New scientific knowledge redirected blame for social problems to environments and microbes.

Evidence

But the Virginia Health Bulletin posed its question during the heyday of U.S. eugenics, and the prospect of an infectious, rather than a racial, driver of intelligence ran counter to eugenic theory. The infection theory specifically warred with the common belief that African Americans possess innately low intelligence. The hookworm connection failed to draw funding or the continued attention of researchers and the infestations were widely thought to have dissipated by the 1980s. — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 916 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Explaining away environmental causes shifts blame onto the victim’s constitution.; Eugenic ideology suppressed research into infectious causes of low IQ — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 916; Intelligence develops from environment and experience rather than genetic inheritance (+1 more)

Related

• Eugenic ideology suppressed research into infectious causes of low IQ (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Eugenic ideology suppressed research into infectious causes of low IQ #expands (0.45) — Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste, 916
• Intelligence develops from environment and experience rather than genetic inheritance #exemplifies (0.30)