A Terrible Thing to Waste by Harriet A. Washington

So in that sense, I guess I see the utility of such a measure, even if what we do with it is ill-advised.

Aware of the racist associations with IQ testing, I was in the camp of “throw it all out.” Yet Washington points out that, although not really great for measuring general intelligence as it first claimed, IQ tests do seem to correlate with many of the skills that predict success in a lot of the office-type jobs that predominate in America these days. I found this beneficial, and indeed, I appreciated the way in which she challenged some of my views. Washington begins with a frank discussion on IQ. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. Rather, A Terrible Thing to Waste is electrifying in the depth to which Washington chronicles the scientific background of this phenomenon, the historical connections, and the social and economic consequences. Washington’s book isn’t edifying in the sense that it reveals this heretofore unseen racism.

But it really isn’t that hidden, not in an era where we know the names Flint, Michigan in the United States and Grassy Narrows, here in Canada. Indeed, when I mentioned that, historically, decisions about where to dump waste and where to build factories and how to zone cities or rent houses have disproportionately affected marginalized and racialized people, most of those who asked nodded and went, “Oh, yeah.” Maybe that’s just a sign of the crowd I hang out with. The common reaction to people seeing what I was reading with A Terrible Thing to Waste was, “Environmental racism? What’s that?” So I explained it to them, fairly succinctly I think, because it really isn’t that difficult of a concept.

A Terrible Thing to Waste by Harriet A. Washington