I am writing in response to Michael Bonds’ Nov. 30 letter “Based on fears,” although his ravings offer little hope for an underlying open mind capable of thoughtfully considering a rebuttal.

Racism, properly defined, is assuming individual capacities are determined by race, usually coupled with a belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own race. I do not advocate the genetic superiority of any race; and despite the racial prejudice apparent in Bond’s letter, it did not display racism.

I contest his labeling of standardized tests as “racist.” Yes, inner-city schools are mostly inadequate; they are not the best preparation for higher education or for tests such as the ACT; they should be improved. But, that does not make the test racist. Is grammar racist, just because Bonds’ education thus far apparently has not included mastery of it?

Walter E. Williams, in “Campus Racism,” (National Review, May 5, 1989) points out, if a test is culturally biased, the bias should be exhibited most strongly on the test’s verbal portion, where there are questions of reading, comprehension, language, and literature. A much better performance would be expected on test subjects where cultural bias is minimized. As it turns out, blacks are closer to the national mean on the verbal portion of the GRE and furthest behind on the quantitative and analytical portions.

The Asian population, the most culturally distinct group taking the GRE, scores 109 points above blacks on the verbal portion, and only 20 points below the national average. Furthermore, it outscores the nation by 59 points on the quantitative portion, and its analytical-section mean is identical to the nation’s. If the test is culturally biased, how is it that people of a culture far more alien to the American Culture than blacks score so close to the national mean? Rather than indicate test bias, it seems to indicate inadequacy in public education.

In an environment in which many applicants are competing for few openings, any kind of entrance exam is going to be geared toward a minority: the top two percent, the top ten percent, etc. The standard for entrance into college should be intellectual performance—not skin color. I believe Bonds should observe that, insofar as Asians appear to do even better on these tests than whites and outnumber blacks by a wide margin worldwide, he might not enjoy the nine-tenths majority he believes he has.

Bruce Latimer

Graduate student

International relations/comparative politics