Anybody read it yet? The gist of it is there are two glaring truths are race that need to be considered in order to improve the lives of U.S. black and hispanic folks as groups: they consistently perform much worse on aptitude tests than whites and asians, and they consistently commit much more crime than whites or asians. Until this gets addressed, it will be difficult to close the racial gap between the groups. Nothing really earth-shattering here, but the fact that it's published is mildly surprising now.
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/telling-the-hardest-truths-about-race/
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/telling-the-hardest-truths-about-race/
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Murray's first "truth" is that when whites, blacks, and Hispanics "take tests that are related to cognitive ability, their group results have different means," and that these tests are pretty good predictors of job performance, especially at the upper end of the pay scale. Since Murray is famous for making controversial arguments about IQ, genetics, and race, it is important to emphasize that most of his analysis is based on aptitude tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Armed Services Qualification Test, and graduate admissions exams rather than IQ tests. The racial gap measured by these tests has narrowed significantly since 1970 and the size of the gap changes as children get older, indicating that such "cognitive ability" is hardly determined by genetics alone.
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Murray's second "truth" is that African-American and Hispanic males commit violent crimes far more often than do white and Asian males. (I say "males" because they are responsible for the overwhelming majority of such crimes.) This is hardly a startling fact.
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Murray does not investigate the multiple, deep-seated causes of this difference. But he does review some of the consequences. Most obviously, the vast majority of law-abiding African-American and Hispanic residents of high crime neighborhoods are the principal victims of such violent crime. Even a casual reader of Chicago newspapers will appreciate the tragic consequences of this. Moreover, "disproportionate minority crime rates discourage developers from building office space in minority neighborhoods," and "raise the cost of doing business for retailers of all kinds." Middle class families of all races and ethnicities will avoid these areas. The result is that the residents of these high-crime neighborhoods will remain isolated, cut off from job and educational opportunities, and forced to pay more for almost everything they buy.
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One could trace all these problems back to slavery, segregation, and discrimination. But that will not make them disappear. Eliminating exam schools, covertly reserving slots at selective colleges for racial minorities, and instituting de facto hiring quotas for high skill jobs will only paper over the core problems rather than address them. Denying that crime is a problem in many poor neighborhoods leaves many decent people at the mercy of a violent few. The hard reality is that ignoring the "two truths" that Murray highlights will leave the most vulnerable people in our society worse off. Even those who dislike and distrust this particular messenger should heed his message.
