The Problem with Honesty

I was having a discussion a few days ago about a great number of subjects and the person I was speaking with brought up a question that initially had me in complete agreement. The question was:

‘Why don’t we accept that the races are different mentally? Most people are willing to accept that there are physical differences, such as black people’s general greater capacity at sports, so why can’t we accept that there are other differences? If we did, then we could do the tests and the experiments to find out who is better suited for what and where people could reach their fullest potential.’

What he said seemed sound. If no differences are found, well then the racists would finally be completely silenced. If some differences were found, however, then we could utilise those differences to do better overall.

When I thought about it some more, though, I realised the one great danger that lurked behind this open honesty and it was this: What if one group turned out to be intellectually weaker than another? What if tests reveal that one group, for example, is intellectually inferior to the others, or not as good at higher concept thinking?

Instead of crushing racism it would enflame it. Racism would explode, blossoming into a bloom of discrimination and violence. The other racial groups would consider themselves superior and especially the stupid and the dull minded (i.e. the truly inferior) would use this as an excuse to abuse people from a perceived inferior group. A gap of only a few points (it wouldn’t have to be big) would become an unbreachable chasm, with parents warning their children to stay away from ‘their lessers’.

No, even though the danger of one group being found out to be weaker than the others is relatively limited, if it were discovered it would open Pandora’s Box. I feel the danger would outweigh any potential gain from the differences we’d discover. Better to leave this sleeping dragon lie.