Wray Herbert Posted: 08/20/2014 11:31 am EDT Updated: 4 hours ago Walter Bibikow via Getty Images I think that a lot of us are shying away from an obvious truth: that the kind of blatant racial prejudice we are witnessing in Ferguson, Missouri, has everything to do with stupidity. I'm talking about low intelligence, lack of mental ability, cognitive rigidity. Racists may be a lot of other things -- hateful, insecure -- but let's not sugar-coat what most fair-minded thinkers believe in their hearts: A person of intelligence cannot embrace such authoritarian and racist views. Intelligence is a scientific concept, something scientists can measure, and have for a long time. And interestingly, this connection between stupidity and prejudice once seemed obvious to social scientists as well. Early theorists suggested a link between low mental ability and prejudicial thinking, and gathered some strongly suggestive evidence to support that view. But there were some knotty methodological and statistical problems that hampered this early line of study, not to mention a huge wave of political correctness, and it was largely abandoned. But not entirely. A small cadre of psychological scientists have continued over the years to explore the controversial connection between low intelligence and prejudice, and at this point they have overcome most of the methodological barricades, allowing them to rigorously analyze and answer this important societal question. Two of these researchers -- Kristof Dhont of Ghent University, Belgium, and Gordon Hodson of Brock University, in Canada -- have been studying the idea and synthesizing the work of others, and they summarize the fruits of this ongoing project in a forthcoming issue of the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science. The short answer is yes, there is a clear, predictable and causal link between low intelligence and prejudice, including racism. more . . .
Slaves were chosen for strength. Intelligence was actually considered a negative. Harder to control a smart person.
A sign like that comes only from the DNA of Democrats. Finally the South has freed itself of Democratic thinking and Republicans are in control. Millions of Blacks are leaving where Democrats control and migrating to the free Republican south.
I know plenty of aging boomers like DB. They are obsessed with racism and are ever alert to Chris Matthews dog whistles. Yet they direct every aspect of their lives to avoid any contact with blacks. Exclusive neighborhoods, private schools, private golf clubs, etc etc. They would rather drink battery acid than take public transportation. Why? Well, there are "undesirables" there. Are they just obvious Clinton-type hypocrites or is there a degree of clinical schizophrenia involved? I really can't say, but there's obviously something troubling going on.