Printed in the Torrington Register on November 10, 1994   The cumulative frustration caused by the failure of government intervention to create an integrated egalitarian society is now boiling over in academia and on our op-ed pages.   A new book, “The Bell Curve” by Charles Murray and Richard Herrstein, resurrects the concept that intelligence has a racial component and further postulates that a disproportionate percentage of African-Americans are thus genetically incapable of entering the middles class. It fails to acknowledge how misguided social policies have decimated the black family and how structural changes in our economy make it virtually impossible for the working poor, who are disproportionately black, to afford safe housing and health insurance.   Especially disturbing is the pseudoscience used to further this thesis. While there is a difference between the IQs of blacks and whites, this difference narrows with increased economic status, yet does not close completely. Therefore, it is concluded that the difference is genetic. This fails to account fo the fact that our popular culture promotes blacks as either entertainers or athletes, … [Read more...]