kent_allard_jr

I see many liberal blogs are responding to Andrew Sullivan's defense of The Bell Curve. I think the book's already gotten more attention than it deserves, so let me make one simple point.

The term "racism" is thrown around far too often, and people are accused of it for trivial reasons. But if racism means anything, it's the belief that "members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races." If you believe that white people are inherently, naturally smarter than black people you are a racist. That isn't an insult, it's a statement that's true by definition. If Hernstein and Murray believed this, they were racists, and if Andrew Sullivan agrees with them on this issue he is a racist, too.

So here's my question to conservatives: Do you really want to be identified with an openly, proudly racist book? If so, you have no right to complain when people call you and your movement "racist." If you want to shake the label, though, you should do the right thing and publicly condemn this book as the piece of hateful nonsense it is.