From the physical standpoint, races do have certain very definite differences that are obvious. One of the most obvious is that of color. White, black, yellow, red, brown, and yellow-brown are the colors we usually associate with certain racial types. Some of us are tall, blond, and blue-eyed. Others are short, dark, and brown-eyed. Some people have long, narrow heads while others have short, round heads. However, the same physical differences may be found not only between racial and national groups, but also between individuals within the nation, tribe, or family.
Mental Characteristics
In answer to the contention that certain racial groups are mentally superior to others, Franz Boas, an outstanding scientist, says, “No one has ever proved that a human being through his descent from a group of people must of necessity have certain mental characteristics.... If we were to select the most intelligent, imaginative, energetic, and emotionally stable third of mankind, all races would be represented.”
Hooton, another scientist, is even more emphatic. He declares that “each racial type runs the gamut from idiots and criminals to geniuses and statesmen. No type produces a majority of individuals from either end of the scale. There are no racial monopolies of either human virtues or vices.”
Carefully controlled intelligence tests given by educators and scientists to different racial groups show that, where environment and social conditions are the same, no group can claim mental superiority. In fact, it has been clearly apparent that “man, everywhere, is basically and fundamentally similar” and that his differences, be they physical, mental, or moral, are determined not by race so much as by the social conditions and opportunities around him.
Important Findings
The assimilation of different groups within the United States would seem to show that:
1. Under favorable conditions of equal opportunity, all racial groups, whatever their original homeland conditions and status, are capable of rapid social change both as individuals and as groups.
“It can easily be shown,” says one scientist, “how dependent mental differences are upon social conditions. For instance, exact observations have been made on Negroes who have moved from the country to the city and it has been shown that assimilation of these people to the behavior of the city population takes place within a few years.
“Likewise, it has been shown in the case of Italian immigrants that they grow to resemble the Americans in behavior the longer they have been in this country, provided they do not remain isolated. One of the most instructive illustrations of this assimilation is the ease with which children adopt the dialect and manner of expression of their environment.”