Race And IQ At Harvard

Twenty-three student groups at the Harvard Kennedy School are condemning a controversial dissertation about race, IQ and immigration. At issue is the work of Jason Richwine, whose PhD dissertation argues that "the IQ of immigrants in America is substantially lower than that of the white native population."

Richwine says there are genetic differences in intelligence between the races, that "low IQ is likely an underlying cause of the Hispanic underclass," and that "New Hispanic immigrants will [probably] have low-IQ children and grandchildren."

He also argues for of an immigration policy that would favor "high-IQ immigrants" as a way to help them and America. Richwine co-authored a recent paper for the Heritage Foundation on immigration reform. But when his controversial PhD thesis, which he wrote in 2009, came to light, he stepped down from the conservative think tank.

Now, Kennedy School students are condemning Harvard for approving and publishing the thesis in the first place, calling it "racist." The uproar has sparked a debate about academic freedom as well as academic integrity.

Jason Richwine, formerly a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, his thesis from Harvard's Kennedy School has caused an uproar at the school.

Diego von Vacano, professor at Texas A&M University, a Harvard Kennedy School alum, he wrote about the issue here.