(I'm going to leave aside the entire issue of the inherent falsehood of "race" as a biological or ontological category and use the term in the common usage sense where it overlaps with the meaning of ethnicity, tribe, and nation to define a group of people sharing similar superficial genetic charactistics.)
Unfortunately, I have to begin by criticizing Cenk for falling into Taylor's trap by assuming Taylor's unstated premise that value is determined by physical power and material wealth. The entire world view of racists depends on the legitimacy of their definition of "smart" or "intelligent" or "superior" as being measured by power: A more powerful race is a more superior race. Cenk bought into this false premise at least twice. First when Cenk asserted America was at its most superior in the 1990s defined by world power and wealth, and second, when Taylor said Australian Aborigines were inferior, Cenk's response of an example of a non-white superior race was the Egyptian empire.
The essential error is to equate empire and power with superiority. From an entirely different perspective (including mine), empire is a sign of an inferior race not a sign of a superior race. When an native people is living successfully in its environment, raising children, telling their stories about life and death, etc., history teaches us they are invariably both amazed and appalled to meet the imperial invaders. Whether it was Roman centurians, Spanish conquistidors or English pilgrims, the conquering invaders never proved their cultural superiority, only their superiority at domination through treachery, murder, and destruction.
Now, to respond to Taylor's assertion that Australian aborigines are less intelligent and have never contributed to world culture. Of course, the intelligence that Taylor is alluding to is culturally defined. Put Taylor into the Australian outback with the aborigines and watch how stupid he appears. He wouldn't even know where to find water or how to get a meal. An aborigine could only remark how stupid he would appear to be.
Of course all native people contribute to world culture in one shared way by the addition of their myths to world literature and the Australian aborigines are no different. The Australian aborigines are perhaps the oldest continuous culture on the planet. Those who actually know anything about the Abroiginal people, know that their sacred worldview of "The Dreaming" (A.K.A., "Dreamtime") is a valuable contribution to the world's spiritual culture.
The aboriginal music and specificially the didgeridoo (didjerdu), the world's oldest wind instrument, is a wonderful contribution to world culture. Also, the indigenous Australian aboriginal art is a great contribution to world culture.
So, when military might and domination is taken out of the equation of racial superiority, it is more than clear that racists like Taylor are simply using circular logic to define certain cultural achievements as failures and thereby claim that only the achievements that they identify with their own race are recognized as defining intelligence and cultural superiority.
posted by Gregory Wonderwheel 
