THE HEREDITARIAN THEORY OF IQ 227
extrinsic grounds that the draft itself is more representative of the average
intelligence of the country than is a group of high-school students and
business men (1921, p. 785).
If 13.08 is the white average, and everyone from mental age 8
through 12 is a moron, then we are a nation of nearly half-morons.
Yerkes concluded (1921, p. 791): "It would be totally impossible to
exclude all morons as that term is at present defined, for there are
under 13 years 37 percent of whites and 89 percent of negroes."
- European immigrants can be graded by their country of ori-
gin. The average man of many nations is a moron. The darker
peoples of southern Europe and the Slavs of eastern Europe are
less intelligent than the fair peoples of western and northern
Europe. Nordic supremacy is not a jingoistic prejudice. The aver-
age Russian has a mental age of 11.34; the Italian, 11.01; the Pole,
10.74. The Polish joke attained the same legitimacy as the moron
joke—indeed, they described the same animal.
- The Negro lies at the bottom of the scale with an average
mental age of 10.41. Some camps tried to carry the analysis a bit
further, and in obvious racist directions. At Camp Lee, blacks were
divided into three groups based upon intensity of color; the lighter
groups scored higher (p. 531). Yerkes reported that the opinions
of officers matched his numbers (p. 742);
All officers without exception agree that the negro lacks initiative, dis-
plays little or no leadership, and cannot accept responsibility. Some point
out that these defects are greater in the southern negro. All officers seem
further to agree that the negro is a cheerful, willing soldier, naturally sub-
servient. These qualities make for immediate obedience, although not nec-
essarily for good discipline, since petty thieving and venereal disease are
commoner than with white troops.
Along the way, Yerkes and company tested several other social
prejudices. Some fared poorly, particularly the popular eugenical
notion that most offenders are feeble-minded. Among conscien-
tious objectors for polidcal reasons, 59 percent received a grade of
A. Even outright disloyals scored above the average (p. 803). But
other results buoyed their prejudices. As camp followers them-
selves, Yerkes's corps decided to test a more traditional category of
colleagues: the local prostitutes. They found that 53 percent (44
percent of whites and 68 percent of blacks) ranked at age ten or
