Why Nathan Cofnas Is Wrong About Race Science and IQ

Summary

Katharine Birbalsingh argues that racial disparities should not be explained through a false choice between left-wing claims that racism is the main cause and far-right claims that genetics is the main cause. She criticizes Nathan Cofnas’s “racial realist” position: as Birbalsingh presents it, Cofnas attributes average IQ differences between racial groups largely to inherited traits and argues that accepting such differences could persuade intellectual elites to move away from the political left.

Birbalsingh challenges both the reasoning and the moral implications of this view. She says intelligence is not the same as decency, citing highly intelligent people who committed atrocities. She also argues that Cofnas’s claims about a hierarchy of human worth go beyond the position she attributes to Charles Murray: Cofnas, she says, links intelligence to a person’s value and advocates replacing Christian ideas of equal human dignity with a “natural aristocracy.” Birbalsingh regards that outlook as racist and warns that it could encourage teachers and employers to make assumptions about individuals based on group averages. She nevertheless supports free speech and academic freedom.

To show why environment and history matter, Birbalsingh discusses the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including colonial exploitation, violence, political upheaval, and continuing conflict. She argues that this history cannot be set aside when explaining present-day poverty or test results. For disparities within the United States, she similarly points to slavery, segregation, discrimination, and differences in educational conditions. She also questions whether IQ tests can be separated from prior knowledge and cultural experience.

Her alternative emphasis is on culture, values, parenting, and schooling. She argues that children’s habits, family expectations, teaching, and school culture can affect achievement, and that higher spending alone will not improve outcomes if schools adopt ineffective practices. Drawing on Thomas Sowell’s comments about changes in group test scores over time, she maintains that IQ scores are not necessarily fixed. She also rejects the idea that racial differences in activities such as music should be attributed to genes rather than cultural history.

Birbalsingh says the extremes on both sides can reduce people to racial categories: anti-racist approaches may discourage teachers from correcting some pupils, while genetic determinism may lead teachers to give up on them. She instead advocates equal dignity, personal responsibility, gratitude, service to others, and high expectations for children, regardless of background. In the closing audience Q&A, she recommends encouraging teenagers to take responsibility rather than adopt a victim identity, setting clear routines and limits at home, and maintaining consistent classroom standards and behaviour systems.

Presenters and contributors

• Presenter: Katharine Birbalsingh
• Featured or quoted figures: Nathan Cofnas, Thomas Sowell, Nick Fuentes, and Charles Murray
• Audience questioners: Laura, Brothers, Kim Carter, and Mike Hogan