Of course there are environmental influences on IQ. No one is debating that. What I'm saying is that there's a huge body of evidence from a diverse range of studies that support the theory that innate intelligence potential varies with ethnicity.

I don't buy the poverty idea. Asians in America score almost the same as Asians in China and other poor (second and third world) countries. And yes, this number is HIGHER than the comparatively affluent white countries with better nutrition, education and childhood health care. Chinese score the same as Japanese in their own countries, even though Japan is one of the most affluent and educated countries in the world. Clearly, something is going on here. Africans (and African Americans) score far worse in every country they live in, and pure breds in sub saharan africa score worst of all. In the north of Africa where there's some of the worst poverty imaginable, they score higher than sub saharan africans (closer to the American score - a standard deviation below whites).

Note that this happens across a range of tests (including reaction speed tests), and is supported by anecdotal evidence such as cultural sophistication, technological achievement, university scores, contributions to science, literature, etc. It's always Asian > White >> Black (though in a couple of these areas it's White > Asian, but not by much). The point is that EVERY indicator there is shows this trend, in EVERY country. I think it's clear what's going on here.

I was going to let this thread die but it seems David was right.