WHITE AND COLORED CHILDREN 75 



f 



A COMPARISON OF WHITE AND COLOEED CHILDREN 



MEASURED BY THE BINET SCALE OF 



INTELLIGENCE 



By JOSIAH MORSE, Ph.D. 



UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA 



WHEREVER the methods of science have been inapplicable, or for 

 some reason been left unapplied, opinion has held sway, and, as 

 the adage has it, the number of opinions has equalled that of the men 

 holding them. This, it need hardly be pointed out', is seen clearly in the 

 histories and literatures of religion, philosophy, ethics, politics and many 

 branches of the newer social sciences. It is notoriously true of discus- 

 sions of race problems, even when the opinions have been held by scien- 

 tists eminent in their own special domains. Thus we have a Boaz, who 

 can see no essential difference between the negro and white races, and a 

 Le Bon, who is equally certain that a " mental abyss " forever separates 

 the two peoples, and that the negro is the much inferior of the two. 



In the hope that the Binet tests would yield a few grains of fact 

 which might leaven the lump of opinion, the writer directed Miss Alice 

 C. Strong, a graduate student of the University of South Carolina, to 

 measure with the Binet scale, as revised by Dr. H. H. Goddard, the 

 white and colored school children of Columbia, S. C. The same tests 

 were given to both the white and colored children under practically uni- 

 form conditions, with the exception that some of the colored children 

 tested were older than twelve years. The course of study in the colored 

 school, which is a part of the public school system, is essentially the same 

 as in the white schools, and the quality of teaching is good. The chil- 

 dren seemed to be at ease in the presence of the white examiner, and to 

 do their best. No marked variation from the white children in the 

 manner of responding could be noted. In almost every case the dress, 

 cleanliness and manners of the children indicated that they came from 

 good homes. The replies were usually couched in fewer words than 

 those of the white children. There was less tendency to enter into 

 conversation, and it was soon found that they were more at ease when 

 reacting to the tests than when an attempt was made to talk with them 

 about other things. 



The following are the tests which were given to the children of both 

 races, ranging from six to twelve years inclusive. 



Six Years: (1) Is this morning or is it afternoon. (2) What is a fork? a 

 table! a chair? a horse? a mama? (3) Do you see this key? Put it on that 



