Why Black People Are Tall and Chinese People Are Short
According to an article in the October 27, 2003 issue of The New Yorker, one of the few African-Americans appointed to the federal bench by President Reagan asserted in a 1997 case involving alleged environmental contamination in a largely minority neighborhood that physical differences among races were the product of their environment. "'Why do you think Chinese people are short?' Hoyt told the laywers in the case. 'Because there is so much damn wind over there they need to be short. Why are they so tall in Africa? Because they need to be tall. It's environmental. I mean, you don't jump up and get a banana off a tree if you're only four feet. If you're seven feet tall and you're standing in China, then you're going to get blown away when that Siberian wind comes through.' The court of appeals in that case called Hoyt's remarks 'unfortunately, grossly inappropriate, and deserving of close and careful scrutiny.'"

I found this in my Capital Markets readings.