ABSTRACT
The ethnic groups they study are Latinos, blacks, whites that are non-Latino whites, and Asians, and all categories are based on the self-identification of participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Labor Market Experience of Youth. Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray acknowledge that their claim about intelligence is a controversial one, but they say, nevertheless, that intelligence must be taken into account when formulating public policy. To do otherwise is “to fight a demographic headwind” in which the biological factor of intelligence will frustrate attempts to equalize society through federal policies. Herrnstein and Murray believe that it is politics that prevents policy-makers from considering the role of intelligence in social inequality. Herrnstein and Murray plead for a return to investment in the “American Dream”—the idea that hard work coupled with strong resolve will allow individuals to achieve success. They argue that meaningful social change is slow, but that governments can set the country on the right course.
