A Macat Analysis of Richard J. Herrnstein & Charles Murray’s The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life

Published in 1994, The Bell Curve was a collaboration between the Harvard University experimental psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and the conservative political scientist Charles Murray. Their provocative book caused uproar. Herrnstein and Murray claimed that intelligence was the key factor in determining life success. They also claimed that intelligence is genetic: you either have it or you don’t. And they further claimed that some ethnic groups were more intelligent than others. As soon as the book was published, accusations of racism flew. Herrnstein and Murray argued that there is a clear reason why black Americans are one of the most disadvantaged groups in American society. It is not down to unjust social and economic systems, or to a history of oppression. Statistically, black Americans live impoverished lives simply because they lack the intelligence to advance themselves. Liberals raged against these ideas, while conservatives praised the authors for voicing important, if controversial, arguments. Their ideas remain intensely divisive today.