Introduction

Jensen is not the only contemporary researcher whose investigations of 'race' and intelligence have proved controversial. In the UK, the views of the late Hans Eysenck were not dissimilar and, in Canada, the work of Philippe Rushton is relevant. In a 1995 book on 'race' and behavior (a book praised by Jensen and Eysenck), Rushton argued for the existence of three races (Orientals, Whites and Blacks) and claimed that the data show the first group to be better socially organized, to show greater sexual restraint and to be more intelligent than Europeans, who, in turn, score higher on such dimensions than Africans and their descendants. It is entirely possible that – as he himself would no doubt claim – Rushton is simply going where he thinks the data lead. He rather blotted his scientific copybook, however, by appearing on Geraldo Rivera's 'trash-television' show in 1989, by speaking at a conference of the American Renaissance organization (a white-separatist group) – which led to a citation on the web-site of Stormfront, a white-supremacist body – and by accepting the presidency of the Pioneer Fund, a research agency whose position on matters of race and eugenics has occasioned much debate. Horowitz (1995) touches upon the important issues, both popular and scientific, that bear upon Rushton's work and, indeed, upon all modern studies of 'race' and intelligence.

The most recent statement by Rushton is that 'black people have lower average IQ scores than white people... we have concluded that genetic factors have a role to play in this difference, as evidenced by the fact that black infants adopted and brought up by white middle-class parents show little improvement in their IQ scores by late adolescence' (Lynn & Rushton, 2006).