All Human Beings

The idea of "race" and "racial superiority" has caused a lot of trouble in the world. Last week an international group of distinguished scientists working for UNESCO issued a report on what science knows about this emotional subject.

"To most people," said the report, "a race is any group of people whom they choose to describe as a race. Thus many national, religious, geographic, linguistic or cultural groups have, in such loose usage, been called 'race.' " Such groups "do not necessarily coincide with racial groups, and the cultural traits of such groups have no demonstrated genetic connection with racial traits."

Race does exist, however, says the report. Because of different biological histories (of climate, isolation, etc.), groups of men have come to differ somewhat. Certain "genes" are more common in some groups than in others. "Such genes, responsible for the hereditary differences between men, are always few when compared to the whole genetic constitution of man and to the vast number of genes common to all human beings . . . This means that the likenesses among men are far greater than their differences."

How much do these "ethnic groups" differ in intelligence? Not much, if at all, says the UNESCO report. "Given similar degrees of cultural opportunity to realize their potentialities, the average achievement of each ethnic group is about the same. The scientific investigations of recent years fully support the dictum of Confucius [551-478 B.C.]: 'Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that carry them far apart.'"

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