P age B ö
A prii . 5, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
Race And IQ In The War Against
m N o r m R. A l i
lx j k .
teachers believed that Blacks were
genetically inferior to Whites.
If these dubious educators en
trusted to teach Black students have
such low expectations o f them, most
likely they are neither able nor will
ing to teach them properly. But the
rigid biodeterminists would proba
bly argue that no matter how hard
one tries to teach the stupid Blacks,
they will not learn anyway. And the
few Blacks who are intelligent wjll
learn regardless o f encouragement
or the lack thereof.
But fortunately, throughout his
tory, many educators have ignored
the racists.
There are numerous examples
o f educators who have been deter
mined to teach all students to the best
o f their ability. Examples include
Marva Collins who has taught poor
Black chi Idren in Chicago, and 1 laime
Escalante who has taught calculus to
poor Latino Students in East L A. At
Hostos-Lincoln Academy o f Science
in the South Bronx, many students
are excelling in their studies. As
Lynell Hancock writes in the Octo
ber 24, 1994 issue o f Newsweek,
"These 300 black and Latino stu
dents provide the basis for a strong
re to rt to "T h e B ell C u r v e .'”
W ith the popularity o f the con
troversial book The Bell C urse by
political scientist Charles Murray and
the late psychologist Richard J.
H erm stein, increasing numbers o f
W hites are embracing the idea that
Blacks, on average, are mentally in
ferior to W hites and Asians. Indeed.
Rutgers University President Francis
Law rence has stated that Blacks con
stitute "a disadvantaged population
that doesn't have that genetic hered
itary background to have a higher
average' on the Scholastic Aptitude
Test (SAT.) And ironically, Law
rence has in the past condemned The
Bell Curve and reportedly refused to
read it. Moreover, Lawrence, who
was defended by Black analyst Carl
T. Rowan, has an excellent record in
his career at Tulane and Rutgers, in
prom oting affirmative action poli
cies. He has also apologized for his
controversial remarks.
One can only wonder how many
leading educators and univ ersity pres
idents throughout the U.S. believe
Blacks to be genetically inferior to
other groups. One writer estimated
that in the late I980s/early 1990s,
one out o f four eighth grade biology
Afrocentric scholar Asa G. Hilliard
and other Black educators have re
ported that there are schools where
Black students at elementary levels
are doing advanced mathematics
Furtherm ore, most o f A merica s
Black doctors, scientists and engi
neers come, not from schools with
White supremacist instructors and
administrators, but from historically
Black colleges with faculty who be
lieve in them.
But most White supremacists,
such as J. P h illip e R ushton, a
neoeugenicist and author o f Race,
Evolution and Biology, argue that
Blacks have made no "significant
contribution to civilization" This
kind o f "thinking," however, is root
ed in arrogant Eurocentric assump
tions. All one has to do is carefully
study the history o f Egypt, Knobby .
Zimbabwe, Ghana, Mali, Songhay
and other civ ilizations to debunk this
White supremacist myth.
Joseph McCabe, writing in Keys
to Culture (book 3, p. 50, 1927),
related: "four thousand years ago,
when civilization was already two
thousand years old, white men were
just a bunch o f semisavages on the
outskirts o f the civilized world. If
there had been anthropologists in
Coming
b
Coming To Pow ell's
Saturday Storytelling Weekly
at 10:00 am:
Saturday Storytelling continues
weekly at 10:00 am in the Gold
Room. All ages are welcome. Fol
low ing is a list of story telling to p
ics for A pril:
• A pril 8th - Pow ell's favor
ites.
• A pril 15th - Bunny Stories
followed by a fun craft activity. To
day's project is best suited for ages
4 and up.
• A pril 22nd - Earth day. Join
us for some ecological stories.
• A pril 29th - Children’s au
thor illustrator and Portland artist
Nancy Coffelt. See details below.
• Book P resentations S a tu r
day the 8th 10:30 am
Powell's welcomes Language
Arts students from Newport Middle
Street Drug Dealers Arrested
subject was arrested on an outstand
ing Robbery Parole Violation.
The mission was part o f an on
going effort to impact illegal drug
activity in residential neighborhoods.
Officers targeted areas based on in
formation from concerned citizens,
and observations by Neighborhood
Liaison Officers.
Similar missions will be con
ducted in the future.
Gang Enforcement Team offic
ers recently targeted street drug deal
ers during a mission, in Northeast
Portland neighborhoods.
The officers, posing as would be
drug buyers, were contacted by deal
ers. After agreeing to sell drugs, ar
rests were made. Four women and
seven men were taken into custody.
All were charged with Possession
and or Distribution o f Cocaine. One
ROAD SAFETY PROMOTED
“ The car kits are a p erfect
w ay for everyone to begin p re
p a rin g for an em ergency, large
or sm all,” said Sue Patterson. Red
C ro ss d isa ste r p re p a re d n ess sp e
c ia list.
The safety kits cost S 15.99 with
proceeds to support local Red Cross
programs. They are available at the
Red Cross bu i Iding, Health and Safety
Department, 3131 N. Vancouver
Ave.
The Red Cross has added a car
safety kit to its line o f safety prod
ucts, which includes a variety o f first
aid kits, supplies and disaster kits.
The car kit was created in part
nership with Consum erC areC orp.. a
local manufacturer.
They contain first aid materials,
a non-flammable can o f fix-a-flat,
ice scraper and other basic safety
items.
Egypt, Crete, and Babylon, they
would have pronounced the white
race obviously inferior, and might
have discoursed learnedly on the su
perior germ plasm of...colored folk,”
It is ironic that Murray (who is
o f Irish ancestry ) and Hermstein (a
Jew) promote the same kind o f ra
cialist drivel that was used against
their forebears in this century. In the
1920s it was common ly be I ie ved that
Poles, Irish and Italians were genet
ically inferior to other Europeans.
And later. H itler's scholars deemed
the mythical "Aryan" race superior
to all others, with the Jews placed at
the bottom o f the genetic hierarchy.
But zealous bigots who are ea
ger to promote an unsound ideology
are not concerned that their kind o f
propaganda can be used against them
selves. Indeed, Daniel Vining Jr., a
University o f Pennsylvania eugeni-
cist confined to a w heelchair due to a
stroke he suffered, watched a Nazi
eugenics film with Adam Miller o f
Rolling Stone magazine, and com
mented, “ I probably would have been
exterminated m yself" Yet he per
sists in promoting his eugenics pro
gram, while denigrating the intelli
gence o f others!
If other racist scholars were so
► Powell's
School, present ing book talks. These
students have each created a unique
product in response to a book they
have read. Today’s presentations
will include songs, videos, paint
ings and much more. This event will
take place in the Purple Room.
Nancy Coffelt Saturday the 29th
10 am
Nancy Coffelt, Portland artist
and children’sauthor/illustrator, will
present her new book, The Dog
Who Cried Woof. Join us for a
drawing presentation along with the
story o f Ernie, a big lovable dog
who barks at everything. The peo
ple he lives with have learned to
ignore Erinie’s barking, but eventu
ally, Ernie discovers that a well-
timed bark will get him the attention
he deserves. Other books by Nancy
Coffelt include Dogs in Space, Good
Night, Sigmund and T om 's Fish.
Readings at Powell’s
Ivan Klima Sunday, April 2 7:30 pm:
Ivan Klima was in the United Staes when Russian tanks entered Prague
in 1968, but against the advice o f friends and colleagues, he returned home.
He became a dissident, writing books (never official ly pbulished) that were
invariably inspired by Czechoslovakia’s repressive regine. But what hap
pens to a rebel artist when there is
Computer Security Device
Offered To Public
The Portland Police Bureau in
cooperation with Multnomah Coun
ty Library, is offering a new security
service to owners o f personal com
puters known as "M ICRO-ID". MI
CRO-ID is a software program that
internally marks a personal comput
er’s hard drive in multiple locations
with specific information about the
owner. In addition, the program takes
an internal inventory o f the computer
and records this data. Such detailed
information helped law enforcement
officers determine the lawful owner
of a stolen computer and w hether any
parts have been removed.
Once a computer has been prop
erly “encoded" thieves will not be
able to determine that the machine
has been marked. On the other hand,
police officers using a security “de
coding” program entitled “Cop-
O n ly " will easily be able to ascertain
whether the computer has been en
coded and by whom.
CASCADE BUSINESS CENTER
M arch S pecial !
FA X 0.75 P age /I ncoming FAXF ree
10 F ree C opies F or E very 50
1 F ree O n -S ite C onsultation F or B rochure ,
M enu , or R esume D esign
F ree N otary P ublic S ervices
call 288-3584
20% O ff Any Word Processing To: Small Businesses,
Students/Student Groups. Senior Citizens. Churches & Oth
er Non-Profits and Children's Group
Word Processing Includes Business Letters. Resumes.
Any Typing!
I do what I can to support my community, and by taking
advantage o f this m onth's special you support me. Call and
let me know how I can assist you.
Thanks for your business.
1992 T O Y O T A 4 X 4
V6 FUEL INJECTION
23,000 MILES
FULLY LOADED
$18,000
283-1725 Home • 283-9937 Work
A H N I V f R S A R V
\\ ¡dies You A Happy New Year
As We Begin
Our 25th Anniversary
O f Publication.
GEORGES AUTO
H AS MOVED
FROM:
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BLVD.
TO:
7636 N. NEWALL AVE.
P O N T IA C -B U IC K -G M C ------
O regon ' s N umber O ne GMC D ealer
95 Suburbans Ready For Delivery
?F 7.5 Acres Of Cars And Trucks
?F Oregon's Premier Gm Service Department
?F Sale - Trade - Lease
t F
Ask For Clarence Larkins
and hostile, and demanded that hate
speech and racist literature be al
lowed to flourish in academia Mean
while, they launched rabid verbal
and written attacks against Blacks
and others they accused o f threaten
ing the alleged beauty and unity o f
American culture. And these attacks
have not surprisingly created a huge
market for books such as The Bell
Curve
T h ro u g h o u t h isto ry , som e
B lacks have responded to the b i
zarre n o tio n s o f W hite su p re m a
cists with b iz a rre notions o f th e ir
own But B lacks need not resort
to senseless talk o f "w hite d e v
ils,” B lack genetic su p e rio rity ,
the magic o f m elanin, etc. F ig h t
ing h atred and n o n sen se w ith
m ore h atred and nonsense w ill
not give B lacks m oral auth o rity
or intellectu al cred ib ility . B lacks
m ust c o n tin u e to think c ritic a lly ,
and to d efend th em selv es in a
c o u rag eo u s, in tellig en t and d ig
nified m anner. And this, u n fo rtu
n a te ly , w ill p r o b a b ly be a
n ev eren d in g task.
Norm R. Allen Jr, is the execu
tive director o f African Americans
for Humanism, headquartered in
Buffalo, New York.
inclined, they could devise tests in
the name o f science to support all
kinds o f views. Some might search
for a genetic basis to support the idea
o f the greedy, stingy, deceptive, ma
nipulative, wandering and conspira
torial Jew. Some might seek a genet
ic basis for the alleged weakness of
N a tiv e A m e ric a n s. O ne co u ld
argue that Irish and Italians are
g en etically p re d isp o se d to e n
gage in crim e and v iolence. Some
m ight search for a gene to ex
plain the alleged greed, a g g re s
sion and d e stru c tiv e nature o f
E u ropean "Ic e P e o p le .” Som e
m ight even suggest that, because
W hite A m erican teens have far
m ore c h ild re n out o f w edlock
than do th e ir E uropean c o u n te r
parts, th ere is a gen etic c o m p o
nent to W hite A m erican teen p ro
m iscuity! T he sky is the lim it for
crazy, ra c ist and irre sp o n sib le
" s c h o la rsh ip .”
The drive to further tarnish the
image o f Black people is largely fu
eled by the reactionary and racist
enemies o f so-called political cor
re c tn e ss. W ith the rise o f
Afrocentrism, multiculturalism and
other calls for inclusion and diversi
ty, angry whites became defensive
CL lie U n rt latió O b s t r u e r
WESTON
“
lacks
655-2166 • 22555 SE Stark • 255-3840
(503) 283-8624
PREVIOUSLY CALLED
GEORGE AUTO CARE
IS NOW CALLED
PRESIDENTIAL AUTO
CHECK IT OUT