I would say that it does, because we do not know how these genes manifest themselves. I have read, for instance, that black children suffer more from sleep apnea, which affects IQ. If this is so, then a genetic predisposition to apnea would appear as a genetic predisposition to a lower IQ; however, apnea can be treated by to raise the effective IQ of that individual. Much like the damage caused by PKU can be fixed by treatment, even though it's a fully genetic cause.

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Another thing to consider is the effects of epigenetics (about which I know very little). My understanding is that there can be effects upon the parent's (particular the mother's) DNA, which can be inheirited. The adult children of war survivors, for instance, have lower levels of some hormones than normal. I could easily see how that, in turn, could affect their own children prenatally; thus carrying the effects of a bad environment experienced by a grandparent onto the future--for who knows how long? Certainly the grandparents of todays people lived during discriminatory times.

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Yet another factor to consider is that even middle and upper class blacks don't live in the same areas as whites and asians; and those areas may have greater amounts of pollutants or violence (which causes stress, and possibly affects IQ). This is not, of course, genetic; but could masquerade as such, and so needs consideration.

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So, if there are racial differences, perhaps those differences are either fixable (ala apnea); or perhaps they are the results of genes we all have interacting with the particular environment blacks experience. Can anyone deny that it's harder and more stressful to be black, even today? I think the study where white mothers/black fathers produced more intelligent babies than black mothers/white fathers definitely points to a prenatal environment for part of the differences.

At any rate we need to know what is going on and why before we can come up with fair and ethical solutions to the problems of society. So it needs to be studied with clear eyes. And we need every citizen to be the best possible they can be, whatever their genetics or race; so we are bound to improve the environments and treat the medical problems of everyone..

PS. I agree with a previous poster who said that it's very odd to group all African blacks together; as they are a highly diverse group genetically. Another reason to think that perhaps things are more environmental than genetic in my opinion.