusions about groups of people.
Futhermore, my conclusions about groups of people do not accord with your statement that I "wrote an article saying blacks are inherently less intelligent than whites." I have seen that false accusation in countless SDS leaflets, but it was a new and unpleasent shock to find it on the editorial page of your distinguished newspaper.
My article on IQ in the Atlantic (wich is what all the fuss is about) does not deal directly with racial differences in IQ. However, noting that such differences have turned up in a number of studies, I wrote, "Although there are scraps of evidence for a genetic component in the black-white difference, the overwhelming case is for believing that American blacks have been at an environmental disadvantage. To the extent that variations in the American social environment can remote or retard IQ, blacks have probably been held back."

... -R.J. Herrnstein, professor of psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 02138.

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Herrnstein Says Views Were Misrepresented To the Editor: Your editorial of Mar. 1 takes a firm stand for democracy and free speech, a position of wich I heartly approve. Like most decent people, you condemn the assault on civility launched by the SDS at the University of Iowa on the occasion of my visit a couple of weeks ago... [But] contrary to your assertion that my "experiments with pigeons have led [me] to conclude that some groups of people are genetically inferior," there is no connection whatever between my research on pigeons and my conclusions about groups of people. Futhermore, my conclusions about groups of people do not accord with your statement that I "wrote an article saying blacks are inherently less intelligent than whites." I have seen that false accusation in countless SDS leaflets, but it was a new and unpleasent shock to find it on the editorial page of your distinguished newspaper. My article on IQ in the Atlantic (wich is what all the fuss is about) does not deal directly with racial differences in IQ. However, noting that such differences have turned up in a number of studies, I wrote, "Although there are scraps of evidence for a genetic component in the black-white difference, the overwhelming case is for believing that American blacks have been at an environmental disadvantage. To the extent that variations in the American social environment can remote or retard IQ, blacks have probably been held back." ... -R.J. Herrnstein, professor of psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 02138.