> Yes, things like "Asians are good at math" is racist, even if it's a positive stereotype.
So what would be the proper way to describe an ethnic group that, when examined purely statistically, really has performed well above average in mathamatics?
Do we simple never acknowledge that such differences exist, as some people have signalled?
> So what would be the proper way to describe an ethnic group that, when examined purely statistically, really has performed well above average in mathamatics?
Exactly the way you said it. "Statistically speaking, controlling (or not controlling) for relevant factors foo, bar, and baz, group X outperforms other groups such Y, and Z in tests of skill A". Which isn't the same thing as "X is good at A". "X is good at A" is a meaningless statement. It's devoid of context and prone to overgeneralization. It's not useful for anything.
Sports might be useful. Do you see the difference between,
"The Patriots have statistically scored more yards per game than average." Vs.
"Patriots team members are good at scoring yards." Vs.
"You are on the Patriots, therefore you are good at scoring yards"
In aggregate, the players perform in some positive or negative way, but you can't just apply that statistic to any individual player or even say that the players are unusually good at that thing. Maybe they have a great coaching staff, maybe they are cheating, maybe they have a few star players who push up the statistics.
So what would be the proper way to describe an ethnic group that, when examined purely statistically, really has performed well above average in mathamatics?
Do we simple never acknowledge that such differences exist, as some people have signalled?