# Who's the most intelligent racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2000, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129 "2000-12-18T10:05:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/1 "2000-12-18T10:05:46Z")
Of the various public figures who are fairly open about their racism (Farakkhan, Duke, etc.), who would you say is the most intelligent? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/2 "2000-12-18T10:44:15Z")
Probably KRS-ONE. ---
**Author:** ![They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/They_Call_Me_Sneeze)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/3 "2000-12-18T11:33:02Z")
i’m pretty almost fairly certain that he’s dead, but what about ezra pound? he gets my vote for intelligient racist anyday. ---
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/4 "2000-12-18T12:05:34Z")
Isn’t that an oxymoron? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/5 "2000-12-18T12:11:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > Of the various public figures who are fairly open about their racism (Farakkhan, **Duke** , etc.), who would you say is the most intelligent? Dammit, dammit, dammit, all these people who sully my name! PS I am in no way shape or form related to Mr Plastic Face. Or, for that matter, the film director Bill Duke, astronaut Charles Duke, Penn State law professor Simon Duke, or Stoke City goalkeeper Matt Duke. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/6 "2000-12-18T13:02:00Z")
> [@](#): > > PS I am in no way shape or form related to Mr Plastic Face. Or, for that matter, the film director Bill Duke, astronaut Charles Duke, Penn State law professor Simon Duke, or Stoke City goalkeeper Matt Duke. But it’s cool that you got a university named after you. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/7 "2000-12-18T13:53:00Z")
Yeah, and I sent in an application to teach there and wasn’t even asked for an interview (mind you, they would have had to pay airfare from the UK). They don’t thank their inspiration well enough at all 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/8 "2000-12-18T14:58:54Z")
How about (the late) Hugo Black? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/9 "2000-12-18T15:53:50Z")
Dead people shouldn’t count. A hundred years ago EVERYBODY was racist. Let’s say I was a wealthy Northern urban U.S. white businessowner in 1885. I might openly admire the Negro Race, think they deserved a fair shake, employ them at decent wages and pay lip service to Negro higher education\*, maybe even have a Negress as a mistress. But I wouldn’t want them to be admitted to my Club. And neither would I mix socially with Sheenies, Dagoes, Hunkies, or shanty-Irish. Why, if my daughter brought one of them home, I’d take a horsewhip to her. - they’ll need their own doctors, after all…I don’t want them in MY hospitals. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/10 "2000-12-18T16:00:24Z")
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned [William Shockley](http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/shockley.html). He invented the transistor (for all intents and purposes), but believed that blacks were genetically less intelligent than whites and called remedial education a waste of time. [Edited by Coldfire on 12-18-2000 at 10:25 AM] ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/11 "2000-12-18T16:13:59Z")
Hmmm smart racists. What about David Irvine, a British historian who AFAIK has done a lot of good historical work about WWII **but** he shows his true colours when he moves away from history and starts denying the Holocaust :mad: [David Irving loses Nazi Holocaust libel case](http://www.channel4news.co.uk/home/20000411/Story08.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/12 "2000-12-18T20:37:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke \* > PS I am in no way shape or form related to Mr Plastic Face. Or, for that matter, the film director Bill Duke, astronaut Charles Duke, Penn State law professor Simon Duke, or Stoke City goalkeeper Matt Duke. Well, what about Luke, Bo, and Daisy? We might consider Murray and Herrnstein, who wrote _The Bell Curve_, in which they argue that blacks generally are less intelligent than whites. There are conflicting reports about whether the book is racist or not–some say that the authors clearly state that the differences in test scores are due to societal factors only. Others argue that the book is a thinly veiled attempt to prove that whites are superior. I haven’t read it myself, so I don’t know. But I thought I’d throw the names out there. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/13 "2000-12-18T21:33:49Z")
Sneeze, you are almost sure Ezra Pound is dead? He died in the 1970’s. I think that makes him totally dead. He recanted his anti-semitism at the end of life, calling it a “stupid, immature belief.” Most intelligent racist? None. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/14 "2000-12-18T23:40:41Z")
Contradiction in terms. Some may be clever, but racism brings out their true colors. ---
**Author:** ![zyzzyva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@zyzzyva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zyzzyva)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/15 "2000-12-19T00:12:05Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned James Watson yet. > **[Nobel Winner's Views Resonate With Readers](https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Nobel-Winner-s-Views-Resonate-With-Readers-2721036.php)** > > Last Monday's BioScope column about noted geneticist James Watson, who shared a Nobel... ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/16 "2000-12-19T03:18:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Saint Zero \* > \*\*Contradiction in terms. Some may be clever, but racism brings out their true colors. > > \*\* —\>Yeah, all our founding fathers? Morons… And all those ancient Greek guys? (who, by the way, treated their wives as chattel) Idiots. And I bet if you gave Jerry Falwell and Jesse Helms IQ tests, they’d both be in the 70’s or 80’s. Just because a belief seems horribly undefendably morally wrong by your particular standards doesn’t mean that its proponents are dumb. Nor does it mean that they can not argue for that belief with great intelligence and perception. Nor does it mean that if you yourself had been adopted as a baby and raised in a different situation you might not have ended up subscribing to said belief yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/17 "2000-12-19T03:37:16Z")
> [@](#): > > And I bet if you gave Jerry Falwell and Jesse Helms IQ tests, they’d both be in the 70’s or 80’s. Hmm, not sure I doubt this one… ---
**Author:** ![They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@They\_Call\_Me\_Sneeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/They_Call_Me_Sneeze)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/18 "2000-12-19T04:14:06Z")
Mahaloth: "Sneeze, you are almost sure Ezra Pound is dead? He died in the 1970’s. I think that makes him totally dead. He recanted his anti-semitism at the end of life, calling it a “stupid, immature belief.” see, that explains it. i never HEARD he was dead, and i always think of artists retreating to these hermit-like caves when the get really old, so they can be crotchetly creative during their final years, and then they die and everyone is like ‘oh yeah…i remember that guy.’ i’m not sure why i always think this. i figured ezra pound was dead, but since i never heard anyone say ‘hey, ezra pound died’ i wasnt completely sure. (yes, one quick search on the web and i could have been certain, but hey - finals are over and i’m feeling lazy.) anyway, i am glad to hear he recanted - its always a waste to have a really smart guy and have him turn out to be a stupid racist. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/19 "2000-12-19T04:32:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spider Woman \* > \*\*Isn’t that an oxymoron? \*\* I think that racism is ignorance. And, IMHO, ignorant people cannot be all that intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129/20 "2000-12-19T05:13:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by imthjckaz \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Spider Woman \* > > \*\*Isn’t that an oxymoron? \*\* > > I think that racism is ignorance. > And, IMHO, ignorant people cannot be all that intelligent. > > \*\* —\>“racism is ignorance”? I think that’s a vast and slightly condescending oversimplification. It kind of implies that if you just got a mean old racist guy and he actually got to _know_ a (black person/asian person/Jew/whatever), suddenly he would realize deep down that we’re all alike, and it’s only 'cause he didn’t _know_ that he said all those mean things. Furthermore, racism is something that comes in far too many different flavors (from clear ignorance to obviously false beliefs to moral judgments to subtle behavior patterns to “separate but equal”, etc.) to claim is all due to ignorance. My opinion is that human beings have a strong inborn tribal instinct, and once people start identifying (for instance) white people as “us” and black people as “them”, it’s _incredibly_ difficult to change that. And that may have nothing at all to do with ignorance. (Hope I didn’t jump down anyone’s throat here…) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-intelligent-racist/46129.md?page=2)