i'm not sure about mental acuity...i think different cultures think different ways...but I'm not sure if the difference would be enough to measure.
for instance, there is an area in western africa...i believe it's in kenya...where almost all of the men are incredible runners. the best of that tribe come to america and win millions of dollars running marathons. that tribe has become betterurnners because they have to run to eat. to get where they are going...they all run a lot and they are better at it.
blacks are more likely to be good at sports involving running because they were running longer than other races. this is simple evolution...physically they are slightly better as a race...i think most people would agree to that...now does that mean all blacks are better runners? no. but the difference is signifacant.
the japanese culture was founded on harvesting rice. rice takes a lot of time and effort --manual labor to harvest. the time and effort it takes has made the japanese more used to long hours, and instilled a dedication to doing everything the "best" most efficient way. this is partially cultural...but i think after 2000 years of it they have become a more patient more detail oriented race.
now many of oyu will say i'm racist. but I'm glad everyone is different..i'm glad we have different people with different strengths. the races may not be exactly equal...but they're damned close. and everyone of us deserves equal opportunity. People naturally adapt to their environment and that's a good thing...and people having different strengths is a good thing. people will naturally specialize and do what they are best at and what they can be the happiest at.
Racism is not merely believing that one race is better at one thing or another...that doesn't cause any problems. problems arise when the government or sme group of people go out of their way to keep another race down. this was happening in this country not long ago...and frankly it still happens today. but it's nearly beaten...unfortunately in teh process we stopped accepting that we have differences--glorious differences.
if someone in today's environment were to decide not to hire a black merely because he was black..he owuld likely eventually be run out of business. competition is fierce out there. companies can not afford to be prejudice. for nearly all jobs i can think of out side the realm of sports, race simply doesn''t matter. anyone can be a great salespeson, anyone can be a great accountant...it's all a matter of style and angle...oyu play on your strengths and oyu avoid airing your weaknesses and anyone will succeed.
someone will likely also say that racism is still alive because blacks don't make as much money as whites. well, partially that's because they started out with only low paying jobs a few generations ago. when my parent's were kids they were janitors and whatnot. now, that's just opened up and it's fixing itself. there are some culturral things that get in the way of blacks...but as more and more blacks find their way to wealth and come back and let others see, more and more will become interested in education. more and more will have the drive to succeed and more and more will. If i was black i would find programs like Afirmative action insulting....I think they can and will do it on their own.
as for nature vs. nurture...well everytime someone asks this question i answer...it's always at leat partially both. is it 50/50 or is it 90/10 well that's where the argument seems to come in. unless of course you don't believe in evolution...
if you don't believe in evolutioin...then how did we get people of different races? and why is it that people who live near the equator are dark and people who live in the north and disant south are lighter? don't you think that if for thousands ofyears a small group living in the freezing cold might eventually apdapt to that climate and those living in very intense heat adapt to that?
they say people who move from canada to the sun belt find that their blood thins out in the hotter environment...and that's in less than a lifetime.
