In an earlier post entitled “The Master Race” I described how Adolph Hitler’s insane racial theories led to the death of millions of people, with the European Jews suffering most severely from this madness.  I also posited the thought that the truth is exactly opposite from what Hitler believed.  True racial superiority is not to be found in any one ethnic strain.  Instead it is generated by mixing of diverse peoples to produce a new people.

I realize that this is a sensitive area for discussion.  Many would prefer not to speak of differences between ethnic groups as regards physical prowess, intellectual abilities, etc.  Within any group there are truly exceptional individuals of genius, and the range of divergencies within an ethnic group are greater than those that separate one group from another. It is also true that the principal dissimilarities between peoples are cultural rather than arising from differences in physical or mental abilities.

Nevertheless, there are differences.  

There are certain ethnicities that do not perform well in some of the American competitive sports.  For example, most Asian-Americans do not have the height and weight to stand up to the 350 pound behemoths that populate America professional football.  Also, it is true that relatively few whites can match the speed and agility of black athletes as running backs, defensive backs, and pass catchers.

Moving to the cerebral side, Asian-Americans consistently outperform most other ethnicities in the academic field, though much of this effect appears to be cultural.  More striking was a 2005 study by researchers at the University of Utah that concluded  “Ashkenazi Jews (European Jews, many of whom migrated to the United States) have the highest average I.Q. of any ethnic group for which there are reliable data. During the 20th century, they made up about 3 percent of the U.S. population but won 27 percent of the U.S. Nobel science prizes and 25 percent of the ACM Turing awards. They account for more than half of world chess champions.”  I might also add that they gave us men like Albert Einstein, Jack Benny, Irving Berlin, Richard Rogers, Henry Kissinger and many, many others.

What are we to conclude from this?

It is certainly true some racial subgroups have advantages in certain physical competitions because of their typical physiques, but these things tend to even themselves out.  I believe it more interesting to note that most outstanding world athletes of the past half-century have had a mixed ethnic heritage. This has certainly proved to be so in American football.  In the last fifty years the majority of our great gridiron heroes were of African/European ancestry. Perhaps mixed ethnicity is an advantage in other sports as well.

We might also see a similar beneficial effect of mixed ethnicity in the intellectual arena.  Genetic studies on Ashkenazi Jews, researching both their paternal and maternal lineages, as well as autosomal DNA, suggest that they are of both Middle Eastern and European descent.  The same degree of racial mixing did not occur in Shephardi and Mizrahi Jews, nor have these sub-groups achieved equivalent intellectual accolades.

I have become increasingly convinced that nature itself gradually produces a heathier, more vibrant population by the constant intermixing of different peoples. America, the Melting Pot, is a perfect example of this.  As I stated in my previous post, we are not only an interesting and perhaps unique mixture of genetic strains, but a mixture of cultures; and out of that mixture has come an explosion of creativity.  We have seen this creative energy manifest itself in America over the past century and a half, and we are only just beginning.

If we continue to pursue the dream, if we constantly seek the higher ground, if we link our arms in brotherhood, our diverse peoples will unite to produce a true MASTER RACE

Working together, let us build that “shining city on the hill.”

E Pluribus Unum!