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If you define race as "self identified" (which no one has here that I have noticed), there are reliable group differences in IQ scores between individuals that self-identify as members of different races. IQ is not the same as intelligence, but predicts a lot of outcomes within western cultures that are typically associated with intelligence. (I talked earlier about whether or not IQ is intelligence). Those group differences in IQ scores are not particularly amenable to environmental intervention. Adoption does seem to close much of the gap, but differences remain (Scarr, 1996; etc.). If these group differences exist, then self-identified race is more than a correlation of physical attributes.
I'm not making an argument about where such group differences come from or what such differences mean. Nor am I trying to justify treating members of different ethnic groups differently based on average group differences on a test. However, if there are group differences in IQ scores and those differences are related to important social outcomes, shouldn't someone investigate those group differences in order to equalize those social outcomes?
Personally, I don't think that measures of Big "g" (the WAIS or the WISC, etc.) are appropriate for studying group differences. Nor am I particularly interested in studying group differences.
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