SUPERIOR INTELLECT - SINCERE FICTIONS OF THE WHITE SELF

This article investigates claims of superior White intelligence from a n emerging race relations perspective that describes the symbolic labo r used to construct a psychological and cultural self that legitimizes White privilege. It examines the sincere fictions of the White self o ffered in A Study of American Intelligence (1923) and The Bell Curve ( 1994), whose similar outlooks suggest a fundamental consistency in Whi te self-concept over time. Representations of the White self and some of the sincere fictions offered in these works are critiqued, includin g the construction of equality as the prerogative of Whites, myths of the superior intellect of Whites, ideas about the boldness and virtue of doing IQ science, and claims of White innocence about the effects o f prejudice.