intelligence is a number?
intelligence is ...a number...proclaim some kabbalists of canon, scientismic numerologists & sycophantic psychometrists who bind shadows of certainty to opinion; who cast gratuitous glamours on popular thought; who quantify links on a dubious chain of being; & place humankind linearly on a patent, but immutable measure of mental worth.
see where they come from; see how they run...
the honorable james wilson of pennsylvania, in the constitutional crucible of brotherly love, resurrects in the words of madison "an arbitrary but reasonable compromise "to forge a more perfect union; to confirm that servitude so debases the slave beneath free men that he is divested of two-fifths of his humanity...”
& thus did america in its infancy tell the tale that wagged the european dog...
alas st. darwin, look what they've done to yr song! joseph arthur de gobineau, inspired by u, plumbed his unconscious & found in the throes of narcissistic vision a muse of alabaster white; the sacred harlot of the wild tribes of europe; proclaimed her arya the fittest & laid the accomplishments of "civilization" at her feet.
there's a song in the air...
ricard wagner distilled that same seminal vision & like a satyr on a binge fructified his gestamtkunstwerk; infused it into his sprechsingen, into his lietmotiv. crafted he, the greatest of the volk composers, the melodic theme that forever announces white supremacy whenever & wherever it is played.
get down with opp...
john langdon haydon down did in fact get down with o.p.p.– odious, pernicious prattle; scientific racism hustled as scientific fact. claimed that mankind's mentally defective minions were more frequently distributed among colored ethnic groups; that most could be arranged, like children from the same parents, around a mongolian type.
how appropriate that the syndrome that bears his name is synonymous to congenital idiocy.
turn century turn, pervert the efforts of kindly old al binet in yr spin. america, the child who precociously masturbated, has penetrated puberty; is ready to take something else in hand; is ready to fornicate, to go down on a seductive idea; to stimulate a hereditarian interpretation of intelligence with mouth & tongue.
behold, there came wisemen...
terman, goddard & yerkes, the dragons of summer sow their teeth in the fallow fields of psychometry; reap a harvest of feebleminded spanish-indians, mexicans & negroes; jews, russians, hungarians, italians & negroes; & negroes & negroes. posted they these as sentries to guard the fleecing of america's mindscape.
to every thing, there is a season...
enter jensen, shockley, bereiter, herrnstein & murray, five blind dancing necrophiliacs courting general heritable intelligence; swinging as it were with daddy g, that animated stiff, that sepulchral lich, that factor which defies analysis but rises again & again in the academy, the classroom, newsroom & on t.v. in perpetual canonical easter.
a voice crying in the wilderness...
what serendipitous chance affords a hearing to dissonant voices crying in the wilderness? voices who would rebuke the numbers, the eugenics, the dangerous demagoguery? this poem affords that chance.
this poem would preach with homily & perorative passion problem solving; preach mental worth made manifest in an infinite variety of valued multicultural products, constructs & designs that radiate luminous selfhood; evoked by nurture, by opportunity.
this poem would rend the vision of a cognitive elite drawing its sustenance from racist patriarchy...
would board up hirschian warehouses of functional literacy forever; would eschew achievement of limited expectations. this poem would drown out the white noise of affected intelligence born of statistical correlation with the lush progressive solos of the caring human voice coaxing out human competence, & even greatness, whatever the form, wherever & in whomever it is found.
© Joseph McNair; 2009
finally a righteous rant against testing, especially intelligence testing. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI guess that has been pent up for some time. More to come on this subject!
ReplyDeleteThis poem refers alot to racial and culture effects. It describes how intelligence came about. Some of the reading was decribed in a very blunt way, but it abolishes testing which is always a good thing. Love your work! Thats an extra credit point for that comment right there;)
ReplyDeleteWe believe that this poem mainly talks about the diversity and the comparrison of other civilizations and cultures. We all should not be measured by what we receive on tests but that intelligence can be referred to in different ways and forms.
ReplyDeleteWe believe that this poem mainly talks about the diversity and the comparrison of other civilizations and cultures. We all should not be measured by what we receive on tests but that intelligence can be referred to in different ways and forms.
ReplyDeleteI interpet this poem to be, as if an individual should be seeking opinions. And not rely on such media thoughts or even thoughts of his own tribe. They are bound to what others say and what they do, and not what they originally know. They don't question things or take into consideration that things might be different else where, and if thats so then how would you deal with it? They judge others harsh and blunt, were if it was your opinion you can use it in a manner were to state your point, but do so in a respective manner because everyone has their own beliefs. You are what your parents are, what you've become is what they wanted you to be. In some situations kids rebel at a young age and don't see eye to eye. Where as they should understand what they want and should understand what is best for them. When you are set off to be free, to be on your own you must think for yourself. Your gullable to your own extent to your own knowledge. Once you interpet fact's and understand it, then why not share it to the world? You were given the truth, why not share it to the world?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this poem, i realised that this meant minorities were not on the same level of intelligence as that of an anglo saxon. that is because minorities were not afforded the same opportunities as the white men, therefore they could not perform. Therefore the findings were inaccurate, the only way to truly measure this is to give both sides the exact same opportunities.
ReplyDeletethis poem is a reflection on how minorities were seen as neaderthals only fit to work. this was an unfair comparisson due to the fact minorities were not given the same educational or social opportunities as the whites were given, therefore the so call facts were one sided and bias.
ReplyDeleteI found this poem to be very insightful and touched me deeply. How could a few men who called them scientist believe such nonsense and then spew out there beliefs as if they were fact. These men of so called science used there "finding" to keep so many people down for so long. It make me think of how far we (people of color) have come and how far we have yet to travel in the sense that our confidence has been squelched for so long. Our pride hidden under mountains of negativity and doubt. If you call a king a dog long enough and treat that king as a dog would that king begin to walk, feel, and see as a dog? This poem examine how mans ego can cause him to be a beast to his fellowman.Garner says there are multiple intelligences where some would have you believe there is only one. How boring would this world be if we had one standard of music and one standard of beauty and one standard of love. It is so sad that some have to tear down others in order to build themselves up. I HOPE that we can learn from our past and unite as a common people and share in our rich beautiful diversity.
ReplyDelete"how appropriate that the syndrome that bears his name is synonymous to congenital idiocy. " This is one of my favorite lines in the poem.
ReplyDeleteI found this poem very interesting and insightful. I feel like the "congenital idiocy" that many believe minorities possess is really just a reflection of their own idiocy, just like you stated.
The "scientists" proclaiming and perpetuating the myth that minorities are "feebleminded" are just using their own self-serving fallacies as a springboard for more ignorant behavior. Oh, the irony of it all. Our supposed "ignorance" spurs ignorance on the part of white supremacists who claim to have all the intelligence in the world. Makes you think a little.
KUDOS TO YOU!
~Mirielle
No, kudos to you
ReplyDeleteI really liked the message of this poem because it gave a different meaning to intelligence rather than its cliché meaning. Intelligence shouldn't be restrained to us by the scores we get it is more than that. It is looking beyond our different cultures, beliefs, and opinions with one another. It is about all of our accomplishments throughout the years and learning through those experiences.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this poem and the diversity in it. Although at first I didn't understand, once i dived into it I was amazed. I like how there are quotes from different things in between stanzas. It shows how although one can be smart on paper (such as a scientist), they can be extremely dumb and in reality have no sense of wisdom or intellect. Intelligence comes from more than a test and goes beyond what one is taught in a classroom. It is defined by who and what we are and what we hope to one day become.
ReplyDeleteThe poem reflects a lot of racism and ignorance. That minorities are not fit to reach the same standards as anyone else. When James Wilson was first mentioned in the poem that highlighted what this poem was about.
ReplyDelete" "to forge a more perfect union; to confirm that servitude so debases the slave beneath free men that he is divested of two-fifths of his humanity...” "
eventhough this was the feel of it, the central theme of the poem was to just overcome those standards and perform passed the standards that society set.
This poem makes me think of the slavery days, the times when coloreds and whites weren't considered equal. It expresses a different definition of the word intelligence. Intelligence shouldn't be based on how someone looks on the outside, but what's on the inside. I didn't understand the meaning of many words but when i did, i was really intrigued by the poem.
ReplyDeleteBased on my understanding the poem draws attention to the inequitable assumption and conclusions drawn by some so called influential group or persons who determines who are intelligent and who are not. It also shows the power of white supremacy that influence the outcome of the black people; but as the years passed and knowledge enriched the black there came many paradigm shift and who were thought to be intelligent may now not be . It speaks to the degree of racism and segregation , injustice and oppression imposed on minority.
ReplyDeleteThis poem makes me think of the slavery days, the times when coloreds and whites weren't considered equal.They are bound to what others say and what they do, and not what they originally know. They don't question things or take into consideration that things might be different else where, and if thats so then how would you deal with it? They judge others harsh and blunt, were if it was your opinion you can use it in a manner were to state your point, but do so in a respective manner because everyone has their own beliefs. You are what your parents are, what you've become is what they wanted you to be. In some situations kids rebel at a young age and don't see eye to eye. Where as they should understand what they want and should understand what is best for them. When you are set off to be free, to be on your own you must think for yourself. Your gullable to your own extent to your own knowledge. It speaks to the degree of racism and segregation , injustice and oppression imposed on minority.
ReplyDelete