It's to debunk the pseudoscientific nonsense -- rooted in racism and white supremacy -- that IQ is a largely genetically determined trait which is then often used to assert that certain ethnic groups are on average smarter or stupider than other ethnic groups.
More that because IQ isn't genetically determined any data that makes it look like certain ethnic groups are smarter or stupider than other ethnic groups must be wrong.
The argument on both sides misses out that the IQ data seen could be a result of other factors that are only indirectly associated with an ethnic group, such as that group being descended from people who were enslaved or who practiced polygamy or who don't prevent first cousins from marrying.
> More that because IQ isn't genetically determined any data that makes it look like certain ethnic groups are smarter or stupider than other ethnic groups must be wrong.
Why must it be wrong? The data is quite clear that a person of a given ethic group is most likely to associate with other people of the same ethnic group. If we are to assume that intelligence is determined by environmental factors, it is quite likely that intelligence will vary by ethnic group due to ethnic groups tending to group around different environments.
> such as that group being descended from people who were enslaved or who practiced polygamy or who don't prevent first cousins from marrying.
For those who believe that intelligence is heritable, isn't that exactly what they are talking about? I don't see how it is missed.
A statement like "IQ is heritable" is neither science nor pseudoscience, it's just a statement that is either true, false or e.g. 80% true with 20% determined by other factors.
Doing studies to prove or disprove it, like ones on separated twins referenced here in comments -- this is science.
Saying that this statement is false because it's racist -- this is pseudoscience.
