One interesting detail about John Derbyshire: his wife is Asian. In my experience, when you’re part of an interracial couple, you acquire a heightened sensitivity to how other people view you (and your partner) from a racial angle. The point here is that Derbyshire, of all people, should have known how insanely inappropriate his article was. So why did he go ahead and write it anyway? I couldn’t begin to guess. Obviously it does not reflect well on his character. Kudos to National Review for firing him.