Double speak on race?

I’ve just been reading a popular book on evolutionary psychology, Mean Genes by Terry Burkham and Jay Phelan, which typifies the contradictory way in which a number of books on this topic deal with the issue of race and evolution.

The authors state that “Race is about as useful a distinction genetically as height” and that the assessment of race from a genetic perspective “is fraught with problems at every level”.

However, this contradicts other statements they made about particular racial groups in relation to various genetically derived traits.For example, on the topic of happiness Burkham and Phelan state: “Mood is substantially a function of personality, some people are just blessed with a positive outlook” . They also conclude that financial status is not an important factor in human happiness, stating instead that: “Happiness is a tool that our genes use to induce us towards behaviours that benefit them”.

But the author’s then point out: “African –Americans who are poorer overall, commit suicide at significantly lower rates than other Americans”.

Hence, Burkham and Phelan appear to believe that happiness is largely determined by genetics, and that African Americans are happier people than non-African Americans, yet they are unwilling to admit that race is a useful factor in explaining differences in human temperament.

Race is certainly a very controversial issue and it is understandable that Burkham and Phelan wish to be cautious about making controversial statements about racial differences. However, in that case the author’s should say something like:

“At this stage the verdict is still out on whether there are significant differences between races in areas like temperament, some studies suggest their may be important differences, but more studies need to done”.

Instead, they seem to be officially denying that race is significant, while privating thinking that it is important. It the authors were more honest and objective about race then I would be less likely to question their integrity. However, I am now left thinking that these guys have something to hide about race.