Is my friend prejudice?

Question

I have a question regarding a friend who considers himself not prejudiced or racist, but i heavily disagree.

He has made the claim that "Whites are more intelligent than Black", and has used a "statistic" pulled from a blog. it concludes that "Blacks are borderline retarded when it comes to IQ tests".

i belive that since he has this idea that blacks are less intelligent that whites, when he meets a stranger black person, his first thought is that hes less intellgent than him. He has this idea because of an inaccurate stereotype, which is prejudice.

my question for you is: is this man prejudice or not?
His arguement is the truth is not prejudiced.
"Is it prejudiced to speak the truth?
what IF the black race is stupider that the white race? i mean, white people are taller than asian people, its okay to compare... why not compare intelligence then? its feasible that they differ, along with other characteristics such as wider nose"

Answer 1

Yes. He is a racist. I think when one wants to feel more superior to another group. That is being a racist. Whose truth is it? African Americans have contributed a lot to this country but it's not reflected in the history books. You have to remember we are not playing on a even playing field. If blacks have the same advantage of living in good home and going to private schools. I am sure you will see more intelligence African Americans. Yes. Some have make it like Oprah Winfrey but many are living in poverty conditions. In some black community or really hard ghettos. There are no books or computers for kids to use. They sometimes send less qualified teachers to the poor neighborhoods. Blacks are still pay less in the workforce. There could be a million reason why. Why not be a solution to the problem? You have to remember there is good and bad in every race. Why don't you ask your friend to try to help someone who is less fortune than he is? He can make a difference in someone life.

Answer 2

Being the first to answer is a double edged sword, but here it goes. First, I would like to know if your friend is insistent on believing only that data and nothing else? Then he probably isn't open minded enough to realize that there are many factors for those results and depending on those factors, those IQ tests can and would be skewed, altered or even forced to prove the desired results. Most of the studies done are from the time when whites were still reeling from the Martin Luther King movement and because of this, may have made the tests out to prove that blacks were less intelligent than whites. Another factor goes further back, and that is slavery. The smartest slave was the house slave, who had to be taught how to behave and not act like the field slave. But, they were able to learn something more by being around the masters. Not being allowed to learn and be educated definitely set the blacks back. Simple answer- if he can understand the possible errors inherent with those tests and will give all people an equal chance before using data that may be faulty for his basis, then he's a good person who was misguided. If he's only looking for a excuse or reason to justify his racism... there isn't one and never will be.

Answer 3

First let me tell you that I'm a Clinical Psychologist and have worked in my field or the past 34 years. I am very up-to-date regarding IQ testing. The statement that "Blacks are borderline retarded" is totally ridiculous--it's nothing but bullshit. Any difference there may be between Blacks and Whites on the best IQ Tests can be accounted for in terms of differences in educational and social/cultural experiences--NOT in terms of BASIC intellectual potential.

I DO think your friend is prejudiced. His "argument" is not based on the TRUTH (but even if it were it would be entirely besides the point). The question you should ask him is: "What's your point in latching onto this 'statistic,' and making an issue of it?" His answer will probably be something to the effect that Whites are "superior" to Blacks. The dangerous thing about this kind of belief is that people who believe this crap then use it to build themselves up as being "better" than others and then discriminate against others.

He asks, "Is it prejudiced to speak the truth?" Well, it certainly can be! Even if the "statistic" your friend refers to were true (which it is NOT), using this to lord himself over others is nothing but pure prejudice.

Answer 4

Obviously, your friend is "borderline retarded when it comes to IQ tests".

Seriously though....

Let me just state, for the record, that absolutely *everyone* is prejudiced.

Since we are only able to know a small handfull of people *personally*, it is inevitable that we are going to have a lot of pre-conceived notions, biases, and stereotypes about people we have never met. To a certain extent, we need these biases in order to operate in an uncertain world, but we should not go around trying to pass off these biases as "the truth." We need to make the distinction, if possible, between what what we *believe*, and what we have actually *experienced*.

Since those who have negative stereotypes have already decided (without evidence) that a person or group is bad, any further evidence to to contrary is ignored, and evidence supporting their conclusions, however absurd, is magnified and only serves to reinforce their prejudice. Their prejudices are not based on reason, but simply on the childish logic that: "Since these people are different from me; if they are bad people, then I must be a good person."

It seems to me that the opinions of highly prejudiced people often tend to reflect what they secretly feel about themselves. They are unable to convince themselves that they actually have good qualities and have value as a person. They become obsessed with finding faults, categorizing people, and comparing themselves to others. Thus they try to use other persons, or groups as a scapegoat for their own uncertainties and insecurities about themselves.

It is a myth that only foolish or uneducated people can have negative stereotpes. Anyone can fall into the trap of circular prejudicial thinking. All it takes is an unwillingness to re-examine the reasoning behind our beliefs and values.

~Donkey Hotei

Answer 5

He doesn't sound like he's racist, just misinformed. Chances are those statistics are somewhat right, but it's not intelligence they (generally speaking of course) lack, it's education. Also, I myself have a problem with black people in the media - if all your role models speak as if they never received more than a 3rd grade education, what makes the people who look up to them want to be any different? Violence, disrespect for women, and money are close to the only things that have a spotlight.

Answer 6

No, your frind is not prejudice - he is just an idiot. People of all races and color have received Nobel Prizes in dozens of different catagories. Black scientists have contributed to every aspect of life. The navigators of most of the ships sailing the oceans for centuries were black. Look up George Washington Carver. The official line for years was that people who spoke more than one language had lower IQ's, because they gave them IQ tests in their second language and they did not do well. But when they gave them the same test in their native language they discovered that they were smarter than people who only had one language. Look hard enough and you can find some bit of information to support any brain dead concept you want.

Answer 7

Honey, do you relatively need somebody to respond to this for you? If some fool thinks he's extra effectual than somebody else and bases that reasoning on the exterior colour of yet another guy, he's maximum actual and ignorant racist. on the subject of his statistic: maximum information are made up. Mark Twain as quickly as reported that there are 3 kinds of lies: a million)Lies, 2)rattling lies, and 3)information. on the subject of the IQ attempt assertion: If there grew to become right into a statistic exhibiting that the inhabitants of IQ attempt takers have been an equivalent blend of the two black and white adult males the place the white adult males scored larger than the black adult males, there is yet another element that would desire to be considered. What kinds of questions have been on the IQ attempt? have been they race-biased? Gender biased? seem at each and all of the climate that would play into the learn and learn each and every thing surrounding those so called "information." Oh and your racist pal? unload the moron and locate some clever acquaintances to hold out with. sturdy success, and drop this fool!

Answer 8

Black, white, whatever, we all have different levels of intelligence and have had different standards of education. I know some really thick white people and some really intelligent black and Asian people. Brains are all the same colour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think your friend is being a little racist, although these days I'm starting to wonder what is racist and what isn't, it's all very confusing

Answer 9

Well sounds to me like he is.The fact that he thinks blacks are not as intelligent as whites is basically saying their dumb.But to let you know I know lots of blacks that are smarter than whites.See what I'm saying is they dont wanna be smart, they wanna be gangster and cool and not listen in class.But he does have the right to say his opinion, but you just cant see a black and say I'm way smarter than this guy. Hope this was the right answer

Answer 10

There are intelligent people and ignorant people of every race. Your friend is a racist and you can point that out to him by the fact he is basing what he claims on what he read. Perhaps if he went out and mengled with black people, he would find that "statistic" to be rediculous. I find that people who base their "truths" on studies are completely ignorant. You should point out to your friend as well that asians are considered to be the most intelligent people of all and yet, "statistics" claim they are lacking common sense. Thank GOD we don't all believe what we read. Thank you and may GOD bless.