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Biology, Policy, and the Racial Contract

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Biology, Policy, and the Racial Contract BIOLOGY, POLICY, AND THE RACIAL CONTRACT Jason David Grinnell A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2006 Committee: Michael Bradie, Advisor Mark H.Gromko Graduate Faculty Representative Sara Worley Christopher Morris ii ABSTRACT Michael Bradie, Advisor The publication of works such as Why Race Matters, by Michael Levin (1997) and The Bell Curve, by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray (1994) suggests that despite broad agreement that racism is unacceptable, racial thinking is still a powerful force in moral and political decision making. These authors work from a racialist perspective, arguing that biologically distinct races do exist, that the races differ from each other in socially important ways, that these differences are difficult if not impossible to attenuate, and that these differences should thus be considered in social policy decisions. This dissertation documents some of the reasons for rejecting each of those claims, and argues that the concept of the racial contract as developed by Charles Mills provides a useful framework for understanding why the positions defended by Levin, et al, remain influential despite their many flaws. iii To my parents, whose anonymity led to the"What are you really?" questions that originally sparked my interest in race. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to all who offered comments, encouragement, and assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. I would especially like to acknowledge Michael Bradie, who has been a wonderful teacher and mentor. He has taught me more than I would have believed possible about philosophy, writing, and teaching. I would also like to thank Sara Worley and Christopher Morris for their insight, comments, criticism, and patience. Mark Gromko has contributed more to the project than expected of a Graduate College Representative, and been very helpful in refining my understanding of biology. Margy DeLuca has been a constant source of aid and comfort since my first day of graduate school. James Stacey Taylor, in addition to his regular encouragement, has been an invaluable critic and foil. John Walton read multiple drafts of the entire manuscript and provided me with a variety of helpful comments and suggestions. Finally, I would like to thank my sister, Lindsi Remer. She has been unflagging in her support for my educational aspirations, and I would never have succeeded without her. v Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE. INTRODUCTION Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 1 The Racial Contract………………………………………………………… 2 Appiah’s Racisms…………………………………………………………… 9 Chapter 2: The Bell Curve…………………………………………………… 10 Chapter 3: Why Race Matters……………………………………………… 12 Chapter 4: The Biology of Racial Differences……………………………. 12 Chapter 5: What Follows?....................................................................... 13 CHAPTER TWO. RICHARD HERRNSTEIN AND CHARLES MURRAY’S THE BELL CURVE Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 16 The Argument………………………………………………………………… 19 The “g” Factor………………………………………………………………… 21 Measuring “g”………………………………………………………………… 23 “g” (and thus IQ) is a Function of Genetic Endowment…………………... 25 Intelligence and Success…………………………………………………… 27 Race Differences in Economic and Social Success……………………… 30 Implications…………………………………………………………………… 33 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………. 37 CHAPTER THREE. MICHAEL LEVIN’S WHY RACE MATTERS Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 40 Distinct Human Races Do Exist…………………………………………….. 42 The Races Do in Fact Differ in Mean Intelligence………………………... 43 vi The Difference in Mean Intelligence Between the Races is the Result of Genetic Factors and not the Result of Any Discriminatory Practices……………………………………………….. 47 This Difference in Mean Intelligence Has Normative Implications……… 54 The Injustice of Affirmative Action………………………………………….. 57 Crime and Racial Profiling…………………………………………………... 61 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………. 62 CHAPTER FOUR. THE BIOLOGY OF RACIAL DIFFERENCES Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 65 Biologically Distinct Human Races Exist………………………………….. 66 Essentialism…………………………………………………………………... 66 The Geographic Model……………………………………………………… 68 Cladism………………………………………………………………………... 69 Race According to the Racialists…………………………………………… 76 Heritability, Race, and Essentialism……………………………………….. 81 Conclusion…………………….……………………………………………… 91 CHAPTER FIVE. WHAT FOLLOWS? Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 93 The Racial Contract………………………………………………………….. 95 The “Race Gap” in IQ………………………………………………………... 101 Relationship Between the “IQ Gap” and the Possibility of Raising Mean IQ Scores………………………………………………………… 102 Non-Compensation Based Arguments for Social Policy………………… 108 Conclusion………………………………………………………………........ 113 vii BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………. 116 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION European humanism usually meant that only Europeans were human Charles Mills, The Racial Contract Introduction Racial thinking retains a toehold in the academy. Works such as Why Race Matters, by Michael Levin (1997), and The Bell Curve, by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray (1994) defend the reality and relevance of race as a biological and political category.1 These works each defend a view of society and political systems that attributes a powerful causal role to the reality of race. These authors share three basic tenets. First, they contend that despite the conventional wisdom among biologists, ‘race’ is a biologically real concept. Second, they contend that biological differences between the races explain current and predict future racial differences both on tests designed to measure intelligence and in socioeconomic status. Third, they contend that these biological realities justify particular social policies. This dissertation is an attempt to clarify, analyze, and understand the theoretical foundations and purpose of their work. Throughout its history, Western society has witnessed many attempts to argue for socially relevant genetic differences between races of humanity. There are good reasons, both biological and social, for rejecting them, yet they persist. Despite scientific evidence and arguments, and despite the arguments of moral and political philosophy, they persist. Why? Why won’t these tired, old, and discredited arguments 1 Other examples include the work of J. Phillipe Rushton and that of H.J. Eysenck. Going back a bit further, Arthur Jensen and William Shockley stand out as defenders of this general view. 2 go away? They continue to be rehashed and recast under the auspices of biological determinism, sociobiology, IQ theory, race theory, genetics, heritability, and a variety of other doctrines. A particular set of errors and misrepresentations plagues them all, yet they continue to appear in any number of debates about the existence and role of group differences in social policy. I shall argue that the persistence of these arguments is due to an adherence to what Charles Mills calls the “Racial Contract”, and its need to argue for fundamental differences among races in order to justify differential treatment of those races. I shall look at the recent instantiations of the racialist arguments in the work of Levin, Herrnstein, and Murray and argue that they are best understood as a clear example of the phenomenon Mills is critiquing. A careful examination and analysis of these racialist arguments will show how these arguments attempt to buttress the racial contract, and show how, in fact, they fail. Furthermore, it will be argued that these authors, in contrast to their claims of being driven only by science, are in fact engaged in a particular type of racist thinking. The Racial Contract Drawing on traditional political theory and its emphasis on a social contract that is understood as an agreement among persons to limit their liberty in exchange for security, Charles Mills suggests that greater explanatory power can be had by understanding this not as a social contract, but as a racial contract (Mills [1997]). Rather than a social contract construed as an agreement among citizens to limit their liberties vis a vis each other, the racial contract is an agreement among citizen 3 persons to limit the liberties of non-citizen subpersons. Rather than a mechanism for preserving liberty, therefore, the actual social contract is a mechanism for maximizing the liberty of some at the expense of others. “The terms of the racial contract mean that non-white subpersonhood is enshrined simultaneously with white personhood” (Mills [1997], p. 55). This difference in liberty was and continues to be defended by arguing that the others in question are not fully capable or worthy of full participation in the society created by the contract. From Aristotle and his doctrine of the natural slave on, Mills attempts to show how the entire history of European political thought is one in which groups are regularly cast as fully human vs. sub-human (Mills [1997], p. 53). For Aristotle, of course, the natural slave was marked by a deficiency of reason. As we shall see, it is this need for a deficiency in reason that causes the modern racial contractors to ascribe deficient intellect and by extension something less than full membership in society to members of certain races. Beyond what Mills himself argues is necessary for the racial contract, the modern contractors seek to craft ‘scientific’ proof of the sub-personhood of these groups. The racial contract establishes a fundamental partition
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